ZEIT-Stiftung

Name

ZEIT-Stiftung

Legal name

ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS

Website

https://zeit-stiftung.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

1971

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Charitable Foundation Services

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Law & Legal Studies Research Universities (EDAHABAF)

Keywords

• Charitable foundation services
• Grantmaking and philanthropy
• Educational scholarships
• Cultural exhibition programming
• Press freedom advocacy

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamburg

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Endowment Investment Returns: The foundation is funded by its endowment capital (approximately €1.08 billion as of 2021). Returns on this endowment are used to fund grant-making, own initiatives (Bucerius Law School, Bucerius Kunst Forum), scholarships, and operational activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS is a private German nonprofit foundation that makes grants, scholarships, and project funding available across education, science and research, art and culture, journalism, democracy, and European affairs. It directly operates two flagship institutions — Bucerius Law School (Germany's first private foundation university for law, founded 2000) and Bucerius Kunst Forum (international art exhibition house, founded 2002) — alongside mentoring programs (WEICHENSTELLUNG), doctoral scholarships, debate forums (ZEIT Forum Wissenschaft), press freedom awards (Free Media Awards, Marion-Dönhoff-Preis), and civic education initiatives.

Product overview

ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS is a charitable foundation founded in 1971 by publisher Gerd Bucerius, functioning as a grant-making and project-implementing organization rather than a traditional software product. Its portfolio of products and services includes two flagship institutions it founded and funds — the Bucerius Law School (Germany's first private foundation university for law, est. 2000) and the Bucerius Kunst Forum (international art exhibition house, est. 2002) — as well as educational programs such as the WEICHENSTELLUNG mentoring program, Bucerius Summer School, and Bucerius Institute at the University of Haifa. The foundation also operates discussion and debate programs including ZEIT Forum Wissenschaft, the Marion-Dönhoff-Preis, Free Media Awards, and Bucerius Lab innovation laboratory. A notable recent product is the Aktionslabor mobile exhibition on news literacy, touring since 2024, along with the Urbaneo children's architecture museum opened in 2025. The foundation's activities span education, research, journalism, art, culture, democracy, and digital transformation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 3.5 million visitors to the Bucerius Kunst Forum since its founding in 2002
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship, major and minor.

• DIE ZEIT newspapercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation's roots and identity are intertwined with DIE ZEIT. Gerd Bucerius co-founded the weekly newspaper in 1946, and the foundation manages the Marion-Dönhoff Prize jointly with DIE ZEIT and the Marion Dönhoff Foundation. The newspaper serves as a primary media partner for many foundation events.
• Marion Dönhoff FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether with DIE ZEIT and the Marion Dönhoff Foundation, ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS co-organizes the annual Marion-Dönhoff Prize for international understanding and reconciliation (€20,000). Awarded 23 times as of 2025.
• Körber-StiftungflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-initiator of the 1st Hamburg Week of Press Freedom (2023) alongside ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, supported by 20+ partner organizations. Also partner for the Exile Media Forum.
• Brost-StiftungmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerFunder and partner of the 'Redaktionelle Gesellschaft' Aktionslabor, a mobile interactive exhibition on news literacy, co-funded by Brost-Stiftung and Dieter von Holtzbrinck Stiftung.
• Dieter von Holtzbrinck StiftungmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-funder of the 'Redaktionelle Gesellschaft' Aktionslabor — a mobile exhibition on news literacy and disinformation targeting adults.
• Klaus Tschira StiftungflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-initiator (with ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS) of the 'Expertise unter Druck' (Expertise under Pressure) project series (since 2024), providing protection and orientation for scientists facing public attacks. Annual symposium held at Bucerius Law School with Scicomm-Support.
• Fritt Ord (Norwegian foundation)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTogether with Fritt Ord, ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS awards the Free Media Awards to journalists and media organizations in Eastern Europe, recognizing press freedom advocacy under difficult conditions.
• Max Weber StiftungminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner in the 'Global History' event series (2024–2025), initiated by the Georgia Office of the Max Weber Foundation and funded by ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS, focusing on Georgia and the Caucasus.
• Bucerius Law SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation's own institution — Germany's first private foundation university for law, founded in 2000. The foundation serves as main supporter, providing funding, governance, and strategic direction.
• Bucerius Kunst ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe foundation's own international exhibition house in Hamburg, founded in 2002. ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS funds and oversees the forum, which presents world art exhibitions accompanied by extensive mediation programs.
• Deichtorhallen Hamburg / Sammlung FalckenbergmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for the 'Sammlung Falckenberg zu Gast...' project bringing the Falckenberg art collection to public spaces, starting at Bucerius Law School. Falckenberg collection comprises 2,400+ works by 500 artists.
• Kampnagel Internationale KulturfabrikmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-initiator (since 2019) of 'ZEIT FÜR WELTTHEATER' — a program bringing international avant-garde theater to Hamburg through co-productions and guest performances.
• Thalia Theater HamburgmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-term supporter of the 'Lessingtage' festival and 'Thalia International' program (since 2019), bringing international theater guest performances to Hamburg with supertitles and contextual introductions.
• ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-organizer with ifa of the Henrike Naumann Prize for Visual Arts, promoting artistic exchange.
• Bundespräsidialamt / Schloss BellevueflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with the German Federal President's office for 'Forum Bellevue zur Transformation der Gesellschaft' — a high-profile debate series inaugurated by Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on societal transformation.
• Netzwerk Recherche e. V.minorGTM or Marketing PartnerPartner for the 'Support Desk Lokale Recherche' (Local Research Support Desk), providing assistance for local journalism investigations.
• American Friends of BuceriusminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorUS-based support organization for the foundation's activities, listed in the website footer alongside Bucerius Law School and Bucerius Kunst Forum.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Brost-Stiftung: German journalism foundation based in Essen with a strong media-freedom and press-promotion mandate. Direct partner on the Aktionslabor; comparable in press-freedom and journalism-support portfolio.
• Körber-Stiftung: Hamburg-based German operating foundation with a thematic emphasis on civic engagement, education, and press freedom. Most direct peer given shared geography, partner status (Hamburg Week of Press Freedom), and overlapping focus on journalism and democratic debate.
• Fritz Thyssen Stiftung: German foundation focused on academic research and humanities — closely comparable to ZEIT-Stiftung's Wissenschaft & Forschung division and its doctoral scholarships.
• Robert Bosch Stiftung: Major German corporate-linked foundation with a strong focus on education, democracy, and international relations. Operates own programs alongside grants, analogous to ZEIT-Stiftung's combined institution-and-grantmaking model.
• Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung: Large German endowment foundation funding universities and academic institutions, with an emphasis on science and education. Comparable in capital intensity, endowment-driven grantmaking model, and long-term institutional partnerships.
• Klaus Tschira Stiftung: German science-oriented foundation that co-initiates programs with ZEIT-Stiftung (Expertise unter Druck). Operates own institutions such as the Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies; comparable in combining grantmaking with own programming.
• VolkswagenStiftung: One of Germany's largest science and humanities foundations with an endowment above €3B. Closely comparable funding science, humanities, and international academic cooperation, including doctoral scholarships that compete with ZEIT-Stiftung's Promotionsstipendien.
• Bertelsmann Stiftung: Largest operating foundation in Europe, focused on education, democracy, and society. Directly analogous dual model of policy research, own initiatives, and major grantmaking with similar thematic reach into education, democracy, and Europe.
• Fritt Ord: Norwegian foundation focused on freedom of expression and press freedom. Co-awards the Free Media Awards with ZEIT-Stiftung for journalists in Eastern Europe; closely comparable in mission and program.
• Stiftung Mercator: Large German foundation funding education, science, and culture with international outlook. Comparable in mission scope (education, European integration, cultural participation) and in operating both grantmaking and own programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ZEITstiftung
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCO8sVHfEbVrip948XEb9M8A
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/zeit-stiftung-ebelin-und-gerd-bucerius
• Instagraminstagram.com/zeitstiftungbucerius
• Facebookfacebook.com/zeitstiftung

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ZEIT-Stiftung