Awards
"That is why your commitment is and remains so important. You are a shining example of voluntary work."
Hermann-Maas-Preis
Every four years, the Heidelberg Hermann Maas Foundation awards the Hermann Maas Prize. D. Hermann Maas was a Protestant pastor at Heiliggeist and prelate, a pioneer of Christian-Jewish dialog and international understanding, honorary citizen of the city of Heidelberg and recipient of the Yad Vashem 'Righteous Among the Nations' medal. The Hermann Maas Prize is awarded to personalities and institutions who have made a special commitment to Christian-Jewish dialog and humanity in our society. In 2024, the jury decided to honor Margot Friedländer and the ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. initiative with the Hermann Maas Prize.
Preis der Vielfalt 2024
The SPD's Working Group on Migration and Diversity awards the 'Diversity Prize' to promote and reward organizations that are committed to strengthening diversity, combating racism and anti-Semitism and raising awareness of the historical aspects of these issues. Thank you for this award in 2024!
Ehrenamtspreis ›Köln Engagiert‹
This Volunteer Award raises awareness and interest in civic engagement. It draws attention to the work of the many volunteers who make a significant contribution to shaping life in the city of Cologne. In 2024, the Volunteer Award was presented for the 24th time. An independent jury selected the winners of ‘KölnEngagiert 2024’ from 124 nominations. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. is one of the winners! Thank you very much.
Obermayer Award 2023
The Obermayer Award recognises individuals and organisations in Germany who have contributed to preserving Jewish history and culture in their communities and counteracting hatred, prejudice and anti-Semitism with creative and selfless commitment. The honoured individuals and institutions have built bridges in their communities and around the world, thereby establishing close relationships with former Jewish citizens and their descendants. At the same time, thanks to their work, younger generations are also able to learn the lessons of history. We are delighted to having received the award in 2023! Thank you very much!
Aktiv für Demokratie und Toleranz 2022
The nationwide 'Active for Democracy and Tolerance' competition was looking for exemplary and replicable civil society projects that are active in the Association for Democracy & Tolerance's (BfDT) thematic areas: Democracy, tolerance, integration, prevention of violence, extremism and anti-Semitism. From 313 submissions, the newly constituted jury made the final selection of 57 award-winning projects from 13 federal states in the 2022 active competition. We are delighted to receive this award and the prize money of 6,000 euros.
Förderpreis ›EngagementGewinnt‹ 2021
In 2021, a jury of experts selected 50 winners from 357 entries for the "EngagementGewinnt" sponsorship award from the German Foundation for Engagement and Volunteering (DSEE). Ten winners were chosen per region, and ten audience prizes were also awarded. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. is one of the honoured winners in the West region and received prize money of 10,000 euros. We would like to thank you for your support!
WIR IST PLURAL | Preis zur Stärkung der Demokratie
On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Federal Constitutional Court, the ‘WIR IST PLURAL | Preis zur Stärkung der Demokratie honoured 15 particularly committed and outstanding projects on the key question ‘How are you committed to the democratic values of the German constitution?. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. won gold in the ‘Large Projects’ category and thus 5,000 euros. Many thanks for this great support!
Smart Hero Award 2021
The Smart Hero Award is the first and only award for engagement and social media in Germany. Smart Heroes are social heroes who show the world their commitment online, democratic heroes who use the possibilities of social media to stand up for themselves and others and ecological heroes who protect our planet online and offline. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. came in 2nd place in the ‘Democratic Design’ category and won prize money of 10,000 euros! We are overwhelmed, thank you very much!
Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland
A very special honour at Bellevue Palace to strengthen peace together. On Friday, 7 May 2021, Sarah Hüttenberend, founder and 1st Chairwoman of ZWEITZEUGEN e.V., was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier! The order was awarded for her commitment against anti-Semitism and racism as well as for founding ZWEITZEUGEN e.V..
#dortMUT: Die DSW21-Förderaktion
Every year, the transport department of Dortmund's public utility company DSW21 supports non-profit organisations in the areas of sport, social affairs, culture and diversity. The jury honours the voluntary work of Dortmund residents with up to 3,000 euros each. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. was honoured as part of #dortMUT in the area of culture for a project to digitally process the personal memories of Holocaust survivors.
Engagementpreis NRW 2020 – Special prize from the NRW Stiftung
Every year, the Northrhine-Westphalia (NRW) State Chancellery and the NRW Foundation for Nature Conservation, Heritage and Cultural Preservation honour civic engagement with the NRW Civic Engagement Award. Under the motto ‘Young and committed in NRW’, prizes were awarded to three organisations in 2020. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. received the NRW Foundation's special prize and prize money of 3,000 euros.
phineo-Wirkt-Siegel
Phineo is a non-profit analysis and consultancy firm that assesses the sustainable effectiveness of social engagement projects. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. was awarded the ‘Wirkt-Siegel’ seal of approval in 2019 following Phineo's audit process. The award not only certifies our effectiveness in society, but also recognises our quality management and transparency.
Anerkannter Träger der freien Jugendhilfe
ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. is a recognised independent youth welfare organisation according to sec. 78 German Social Code VIII (SGB VIII). We are active in the field of youth welfare within the meaning of sec. 1 SGB VIII and pursue non-profit goals. Due to our professional and personnel requirements, we can be expected to make a significant contribution to the fulfillment of the tasks of youth welfare and offer the guarantee of work that is conducive to the objectives of the German consitution. In addition, we have been active in the field of youth welfare for at least three years.
"Ehrensache" der Deutschen Bahn Stiftung
The Deutsche Bahn Foundation honours the voluntary commitment of its employees in its "Ehrensache" programme. Our volunteer Verena Blättermann was awarded the "Ehrensache" programme in 2019 and also received the special prize for social commitment. Verena has been active with ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. since 2015.
Initiativen-Preis des Paritätischen Jugendwerks NRW 2019
Under the title ‘Being different - thinking different – acting together’, the Paritätische Jugendwerk NRW (PJW) honoured three initiatives in 2019 in which children and young people stick together and act together despite all their differences. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. received the first prize of 2,000 euros for its work to empower children and young people against anti-Semitism and racism.
Stephanien-Preis 2018 des St. Sebastianus Schützenvereins Düsseldorf
Every year on the second Sunday in May, St Sebastianus Schützen in Düsseldorf celebrates Stephanie von Hohenzollern Memorial Day. Every two years, the ‘Stephanien’- Prize, endowed with 5,000 euros, is awarded to a charitable organisation in honour of the princess's charitable work. In 2018, ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. was honoured for its social commitment against anti-Semitism and racism.
Beratungsstipendium "Programm Engagement mit Perspektive"
The Engagement with Perspective Programme (PEP) supports young people in their promising projects with their contribution to social change. PEP is a programme of Ashoka Germany. It promotes social enterprises through personalised coaching and peer-to-peer formats.
Google Impact Challenge Finalist 2016
The Google Impact Challenge promotes innovative digital ideas designed to bring the work of organisations up to date. Our idea for an app that improves the distribution of tasks to volunteers convinced the jury. As a finalist, ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. was honoured with prize money of €1,000.
AndersGründer
Until 2019, the AndersGründer project honoured people who turned their idea for solving a social problem into a sustainably effective business. AndersGründer was a Social Impact project and was funded by KfW Foundation. In 2016, ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. received funding for its project to empower young people to fight racism and anti-Semitism using Holocaust survivor stories.
Zukunftspreis der Israel Stiftung Deutschland 2016
The Israel Foundation Germany honours initiatives, projects and people who foster and promote relations with Israel and its citizens. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. was honoured with the ‘Zukunftspreis’ 2016, as the association is particularly committed to ‘remembering in the future’.
Beratungsstipendium startsocial 2015/16
startsocial is a nationwide competition to promote voluntary social commitment. It is organised under the patronage of former German Chancellor Angela Merkel and included professional advice for us from two coaches from Deutsche Bank and McKinsey. ZWEITZEUGEN e.V.received the special prize of 5,000 euros in the 2015/16 startsocial competition to promote voluntary social engagement.
Social Impact Lab Duisburg
Thanks to the AndersGründer project, the ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. association had access to the premises of the Social Impact Lab Duisburg for eight months. This meant a fixed location where the volunteers could meet regularly and work together.
Preisträger des Bundeswettbewerbs ‘Aktiv für Demokratie und Toleranz 2014’
The aim of the Active for Democracy and Tolerance competition is to make civic engagement in Germany visible. The competition is organised annually by the Alliance for Democracy and Tolerance - against Extremism and Violence of the Federal Agency for Civic Education. As part of the award, ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. had the opportunity to present itself to the Düsseldorf Integration Council in 2016.
‘Die Verantwortlichen’ der Robert-Bosch-Stiftung
The network The Robert Bosch Foundation's managers promote outstanding social commitment. In addition to individual training and advisory services, the foundation organises regular network meetings where those responsible can come together and exchange ideas. Katharina Müller-Spirawski has been a Robert Bosch Foundation scholarship holder for ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. since 2017.
Hanns-Lilje-Stiftungspreis 2015
The Hanns Lilje Foundation promotes dialogue between the church and theology with key areas of social life. In 2015, ZWEITZEUGEN e.V. impressed the jury with its combination of artistic and peace-ethical commitment on a Christian basis and received the foundation prize for this. The jury sees the passing on of the (surviving) life stories of Holocaust witnesses as ‘second witnesses’ as encouraging reconciliation and peace work that should be further disseminated.
Josef Neuberger Medaille 2017
In the name of the Jewish lawyer and politician Josef Neuberger (1902-1977), the Jewish community in Düsseldorf has been honouring non-Jewish personalities who have rendered outstanding services to the Jewish community since 1991. In 2017, the medal went to ZWEITZEUGEN e.V.