Every year on the day of German Unification the association Werkstatt Deutschland awards die quadriga. This award honours personalities from the political, economic and cultural side of life, that have shown a commitment towards vision, courage and responsibility and that have excelled in far-sightedness, pragmatism, pioneering-spirit and the power of conviction. die quadriga honours both concrete merits as well as the idealistic engagement for the future.
The award winners 2005 are:
· His Highness The Aga Khan, The Aga Khan Development Network, Gouvieux
· Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, Creator of the World Wide Web, Director Word Wide Web Consortium, Boston
· Paula Arnold, Catherine McCartney, Claire McCartney, Donna McCartney, Gemma McMahon and
Bridgeen Hagans, Belfast
· Dr. Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor Federal Republic of Germany, Berlin
The spiritual leader of the Ismaili community, H.H. the Aga Khan is this year’s award winner of “United we Care”. His Highness is honoured for setting up the largest private development agency worldwide. The mission of the Aga Khan Development Network is to improve the living conditions and opportunities in poor regions of the developing world, specifically in sub-Saharan Africa, South and Central Asia and the Middle East.
The AKDN’s approach is multi-faceted. It places major emphasis on social, economic and cultural initiatives and includes the mobilisation and participation of volunteers. AKDN’s approach also features long term engagement with programmes. Democracy, pluralism and civil society are universal values to which the network is committed, as is the focus on understanding and communication between Muslim and non-Muslim societies around the world.
die quadriga honours Dr. Helmut Kohl as an outstanding European of the postwar-era. After the fall of the Berlin wall he courageously realized his vision of a unified Europe. German unity would have not been possible as a simple tug-of-war or a power-struggle. It was made possible, because the belief in the reliability of German politics outweighed the fear of German incalculability.
Sir Timothy Berners-Lee, the creator of the World Wide Web, is considered the most remarkable scientist of the 20th century next to Albert Einstein. die quadriga is awarded for his exemplary attitude. Sir Berners-Lee has not patented the World Wide Web for commercial purposes or his personal gain but has presented it to all of us as a gift of culture. With its free and easy access the internet has grown into a network of knowledge and so is the interactive brain of humanity. Thus the idea of true progress is realized.
Paula Arnold, Catherine McCartney, Claire McCartney, Donna McCartney, Gemma McMahon and Bridgeen Hagans are awarded die quadriga for their civil courage. With their campaign they are demanding justice and the recognition of the rule of law by the IRA and its political wing Sinn Fein. After the murder of their brother by a well known underground activist, they are fighting against self-justice and the code of silence. The fact that the IRA has agreed to a substantial disarmament has been accredited to their protest.
die quadriga is awarded for the third year. Amongst the former award-winners are the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan, the President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, the Architect Sir Norman Foster and the author Eric-Emanuel Schmitt.
Main sponsor of the event is the Vattenfall Europe AG.