Working Group of Protestant Entrepreneurs in Germany

The Arbeitskreis Evangelischer Unternehmer in Deutschland e. V. (aeu) — the Working Group of Protestant Entrepreneurs in Germany — is a voluntary association and network of Protestant entrepreneurs and executives headquartered in Berlin. It describes itself as a forum for Protestant business owners and leaders, and as a bridge between the economy and the Protestant Church. Its stated purpose is to foster dialogue between people who take responsibility in both church and business, to offer formats for the mutual development of business and church, and to create a trusting space for exchange, listening and learning. It also provides spiritual offerings such as devotions for entrepreneurs and executives. The aeu was founded in 1966 on the initiative of the Protestant textile entrepreneur Walter Albert Bauer (1901–1968), a member of the Freiburg (Bonhoeffer) Circle and, after 1949, a member of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD). It was conceived as an institutional platform and initially positioned itself as a critical counterpart to church-affiliated employee associations and the churches' offices for industrial and social work. Today it presents itself as a cooperative partner of the Protestant Church. The association is legally and organizationally independent of the established church and, as a registered association, pursues no economic interests. It is carried by the voluntary engagement of its members. Membership is open to people who bear responsibility in business and the social economy and who profess the Protestant faith. Guests of other confessions are welcome at its platform formats. The aeu is led by a board; its office is in Berlin. Nationwide, independently and voluntarily organized regional groups are each accompanied by theological advisors who serve as pastors and as liaisons to the respective regional Protestant church. A theological advisor also accompanies the association at the federal level. The aeu cooperates with, among others, the Bund Katholischer Unternehmer (Association of Catholic Entrepreneurs). In its self-understanding, entrepreneurship is a fundamentally Protestant behavior: freedom and responsibility are at the core of Protestantism and at the same time foundations of society. Members see their entrepreneurial engagement as a contribution to strengthening these values and to promoting progress and the development of society in the spirit of the social market economy. The aeu regards the social market economy not only as an economic order but above all as an order of values, whose ethical foundation it traces to the memorandum of the Freiburg Bonhoeffer Circle, drafted conspiratorially in the winter of 1942/43 and published in July 1945. The association also seeks to help shape church and church life in congregations, regional churches and the EKD. As a membership-based network, the aeu communicates through its website, publications, regional groups and formats such as podcasts and books. Its public-facing brand line is "evangelisch unternehmerisch" (roughly, "Protestant and entrepreneurial").

The Arbeitskreis Evangelischer Unternehmer in Deutschland e. V. (aeu) was founded in 1966 on the initiative of the Protestant textile entrepreneur Walter Albert Bauer (1901–1968). Bauer was a member of the Freiburg (Bonhoeffer) Circle, a member of the Synod of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD) after 1949, a member of the EKD chambers for public responsibility and social order, and from 1967 a member of the EKD Council. The association was established as an institutional platform for Protestant entrepreneurs. In its early phase, the aeu understood itself as a decidedly critical counterpart to the church-affiliated employee associations and to the churches' offices for industrial and social work. Over time, its self-understanding shifted toward that of a bridge between church and business, and it became a cooperative partner of the Protestant Church. The aeu is constituted as a registered association (eingetragener Verein) and, according to its own account, pursues no economic interests. It is legally and organizationally independent of the established church. Its members see themselves as committed Christians who bear responsibility for the society in which they live and work, engage in and for their church, and participate in the dialogue between business and church. The association roots its value orientation in the social market economy, which it regards not only as an economic order but above all as an order of values. It traces the ethical foundation of the social market economy to the memorandum of the Freiburg Bonhoeffer Circle, drafted conspiratorially in the winter of 1942/43 and published in July 1945. According to the aeu, this memorandum became effective in the development and enforcement of the social market economy as a free economic order after the caesura of the summer months of 1945, often described as the "zero hour." The circle had formed around the ordoliberal economists Constantin von Dietze, Walter Eucken and Adolf Lampe as well as the historian Gerhard Ritter, who gathered with Freiburg Christians for monthly meetings under the impression of the political events of autumn 1938 and the pogroms of 9/10 November 1938 ("Reichskristallnacht"). The aeu is led by a board. Among its board members was the economic jurist Jürgen Lehmann, born in 1930, a director of Hoechst AG. The chairman is Friedhelm Wachs. The association's office (Geschäftsstelle) is located in Berlin; its full-time managing director is Peter Friedrich. Nationwide, independently and voluntarily organized regional groups are each accompanied by theological advisors who are pastors and at the same time the interface to the respective regional Protestant church. A theological advisor also accompanies the aeu at the federal level. The aeu cooperates with, among others, the Bund Katholischer Unternehmer (Association of Catholic Entrepreneurs). In the present, the aeu presents itself under the brand line "evangelisch unternehmerisch" and communicates through its website, publications, regional groups, podcasts and books. It describes itself as the forum of Protestant entrepreneurs and executives and as a network carried by voluntary engagement. Membership is open to persons who bear responsibility in business and the social economy and who profess the Protestant faith; guests of other confessions are welcome at its platform formats. The association offers spiritual offerings such as devotions and sees entrepreneurship as a fundamentally Protestant behavior, with freedom and responsibility at the core of Protestantism and of society.

• 1967

  Founder Walter Albert Bauer becomes a member of the Council of the Evangelical Church in Germany (EKD).

• 1966

  The aeu is founded on the initiative of the Protestant textile entrepreneur Walter Albert Bauer.

A bridge between business and the Protestant Church; a values-oriented network rooted in the social market economy and Protestant notions of freedom and responsibility.

• aeu membership network

  A network of Protestant entrepreneurs and executives carried by voluntary engagement.

• Regional groups

  Nationwide, independently and voluntarily organized groups, each accompanied by a theological advisor.

• Podcast series

  A podcast series analyzing core concepts of the social market economy from an entrepreneurial and theological perspective, produced in cooperation with Carls Zukunft.

• Book on prayer

  A book intended to offer inspiration for prayer, humility and gratitude for entrepreneurs.

1. 1aeu – evangelisch unternehmerisch (official website)aeu.digital
2. 2Über unsaeu.digital
3. 3Wer wir sindaeu.digital
4. 4Wo wir herkommenaeu.digital
5. 5Arbeitskreis Evangelischer Unternehmer (Wikipedia, German)de.wikipedia.org
6. 6Arbeitskreis Evangelischer Unternehmer in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Wikidata)wikidata.org