Business News

“175 years Bertelsmann – The Legacy for Our Future”

Monday 20. September 2010 - Bertelsmann Celebrates Its 175th Anniversary with a Ceremony in Berlin

Speeches by Federal Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel and President of the EuropeanCommission José Manuel Barroso
Anthology of Bertelsmann’s post-war history presented
Bertelsmann, the international media company, is expecting more than a thousand guests – friends, partners and associates from Germany and abroad – for its 175th anniversary ceremony in Berlin. The event, hosted in the classicistic ambiance of the Konzerthaus am Gendarmenmarkt, will feature speeches by Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, as well as a stage program spotlighting the media company’s past, present and future. It will showcase outstanding creative talents who have made it big with Bertelsmann, and who have in turn helped Bertelsmann grow big. The ceremony will also involve the presentation of an anthology in which independent academics and publicists review highlights of Bertelsmann’s post-war history – that is, the time of its growth into a global corporation.
Bertelsmann’s Chairman & CEO Hartmut Ostrowski declared: “We already celebrated our anniversary in July with more than 12,000 employees at our Gütersloh headquarters, to honor those who made Bertelsmann’s rise to begin with. Today we celebrate in Berlin, a bustling metropolis, with our partners and companions from business, the arts and politics, with our top managers from New York to Beijing and with many of the creative minds who represent the Bertelsmann success story.”
The ceremony, emceed by RTL’s chief editor Peter Kloeppel, reflects the anniversary motto “175 Years of Bertelsmann – The Legacy for Our Future”. Against the backdrop of a varied stage program of live performances and short films, Bertelsmann CEO Ostrowski as well as Liz Mohn will speak on behalf of the owning family. Federal Chancellor Dr. Merkel will present a keynote on the role, responsibility and future of the media.
President of the European Commission Barroso will talk about the importance of press freedom and freedom of opinion in the European unification process, and will touch on an innovative media project by Bertelsmann that will be unveiled to the public at the ceremony. He will also act as patron of this project’s official founding act.
The evening’s stage program will feature talent from around the world whose careers are closely bound up with Bertelsmann. They range from the winner of the “Indian Idol 2010” talent show to the literary wunderkind Christopher Paolini (“Eragon”) from the U.S., to Leona Lewis – discovered on the British talent show “The X Factor” and now a globally celebrated star whose music rights are administered by BMG.
At the evening ceremony, Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Hartmut Ostrowski will also present the first copy of the anthology “175 Years of Bertelsmann – The Legacy for Our Future” to the Mohn family spokesperson, Liz Mohn. The anthology continues the company’s historical analysis of its past. Following an extensive review of the Nazi era in the Independent Historical Commission’s 2002 report, which also contained detailed chapters about the 19th and early 20th century, the new publication features noted experts meticulously examining aspects of Bertelsmann’s post-war history. Some of the articles are devoted to the development of the Group’s publishing or television business, Bertelsmann’s history in the world of music, and the internationalization of the book club beginning in the 1960s. The anthology is published by C. Bertelsmann Verlag and will be available in bookstores at the end of September.
Guests who have confirmed their attendance at the ceremony include German cabinet members Dr. Wolfgang Schäuble, Dr. Thomas de Maizière and Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger, Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit, Viviane Reding, Vice President of the European Commission, and industry leaders including Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy and Deutsche Post CEO Dr. Frank Appel. Celebrities from the world of media are also expected, including TV presenter and Günther Jauch and the legendary German singer Udo Jürgens.