Pritzwalk
Textile Mill
Hessische Landesregierung • Presseinformation • 31. August 2009
Aknowledgment of tremendous commitment for the community
Great Cross of Federal Merit awarded to Johanna Quandt from Bad Homburg
"Johanna Quandt is a very commited person in many fields. She is considered to be a selfless patroness in both thinking and acting, guided by the faith to share her family's econonmical success with others and to serve the community. With her economical knowledge, a long breath and significant funds she made way for the establishment of several foundations. Johanna Quandt is a most exemplary representative for patronism, which makes many thinks possible that weren't without it." With these words the Hessian primeminister Roland Koch honoured the services of entrepreneuress Johanna Quandt from Bad Homburg, as he presented the Great Cross of Federal Merit to her in the office of the hessian state.
Foundations have a special value in Johanna Quandts social commitments. In 1995 she constituted the "Johanna-Quandt-foundation". This institution, in which Johanna Quandt is head of the trustees, assists economical education. With a base seminar "economy", the foundation promotes training of journalists and prepares volunteers and young editorsfor the editorial field and economic reporting.
In the year 1986, she donated the "Herbert Quandt media-award". Every year journalists and publishers, who deal in a sophisticated yet a general way with the importance of entrepreneurs and enterprises in the economy, are decorated with this award.
Additionally, she was part of the "union of friends and promoters of the Wolfgang Goethe-university" advisory board from 1987 to 1998. Since 2008 she is a member of the foundationstrustees of the Goethe-university. As early as 1986 Johanna Quandt supports the work of Frankfurts Cancer help ("Frankfurter Krebshilfe") and the clinic for pediatrics in the hospital of the university. Thanks to her financial aid the new building of the stem cell transplantation centre for the treatment of children who suffer from cancer could be build and opened in 2004. Each year 50 children, which cannot be medicated with chemotherapy, are treated who suffer from leucemia or lymphomas. Not only did she contribute to the process that stam cell transplantation could develop to a scientific and clinical centre in Frankfurt with her support, she also wanted to be brought into contact with the patients and they're parents to personally deal with the advance of the treating methods and the scientific results. In manifold manner Johanna Quandt commited herself to the hospital endlessy and for example, has multiple of the hospitals doctors and nurses on her payroll.
In 1984 the entrepreneuress joined the advisory board of the charity "help for children suffering from cancer e.V"(in german"Hilfe für krebskranke Kinder e.V."). It was her explicit wish to contribute personally to brightening the chances of cure from cancer in the childhood. Additionally she invests in the psychosocial aid for familys with children suffering from cancer. During the many events the association organized, Johanna Quandt did not only participate as guest, but was commiting herself with her natural modesty and joviality in the field. With great enthusiasm she read aloud stories for the children and if possible, visited the children in the hospital to relieve they're parents.
In 2006 she founded a professorship for the research in basics for life sciences that is situated at the Frankfurt Institute for Advanced Studies(FIAS) with a total of 3.3 million € over a time length of ten years. The FIAS is a interdisciplinary research facility, were complex scientific correlations are beeing analyzed. Furthermore she donated 3 million € to the Goethe-university as a dependend foundation, which yields are to be used for the research at the university as well as the FIAS. For her major commitment she was honoured with the decree of honorary senator by the university of Frankfurt am Main.
After the fusion of Berlins university medical under the Charité Mrs. Quandt founded the Foundation Charité in 2005. Aim of the foundation is the promotion of the basics and application oriented science, research and teaching on all subjects of life science and medicine as well as reforms and development measures in university medical oriented patient care at the Charité-University-Hospital in Berlin. She mainly imprinted the foundation, creatively as well as knowledgeable shaped it and is vice chairman of the foundation.
The cultural sector is also a special part of Johanna Quandts commitment: she deserves to be named for her services for the Sinclair-House in Bad Homburg. The building is owned by the ALTANA Cultural Foundation nowadays. It is an important venue for modern art as well as an educational place which opens ways for children, teenagers and adults to art.
She is member of the Hessian Cultural Foundation's trustees since 1999, as well as in numerous art institutes, museums and is patronizing great art exhibitions actively. The song competition "Das Lied - International Song Competition", which was first held at the beginning of 2009 in Berlin, has already been outfitted by Mrs. Quandt to be held the next six years.
Johanna Quandt lived her childhood in Berlin: during the second world war she was a pupil at a girls' grammar school in Potsdam. After her A-level she absolved an training as medical-technical assistant in Berlin, which she had to abort due to the war. After the war she worked as a secretary for a banker in Cologne. She joined the secretary of entrepreneur Dr. Herbert Quandt in Frankfurt On The Main in the mid fifties. She married him in year 1960 and became an important aid and consultant. After her mans death 1982 she took over leading positions in supervisory boards of family-based companys, for example BMW or the ALTANA AG. She passed her mandates inside the supervisory boards onto her children in 1996.