The mission of the White Rose Foundation membership association is to commemorate the resistance of the White Rose against National Socialism, to honor that resistance and its participants, as well as to promote civic courage, individual responsibility and democratic consciousness in our present days. This includes taking a stand against right-wing extremism, anti-Semitism and racism.
Our permanent exhibition on the White Rose, the ‘DenkStätte Weiße Rose’ memorial in Munich, as well as our travelling exhibitions, events and educational historical projects provide information on the student circle of friends that was the White Rose, and their resistance against the National Socialist dictatorship. A special concern of ours is to make the White Rose’s legacy meaningful in our day and time.
In April 1985 members of the American Jewish Congress reached out to White Rose survivors in Munich in connection to the controversial WWII memorial ceremony initiated by then US President Reagan and German chancellor Kohl at Bitburg cemetery. On February 23, 1987, the “White Rose Foundation” was established on Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C. Among the many US trustees were the current President of the United States, Joseph R. Biden, and the Honorables Arthur F. Burns and Robert Dole. On October 12, 1987, the “Weiße Rose Stiftung e. V.” was founded in Munich, Germany.
The White Rose Foundation is a registered non-profit membership association that is supported by numerous friends and patrons. It receives public funding through a community of ‘White Rose cities’ (Munich, Hamburg, Saarbrücken, Freiburg, Ulm, Berlin, and Gräfelfing) and the Bavarian Ministry of Education and Culture. Aside from that, it relies on donations to be able to carry through its mission.
The Circle of Friends and Patrons
The office of the Foundation is located within Ludwig-Maximilians-University (LMU) in Munich.
For an overview of our activities over the past years, please see our activity reports below (German only):