Krupp Foundation
Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung
The university enjoys a long and productive partnership with the Krupp Foundation / Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach-Stiftung.
The Krupp Internship Program for Stanford Students in Germany was established in 1982 through the foresight and generosity of the Krupp Foundation under the leadership of Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. Berthold Beitz in a conversation with Stanford Club of Germany Board member Claus Zoellner and Stanford Special Assistant to the President Kenneth Kaufman. The program was modelled on a successful pilot project hosted the previous year by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to bring Stanford engineering and natural science undergraduates to Germany. The Krupp Internship Program was soon to be expanded to include students of humanities and social sciences.
The internship program provides deep linguistic and cultural immersion at a high professional level through workplace collaboration in students’ areas of specialization, thereby furthering transatlantic understanding through shared human interaction. This exceptional program has to date placed over 1350 Stanford students in full-time internships of 3 to 6 months with nearly 600 German host institutions.
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the Krupp Internship Program, an impact survey was conducted with the alumni who completed full-time internships in German workplaces subsequent to studying at Stanford in Berlin. The data and shared insights of the respondents of four decades testifies to the profound and enduring effect of Krupp Internship experiences on the lives of its alumni.
For more information about the program go to Krupp Internship Program for Stanford Students in Germany and Briefe aus Berlin.
History of the Krupp Foundation
The Foundation was established through the testament of Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach. Shortly before the end of the Second World War, on April 11, 1945, Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach was arrested by American troops and in 1947 was found guilty at Nuremberg of using concentration camp labor and of plundering occupied countries. He was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment and the confiscation of his property. In 1951, in the course of a general review of Nuremberg judgments, John Jay McCloy, the US High Commissioner for Germany, pardoned him and lifted the confiscation of his property. In 1953 he returned to the helm of his company and, later that year, appointed as his personal general representative Berthold Beitz (1913–2013); Beitz converted the company to civilian production. Alfried Krupp’s testament transferred his entire personal assets and the assets of the Krupp AG to the philanthropic foundation that bears his name.
As Chair of the Kuratorium from 1968 until his death in 2013, Beitz developed the Foundation as a major source of funding for scientific research, art & culture, education, health and sports. Beitz and his wife Else are honored at Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations for having saved hundreds of Jewish forced laborers from transports to the death camps by employing them in an essential war industry (oil) in Boryslav/Poland. Beitz personally initiated the “Krupp Internship Program for Stanford Students in Germany.”
Obituary Berthold Beitz
Press Release from the Krupp Foundation, July 2013
The Krupp Intern: Letter to Berthold Beitz
In commemoration of three decades of the Krupp Internship Program, alumni were invited to reflect on their experiences in Germany. Karen Kramer excerpted words and passages from these testimonials, melding them into a composite account, The Krupp Intern. President emeritus Gerhard Casper presented the account as a designer art-book to Prof. Dr. Berthold Beitz at the 30th anniversary celebration of the Program at Villa Hügel on May 10, 2012. Words printed against colored background are verbatim passages from alumni testimonials, the internship year is flagged in the margin.