António Guterres, Charlemagne Prize laureate 2019 | © Helmut Rüland
The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen
As its latest project, the Charlemagne Prize Academy is part of a distinctive development of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, which is the oldest and most renowned prize awarded for work done in the service of European unification. The laureates of the Charlemagne Prize are a vivid reflection of the history of the unification process. The political founding fathers of a united Europe have all been acknowledged, as have the bearers of hope for enlargement and consolidation of European unity, those responsible for democratic institutions, key players in the reunification of East and West, European thinkers, doers and sources of inspiration, and those who fight for our common European values at home and abroad. The most recent laureates are Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the People of Ukraine (2023), Maria Kalesnikava, Swetlana Tichanowskaja and Veronica Tsepkalo (2022), Klaus Iohannis (2020/21), António Guterres (2019), Emmanuel Macron (2018) and Timothy Garton Ash (2017). The 2024 Charlemagne Prize laureates are Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt and the Jewish people in Europe.
All Charlemagne Prize laureates can be found here.
Building upon the intention to promote outstanding work for social progress and mutual understanding, the Charlemagne Prize Academy aims to connect new ideas and thoughts about future issues on Europe with the current approaches of global decision-makers. The main goal is to consider a wide range of perspectives, to involve different generations and social backgrounds, and to establish a scientific base for popular discourse by supporting potential and creative thinking, irrespective of political agendas.
History of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen
The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen has been awarded to individuals and institutions that have made a valuable contribution to Europe since 1950. The Prize was founded by Aachen citizens with the goal to create an important stimulus towards the political, economic and spiritual unification of the continent and thus to promote European integration by the first political prize in the recently established Federal Republic of Germany.
Richard Nikolaus Count Coudenhove-Kalergi, first Charlemagne Prize laureate of 1950, at the Award Ceremony of Konrad Adenauer in 1954
The first presentation of the Prize (to Count Coudenhove-Kalergi) left a lasting impression and inspired the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors to take an even bolder part. The conferring of the Prize to Italian Prime Minister Alcide de Gasperi 1952 was the international breakthrough. A large number of outstanding personalities and political leaders followed the Italian laureate and have been yearly honoured in Aachen. Thus, the Prize has continuously gained international prestige.
Today, the Charlemagne Prize is one of the most distinguished political awards in Europe. Its original Western-European encompass all facets of European integration: the idea of comprehensively building Europe together, the teaching of values, the protection of natural resources, the North-South divide and its effect within the EU as well as with respect to the globalised world we live in.
European Charlemagne Youth Prize winners of 2019 on stage with Charlemagne Prize laureate António Guterres
Since 1991, the Charlemagne Prize has developed rapidly regarding the intention to create public access to European topics in course of a large cultural and political programme as part of the award ceremony. In 2008, Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering, then-President of the European Parliament, and André Leysen, then-Chairman of the Charlemagne Prize Foundation, jointly initiated the European Charlemagne Youth Prize, awarding youth projects of all EU Member States.
Having successfully involved Europe’s decision-makers and Europe’s youth, the Charlemagne Prize, with the foundation of its Academy in 2019, aims to get involved in and inspire the academic debate on future issues and challenges for Europe.