Munich Security Conference Foundation

Since its foundation in 1963, the Munich Security Conference has been constantly evolving. Originally established as "Wehrkunde," a private initiative by the founder Ewald-Heinrich von Kleist, the conference has become the world’s leading independent forum for international security policy. The Foundation strives to provide a solid institutional basis for the future development of the MSC which has grown substantially as an organization with numerous activities over the past years.

The MSC Foundation was established in 2018 to ensure the independence and long-term sustainability of the MSC and its growing activities in an era of geopolitical uncertainty. Over the past decade, the MSC has complemented the annual main conference in Munich with a growing variety of formats at the highest level over the entire year, and in major capitals around the world, covering a very broad spectrum of international security issues, including defense, cyber, and arms control as well as, inter alia, energy, climate, and human security. With the annual Munich Security Report and other papers and research reports, the MSC has also started to develop a growing think-tank capacity.

The Munich Security Conference remains true to its founding motto of promoting transatlantic cooperation for security and peace in freedom. At the same time, the MSC is committed to the European idea and advocates for a responsible German role on the path to further European integration.
Wolfgang Ischinger•President of the Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation

The MSC Foundation was established under German civil law by Ambassador (ret.) and former MSC Chairman Wolfgang Ischinger who donated all shares of the existing MSC gGmbH to the foundation. The gGmbH continues to carry out all operational activities of the MSC. The German Federal Government, the Bavarian State Government, the Robert Bosch Stiftung, and EnBW AG have already made significant financial contributions to the MSC Foundation. A range of other important organizations, companies, and private individuals have announced their intention to become donors.

Ambassador (ret.) Ischinger chairs the Foundation Council which provides guidance to the Board, chaired by Benedikt Franke. Other foundation bodies include the Advisory Council and a Board of Trustees.

The Foundation Council

The Foundation Council serves as the primary decision-making body of the Munich Security Conference Foundation. It is currently comprised of seven members – including, ex officio, the Chairman of the Board of Trustees – and is chaired by a President, currently Wolfgang Ischinger, who served as Chairman of the Munich Security Conference from 2008 until 2022.

President

Wolfgang Ischinger

Ambassador (ret.), President of the Foundation Council of the Munich Security Conference Foundation, Munich

Members

Hans Albrecht

Chairman, Global Bridges e.V., Berlin

Nikolaus von Bomhard

President of the Council, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Munich

Barbara Frenkel

Member of the Executive Board, Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart

Christoph Heusgen

Ambassador, Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Munich

Helga Maria Schmid

Secretary General, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe; Deputy President of the Foundation Council, Munich Security Conference Foundation, Vienna