Sudeten German Foundation

Seventy years after the Sudeten Germans had been expelled from their ancestral homeland in Bohemia, Moravia and Sudeten Silesia and 60 years after the Free State of Bavaria had assumed the patronage of the Sudeten German ethnic group, the Bavarian government asked the Sudeten German Foundation to oversee the construction of a Sudeten German Museum and the modernization of the Sudeten German House. Established under the Bavarian state law of 27 July 1970, the Sudeten German Foundation was tasked with helping the Free State of Bavaria carry out its duties as patron of the Sudeten Germans.

The assets of the foundation were derived from grants issued by the Free State of Bavaria, the Sudeten German Landsmannschaft, the German federal government (from assets of Sudeten German credit institutions and regional authorities), donations and other grants. Since the construction of the Sudeten German House (the foundation stone was laid on 15 October 1982) and its official opening (14 December 1985), the Sudeten German Foundation has been the owner and sponsor of the centre at Hochstraße 8 in Munich.

As a foundation under public law, it pursues purposes that are exclusively and directly of a public nature. In particular, it preserves and promotes the Sudeten German cultural heritage in accordance with the statutory mandate stipulated in § 96 of the Federal Law on Expellees. Through its activities, the foundation seeks to ensure that the Sudeten German cultural heritage remains in the consciousness of both the German population as a whole and the international community. In addition, it supports the cross-border efforts of the Sudeten Germans aimed at peace and understanding among the peoples of Europe.

The Sudeten German Foundation is the legal entity and operator of the Sudeten German Museum, which opened on 12 October 2020. It thereby fulfils its legally defined purpose as a foundation.