Hall of Fame

Have a look at our Past Speakers

Our speakers come from a broad range of fields, including Politics, Economics, and Culture. They provide insightful and engaging conversations about topics that matter. We are incredibly proud to have hosted talks with highly accomplished speakers such as:

2024

 

Klaas
Heufer-Umlauf

TV Presenter of “Late Night Berlin”, TV Producer and Entrepreneur

Carla Rochel 

Environmental Activist and Spokesperson for the Climate Movement “Letzte Generation”

Paul Preußen

Co-Founder of Digital8.ai

Sophie Bayern 

Doctoral Candidate at Oxford University researching Justice, Human Rights and Global Health

2023

 

Katja Hoyer

Historian, Journalist and Author

Sir George Norton

Global Security Expert

Prof. Martin Riedmiller

Artifical Intelligence and Machine Learning expert and Senior Researcher at DeepMind

Anka Feldhusen

German Ambassador to Ukraine

2022

Ricarda Lang

Member of Parliament for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen

Dr. Markus Grüneisl

CEO of BMW UK Manufacturing and Swindon Pressings

Dr. Danyal Bayaz

State Minister of Finance in Baden-Württemberg

Ralph Caspers

TV Presenter, Actor and Author

Volker Kauder

Politician, Lawyer and former Leader of the Bundestagsfraktion CDU/CSU

Jan Bayer

Member of the Executive Board of Axel Springer SE

Martin Stratmann

Head of the Max Planck Society

Leon Windscheid

Psychologist and Author

Atze Schröder

Comedian

Markus Söder

Minister-President of Bavaria and Leader of the CSU

Alexander Weber

Chief Growth Officer at N26

2021

Christian Lindner

Leader of the FDP

Thomas de Maizière

German Politician (CDU)

Dunja Hayali

Journalist and Television Presenter

Reinhard Genzel

Astrophysicist and Academic

Aminata Touré

MP at Schleswig-Holstein’s State Parliament

Katrin Suder

Chair of the Advisory Council on Digitalisation

Mehmet Daimagüler

Lawyer, author and former FDP politician

Daniel Stelter

Economist, book author and podcast host

Kristina Lunz

Founder at Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy

Paul Ostwald

Founder at Forum.eu

Phillip von der Wippel

Founder at ProjectTogether

Roman Rothärmel

Founder at Neurolytic Healthcare

Alexander Kurz

Executive Board Member of the Fraunhofer Society

Jörg Kukies

Secretary of State to the German Ministry of Finance

Tupoka Ogette and Stephen Lawson

Experts for Diversity and Antidiscrimination

Cornelia Funke

Author

Winfried Kretschmann

Minister President of Baden-Württemberg

Prof Dr Dr Alexander Görlach

Researcher, author and columnist

2020

Olaf Scholz

Vice Chancellor of Germany

Karl Lauterbach

MdB of the SPD

Ferdinand von Schirach

Lawyer and Writer

Dorothee Bär

State Minister for Digitalisation

Alexander Kekulé

Virologist

Timur Vermes

Journalist and Writer

Thomas Steffen

State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Health

Mirko Drotschmann

YouTuber and Journalist

Dani Kranz

Researcher on Migration and Antisemitism

Adam Zamoyski

Historian

Norman Davies

Historian

Alastair Buchan

Head of Brexit Strategy at Oxford University

Carola Rackete

Humanitarian Activist

Fabiola Gerpott

Chair of Leadership at the WHU

Eva Grill

Epidemiologist

Philipp Osten

Medical Historian

Marylyn Addo

Infectiologist

Helge Braun

Head of the Federal Chancellery

Andreas Michaelis

German Ambassador to the UK

2019

Katarina Barley

Vice President of the European Parliament

Carolin Kebekus

Stand-Up and TV Comedian

Peter Dabrock

Chariman of the German Ethics Council

Boris Palmer

Mayor of Tübingen

Peter Wittig

German Ambassador to the UK

Stefan Oschmann

CEO of Merck Group

Bernd Ulrich

Deputy Editor-in-Chief of DIE ZEIT

Andrea Schumacher

Vice President of the BAMF

Guido Heinen

Head of Research Services at Deutscher Bundestag

Martin Putsch

CEO of RECARO Group

Timon Ruban

Founder of luminovo.ai

Philip Banse

Journalist (Lage der Nation)

Ulf Buermeyer

Judge (Lage der Nation)

Friederike Otto

Acting Director of the Environmental Change Institute

Linus Mattauch

Economist at the Institute for New Economic Thinking

Jürgen Wiebicke

Host of “Das Philosophische Radio”

Ansgar Kemmann

Head of Jugend Debattiert

Jonathan Wolff

British Philosopher and Blavatnik Chair in Public Policy

Alexandra Borchardt

Director of Leadership Programmes at the Reuters Institute Oxford

Stefan Enchelmaier

Professor of European and Comparative Law

Matthias Dilling

Lecturer in Comparative Politics

2018

Harald Schmidt

Actor, Writer, and TV Host

S. Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger

Former German Justice Minister

Hans Joachim Schellnhuber

Climate Researcher

Claus Hipp

CEO of HiPP

Sir Paul Lever

Former British Ambassador to Germany

Anna Depenbusch

German Singer and Songwriter

Zana Ramadani

Writer and Feminist Activist

Konstantin Kuhle

MdB of the FDP

Ronja von Rönne

Writer, Blogger, and Journalist

Hans-Josef Fell

MdB of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen

2017

Norbert Lammert

President of the Bundestag

Roland Koch

Minister President of Hesse

Rene Obermann

CEO of Deutsche Telekom AG

Dieter Althaus

Minister President of Thuringia

Jürgen Großmann

CEO of RWE

Philipp Amthor

Politician of the CDU

Frank Mastiaux

CEO of EnBW Energy

Wolfgang Silbermann

Head of Speechwriting for the President of Germany

Konstantin Mehl

CEO of Foodora

2016

Carsten Spohr

CEO of Lufthansa

Antonia Rados

Journalist

Julia Engelmann

Poetry Slammer and Actor

Mark Lynas

Environmental Activist

Christian Haller

Writer and Foreign Fighter

2015

Christian Wulff

President of Germany

Peer Steinbrück

MdB of the SPD

Ranga Yogeshwar

Science Journalist

Rupert Stadler

CEO of Audi

Benedict Wells

Writer

Barbara Salesch

TV Judge and Artist

Joachim Sauer

Quantum Chemist

Ilija Trojanow

Writer

2014

Armin Maiwald

Father of “Die Sendung mit der Maus”

Roland Berger

Founder of Roland Berger Strategy Consultants

Bernd Lucke

Founder of the AfD

Gerhard Polt

Cabaret Artist

Walter Straten

Deputy Editor-in-Chief of BILD

2013

Oliver Welke

Comedian and TV Presenter

Ole von Beust

Mayor of Hamburg

Margot Käßmann

Leader of the Evangelical Church in Germany

Mathias Döpfner

CEO of Axel Springer

2012

Andreas Voßkuhle

President of the German Constitutional Court

Gesine Schwan

Academic and SPD Politician

Hans-Olaf Henkel

BDI President

Clemens Fuest

Economist

2011

Edmund Stoiber

Minister President of Bavaria

Kai Diekmann

Editor-in-Chief of BILD

Claudia Roth

MdB of Bündnis 90/Die Grünen

Martin Walser

Writer

Peter Grünberg

Nobel Laureate

Arnulf Baring

Historian and Writer

Harald Christ

Entrepeneur

Stefan Krause

CFO Deutsche Bank

2010

Gregor Gysi

MdB of Die Linke

Martin Sonneborn

Satirist

Harald zur Hausen

Nobel Laureate

Daniel Kehlmann

Writer

Urban Priol

Comedian

2009

Hans-Peter Kaul

Judge at the ICC

Ernst Pöppel

Medical Psychologist

Henning Wehn

Comedian

Burkhard Wittek

Writer

Eckhard Lübkemeier

Diplomat

Before 2009

Christine Nüsslein-Volhard

Nobel Laureate

Jens Lehmann

Goalkeeper

Frank Mattern

Managing Partner at McKinsey Germany

Inspiring Discussions

Insightful conversations with leaders coming from a broad range of fields.