WITH HEART, COURAGE AND UNDERSTANDING

In 1982, Georg W. Claussen established the Claussen Foundation to support talented young people. The occasion was the 100th anniversary of Beiersdorf AG, where he had worked for decades as Chairman of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board. The Foundation's current impact is also due to the courageous and generous bequest made by Ebba Simon, Georg W. Claussen's cousin, in her will in 1999. Since then, the Foundation has also borne her name in its title. With its operational independence, the potential of the foundation has been able to develop ever further since 2012, and it finds lively expression in numerous scholarship programs and project support in science, education and culture.

1982-1999 - Generosity, vision and drive

Initially established as a foundation with no legal capacity under the auspices of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, Georg W. Claussen created the Claussen Foundation in 1982 as the starting point for a total of 20 scholarship programs, around 600 project sponsorships, and a lively community of schoolchildren, students, doctoral candidates, researchers, and artists. The purpose of the foundation, which was established on the occasion of Beiersdorf's 100th anniversary, was originally science and the promotion of technically and scientifically gifted young people.

1999-2011 - new perspectives

In 1999, Ebba Simon died in Hamburg at the age of 93. She bequeathed half of her fortune in her will to her cousin Georg W. Claussen's foundation, which has since borne the name Claussen-Simon Foundation and made education part of its purpose. Thanks to this generous decision, new funding programs in the fields of science and education could be financed through the Stifterverband. In 2008, the foundation also launched the first scholarship program under its own responsibility: the Gifted and Talented Business Program, later renamed Early Bird-Frühstudium.

2011-2022 - an open and vibrant community

With the transformation into a legally capable foundation under civil law on the occasion of the founder's 100th birthday and the independence thus gained, new opportunities opened up for the foundation's activities. Art & culture were added to the foundation's purpose, and the funding portfolio was continuously expanded. Since commencing operations in 2012, the Claussen-Simon Foundation has awarded 30 million euros in grants and accompanied 2,000 young people on their scholastic, academic, artistic and personal paths with scholarships. The New Year's Symposium, the Rampen Festival and the Stipendiat:innentreffen are annual highlights in the foundation's calendar.

Foundation Objectives

The foundation's objective is the promotion of science, research and education as well as art and culture, with a special focus on science and young scientists in Hamburg. 

The goals of the foundation are realized in particular by:

• the promotion of gifted young people through research projects and studies of all disciplines
• the acquisition of funds in accordance with § 58 No. 1 AO for the promotion of science and research for the realisation of the objectives of another tax-privileged entity or for the realization of tax-privileged objectives by a public corporation.
• The goals of the foundation are met in particular by granting scholarships to especially talented young people.

We are member of the Bundesverband Deutscher Stiftungen.

On October 1st 2016, the Ebba Simon House was opened in Hamburg-Borgfelde. The student hostel was funded by the Claussen-Simon-Stiftung und the Klaus und Lore Rating Stiftung and built by GBI AG. It provides living space for more than 200 students.