US-Major General (ret.) John H. Mitchell and artist Veryl Goodnight in front of the sculpture THE DAY THE WALL CAME DOWN on Clayallee in Berlin- the Foundation provided the necessary funds for the establishment of the project |
The Checkpoint Charlie Foundation was founded in 1994 by the Berlin State Legislature and is a legal foundation with political rights in the Berlin State and within its laws. The purpose of the Foundation is to foster German-American relations with special consideration for the role that the U.S. played in Berlin between the years of 1945 and 1994.
Since its establishment, the Foundation has planned, supported and implemented almost 500 German-American projects costing more than three million €uros. In addition, the Foundation has coordinated the largest German-American teachers' exchange between the U.S. and Germany and has overseen all of Berlin's non-partisan activities with its sister city Los Angeles. Every year the Foundation awards two prizes: the John Jacob Astor Award in Library Studies and Information Science (formerly the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Award), and, together with the American Association of Teachers of German, established the "Friedrich Gerstäcker Reisestipendium" (the Friedrich Gerstäcker Travel Stipend) for study trips to both Berlin and Germany. The Foundation is a non-partisan and nonprofit institution. |
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