60th Theodor Heuss Prize Award Ceremony

Theodor Heuss Prize 2025 for Maia Sandu – Theodor Heuss medals for democracy projects

 

Stuttgart, 30 January 2025 – This year, the Theodor Heuss Foundation is awarding the Theodor Heuss Prize to Moldovan President Maia Sandu. The Theodor Heuss Prize is not endowed. Theodor Heuss Medals 2025 for outstanding democratic commitment go to the Campo della Pace initiative, the Community for Student Exchange in Central and Eastern Europe and Treibhaus Döbeln. This was announced by the non-partisan Theodor Heuss Foundation in Stuttgart. The theme of the award ceremony is: ‘Winning for democracy! Europe’s responsibility for human dignity and peace’.

 

The Theodor Heuss Foundation is celebrating a special anniversary this year: the Theodor Heuss Prize is being awarded for the 60th time. Every year since 1965, the foundation has honoured people and initiatives that have shown exemplary commitment to democracy and civil rights. The Chairman of the Theodor Heuss Foundation, Prof Dr Ludwig Theodor Heuss, said of the 2025 prize selection: ‘Maia Sandu is a voice of hope and change. With her great personal commitment to the reforms in Moldova and her strength against Russian influence, she has given us all courage. It is worth fighting for democracy and peace!’

 

Campo della Pace is a German-Italian initiative that brings together young people in Sant’Anna di Stazzema and Stuttgart. An SS massacre took place in Sant’Anna in 1944, when 560 Italians were murdered. The initiative’s peace camps are a reminder of this.

 

The Association for Student Exchange in Central and Eastern Europe (GFPS e.V.) also brings young people together across borders – with scholarships, language courses and exchange programmes. Young Germans meet people from Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Belarus.

 

Treibhaus e.V., Döbeln is a centre with innovative projects on art, culture, education and sport. Treibhaus has become a centre for diversity, human rights and commitment in Saxony.

 

All three organisations are exemplary in their commitment to democracy and human rights.

 

The 60th Theodor Heuss Award Ceremony will take place in Stuttgart on Saturday, 24 May 2025. The event will be broadcast in a live stream. Previous prizewinners include the European Court of Justice, former Federal Minister of the Interior Gerhart Baum, the Russian human rights organisation Memorial International, Václav Havel, Richard von Weizsäcker, Jürgen Habermas and former Bundestag President Rita Süßmuth. The Theodor Heuss Prize commemorates the first Federal President.