Evolved over time

Over the past decades, many private individuals have generously bequeathed donations to the UdK Berlin (until 2001 Hochschule der Künste / HdK Berlin), some of which were substantial. They were all transferred to the charitable foundation when the UdK Berlin Foundation was established in 2023. The memory of the donors' will thus lives on in the UdK Berlin Foundation.
The UdK Berlin Foundation also manages three trust foundations that are designed to offer students, young academics and artists even better study and research opportunities. These are the Ursula Hanke-Förster Foundation, the Ulrich and Burga Knispel Foundation and the Helmut Thoma Foundation.
Many of the donors are former professors, musicians, artists or visitors with a connection to Berlin and the predecessor institutions of today's university.
The funds come mainly from private assets invested by the university, the proceeds of which are used to organise competitions in the Faculty of Music, for example. 
However, the research also reveals controversial legacies, such as that of a former professor of architecture: Paul Baumgarten, who designed the UdK Berlin concert hall and the Eternithaus, among other things, was a professor at the predecessor institution.

Prof Baumgarten's legacy enabled the university to establish the Margot and Paul Baumgarten Foundation in 1987, which has since become part of the UdK Berlin Foundation. 
Years later, students were studying the history of architecture and everyday life in Berlin during National Socialism, including the former professor. Paul Baumgarten was a member of the NSDAP for twelve years, two of which were spent in the SS Motorstorm. It was discussed whether the Paul Baumgarten Scholarship, which is financed from the foundation's funds, could continue to be awarded. During the debate, a former prizewinner* decided to return the prize money received at the time to the Margot and Paul Baumgarten Foundation and thus promote a critical examination of the role of architects. The Architecture Student Council used the funds to organise a competition in 2023. The questions to be answered were: What responsibility do we as architects bear for the profession and society? How can we act according to moral convictions in existing dependencies, which dependencies can we overcome? 
This example of a successful examination of a legacy makes it clear that the foundation has a natural obligation to scrutinise the origin of all donations, endowments and other support. In order to keep this research work transparent, the results will be published on this website step by step. The research is dedicated to our University Archive, the Landesarchiv Berlin and the Archive der Akademie der Künste.

It can currently be stated that the assets of a former trust foundation originate from shares in companies, some of which employed forced labourers during the National Socialist era and were active in the armaments industry. This estate accounts for around 1% of the total assets of the UdK Berlin Foundation.

Examining historie

The institutional history of the UdK Berlin and its predecessor institutions, which dates back to the 17th century, has been the subject of intensive research for some time now. In the process, the focus has shifted to actors, buildings and collections.
In particular, the role of the university in the Weimar Republic, during National Socialism and in the post-war period is being scrutinised. Possible Nazi involvement of donors who left their legacies to the university to support students will also be investigated.