The Bergedorf Round Table

Since 1961 eminent international politicians and experts have met at the Bergedorf Round Table to discuss fundamental questions pertaining to German and European foreign and security policy in small and intimate groups.

The purpose of the Round Table is to make a contribution to mutual understanding in international politics. It is based on the conviction that, especially when there is political conflict, it is always better to talk to each other than to talk about each other.

Under its chairman, former German Federal President Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker, the Round Table provides foreign policy decision-makers with a forum for a frank exchange of views in which they are not subject to the constraints and pressures of everyday life. Here they are able to develop new ideas and policy alternatives in an intimate and informal atmosphere.

Hitherto more than 2,000 politicians, government representatives and experts  from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and the U.S.A. have participated in more than 140 Bergedorf Round Tables.

Today, the Bergedorf Round Table focuses on perspectives of German and European foreign policy in three regions: Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

The discussions are being documented in German and in English and can be retrieved here.