Articles of Association

The Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of Justice, established the Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld as a foundation under civil law on 27 October 2011 and provided the Foundation with its Articles of Association on the same day. You can download the Articles of Association as PDF here.

The Federal Republic of Germany, represented by the Federal Ministry of Justice, established the Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld as a foundation under civil law with the deed of 27 October 2011 and provided the Foundation with its Articles of Association on the same day. In observing its tasks according to the Articles of Association, the Founder is represented by the Federal Ministry of Justice.

(1) The name of the Foundation is “Bundesstiftung Magnus Hirschfeld”.

(2) It is an incorporated foundation under civil law.

(3) The registered office of the foundation is in Berlin.

(1) The Foundation pursues exclusively and directly charitable purposes in the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged purposes” of the German Tax Code. The purpose of the Foundation is the promotion of education and knowledge and research, in particular in order to

The term “queer” in numbers 2 and 3 stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, intergender and other people, who do not correspond to heterosexual, binary or cisgender notions.

(2) The purposes of the Articles of Association are in particular realised through

The purpose of the Articles of Association according to paragraph 1 sentence 2 number 3 is realised principally through measures according to sentence 1 number 1.

(1) The Foundation operates on a non-profit basis; it does not primarily pursue its own economic interests.

(2) The foundation funds may only be used for purposes in accordance with the Articles of Association. No person may be favoured by expenditures foreign to the purposes of the Foundation or by disproportionately high remuneration.

(1) The initial assets of the Foundation derive from the foundation business. The existing amount of the core assets must be preserved undiminished.

(2) The Foundation is entitled to accept donations and other grants provided this is compatible with the foundation purposes. It may also add grants without a fixed purpose bequeathed by a will and free reserves in the meaning of Section 62 (1) number 3 of the German Tax Code to its core assets.

(3) The formation of reserves is permissible provided this does not impair the tax-privileged status of the Foundation.

The executive bodies of the Foundation are

(1) The Board of Trustees consists of 16 members as well as of the members the German Bundestag can nominate. The number of members to be nominated by the German Bundestag is the smallest possible with which at any rate every party can nominate at least one member and the majority relationships as far as possible be preserved, but at the most nine.

(2) The following bodies may make appointments to the Board of Trustees

(3) The persons nominated by the German Bundestag must be members of the German Bundestag.

(4) The German Bundestag and the bodies authorised to make nominations appoint a deputy member for every member according to paragraph 2 numbers 2 to 15. A deputy member may only take part in Board of Trustees’ meetings if the member does not take part. The members nominated by the Federal Ministry of Justice represent each other mutually.

(5) To guarantee taking the interests of homosexual women and homosexual men equally into account, the bodies authorised to make nominations can also nominate themselves as member according to paragraph 2 numbers 7 and 10. At the same time, they nominate two representatives of different sexes, who exercise the membership rights jointly and uniformly. A deputy member is not nominated according to paragraph 4 in this case; the representatives of the member represent one another.

(1) The members, deputy members and representatives nominated according to Section 6 (2) for the Board of Trustees are appointed by the Founder for a period of office of four years, the members and deputy members nominated by the German Bundestag according to Section 6 (1) for the duration of the respective legislative period. In the case of renewed nomination, renewed appointment is permissible. After the end of the period of office, the members of the Board of Trustees continue in their office until the appointment of the successor. This also applies to the members nominated by the German Bundestag provided they belong to the German Bundestag in the new legislative period.

(2) If a member of the Board of Trustees, a deputy member or a representative retires prematurely, a successor is appointed for the remaining period of office. Until the Board of Trustees has been fully constituted, the remaining members form the Board of Trustees on their own. Members or deputy members nominated by the German Bundestag retire when they leave the German Bundestag.

(3) The members, deputy members and representatives work in an honorary capacity insofar as they do not work on a part-time basis. They should not have any claim to the reimbursement of travel costs or of other expenses.

(4) The Founder can recall a member, deputy member or representative prematurely if

(1) The Board of Trustees supports and monitors the business management of the Managing Director. Executive measures of the Managing Director that are of fundamental or special importance for the Foundation and its development require the approval of the Board of Trustees. These in particular include decisions regardingTasks of the Board of Trustees

(2) The Board of Trustees is also responsible for

(1) The Board of Trustees adopts its resolutions in meetings that should occur at least once a calendar year. The President of the Board of Trustees can make provision for members being able to take part in the meeting without being present at the meeting location by way of video and audio transmission (hybrid meeting); he can also determine that virtual meetings occur in which members can take part only by way of video and audio transmission. The Board of Trustees has a quorum if more than half of its members or deputy members take part. The Managing Director takes part in the meeting with a right to speak.

(2) The member nominated by the Federal Ministry of Justice presides over the Board of Trustees, who was appointed for this purpose by the Founder. The President convenes the meetings including notification of the individual points on the agenda and format of the meeting, conducts the meetings and determines the results of the votes. The President must convene a meeting if at least one-third of the members request the convocation in writing, stating the purpose and the grounds.

(3) The Board of Trustees takes its decisions with the majority of the participating members unless otherwise specified in these Articles of Association. In the event of a tie, the President has a casting vote.

(4) Decisions of the Board of Trustees can be taken outside a meeting if the required majority of the participating members declare their agreement to the decision in writing or in text form. The Board of Trustees has a quorum if more than half of the members take part in the vote.

(5) Resolutions of the Board of Trustees regarding budget and personnel matters, including ratification of the acts of the Managing Director, require the approval of the Founder.

(1) The Managing Director is a natural person. The Managing Director is elected by the Board of Trustees with a majority of two-thirds of the participating members for a period of office of five years. Re-election is permissible. After expiry of his period of office, the Managing Director continues to conduct business until the election of a new Managing Director.

(2) The Board of Trustees can recall the Managing Director before the expiry of his period of office for cause. The recall must be combined with the election of a new Managing Director.

(3) If a Managing Director retires prematurely, the election of the new Managing Director occurs for a full period of office of five years.

(4) The Foundation is represented vis-à-vis the Managing Director by the President of the Board of Trustees.

(1) The Managing Director conducts the business of the Foundation unless it is assigned to the Board of Trustees. He represents the Foundation before court and out-of-court.

(2) The Managing Director works full-time for the Foundation and is remunerated.

(3) The liability of the Managing Director can be restricted by the employment agreement to intent and gross negligence.

(1) The members of the Advisory Board are persons who have distinguished themselves in a specialist area related to the Foundation purposes. They are elected by the Board of Trustees for a joint period of office of four years. Re-election is permissible.

(2) When selecting members, the Board of Trustees in particular takes representatives of the following organisations into account:

The Board of Trustees can elect additional members for the Advisory Board.

(3) A member of the Advisory Board can only be recalled by the Board of Trustees before expiry of the period of office for cause. The Board of Trustees can combine the recall with the election of a new member for the remaining period of office.

(1) The Advisory Board advises the Managing Director and Board of Trustees in planning and implementing the research and educational programme, including the award of foundation funds for research assignments and educational work.

(2) The members of the Advisory Board work in an honorary capacity. They are entitled to reimbursement of the necessary travel costs incurred by them according to the provisions applicable to the direct federal administration.

(1) The Foundation draws up foundation regulations, which are decided by the Board of Trustees with a two-thirds majority of the participating members. The foundation regulations should in particular include supplementary rules on the cooperation of the executive bodies, such as the award of foundation funds. In addition, they regulate the mode of operation of the Advisory Board.

(2) The issue and amendment of the foundation regulations requires the approval of the Founder.

(1) The financial year of the Foundation is the calendar year.

(2) The bookkeeping and accounting of the Foundation must occur properly according to commercial regulations.

(3) The employees of the Foundation may not be put in a better position than comparable federal employees.

(4) The Managing Director draws up a business plan in good time before the beginning of each financial year and submits it to the Board of Trustees for approval. In the event of the projects supported having a multi-year duration, the business plan must also include medium-term planning. The business plan must be drawn up and executed according to the principles of economy and cost effectiveness. The budget and business management is subject to audit by the Bundesrechnungshof.

(5) The Managing Director draws up annual financial statements within the first four months of a year for the past financial year and submits them to the Board of Trustees for approval. If the Foundation is obliged to have the annual financial statements audited or the Board of Trustees has decided on their audit, an auditor must be determined by the Board of Trustees in consultation with the Bundesrechnungshof.

The Managing Director draws up an annual report on the activity of the Foundation in the previous financial year and submits it at the latest four months after expiry of the calendar year to the Board of Trustees for approval. The report should also include a look ahead at the further projects of the Foundation. The Managing Director publishes the activity report.

(1) The Articles of Association can be amended by decision of the Board of Trustees with the approval of the Founder. The decision requires a two-thirds majority of the participating members of the Board of Trustees.

(2) In the event of an amendment of the foundation purposes, the new foundation purposes must likewise be charitable in the meaning of the section “Tax-privileged purposes” of the German Tax Code and acknowledged as such by the fiscal authorities.

(3) The decision on an amendment of the Articles of Association must be submitted to the supervisory body for approval; it only takes effect upon issue of the approval.

(1) The Foundation can be dissolved by decision of the Board of Trustees with the approval of the Founder. The decision requires a three-quarters majority of the participating members of the Board of Trustees.

(2) The decision must be submitted to the supervisory body together with a clearance certificate of the fiscal authorities; it only takes effect upon issue of the approval.

(3) Upon dissolution or annulment of the Foundation or lapse of the tax-privileged purposes, the assets of the Foundation pass to the Federal Republic of Germany, which must use them directly and exclusively for tax-privileged purposes.

The Foundation is subject the state supervision of Berlin pursuant to the regulations of the Berlin Foundation Act.

* Articles of Association of 27 October 2011, reframed on 27 April 2023, approved on 6 July 2023