Our History

Dr. Scheibe held responsibility for managing the association, while Prof. Hermann Flessner chaired the Executive Committee. At the end of its first year, membership of the association had already grown to 200.

In the years that followed, returning scholarship holders set up other branches in several federal states. There are now over 160 groups around the world, most of which function as independent DAAD alumni associations.

DAAD Alumni & Friends: Regional Groups

Ever since our foundation, we have been passionate about creating a warm and welcoming culture here in Germany. In our early years, DAAD scholarship holders who came to Germany from around the world were supported by individual members in the major university cities. From the mid-1990s onwards, Regional Groups began to emerge and they remain the basis for how DAAD Alumni & Friends is organised today. Over the years, Regional Groups have developed a wide range of annual programmes for foreign visitors to their regions.

The proportion of international DAAD alumni among our members continues to grow as increasing numbers of scholarship holders decide to remain in Germany temporarily or for the long term. By 2000 our membership had grown to around 1,200, and since then it has remained at that level.

DAAD Alumni & Friends and the Tönissteiner Kreis

In the period from 1996 to 2001, DAAD Alumni & Friends acted as legal trustee of the Tönissteiner Kreis network. As a network of management personnel who have spent time abroad, Tönissteiner Kreis aims to attract, promote and support a new generation of leaders to work abroad. Today, the network numbers over 800 members, the majority of whom have held DAAD scholarships.

Promoting Understanding Between Nations

In 2011 DAAD Alumni & Friends received an award as part of a national initiative entitled “Germany – Land of Ideas”. The award acknowledged our work in promoting understanding between nations and strengthening Germany’s profile as a place to study and research.

Our links to the DAAD have grown closer and closer as the years have gone by, and right from the outset our offices have been located in the DAAD’s Bonn headquarters. The DAAD Alumni & Friends office was included in the DAAD’s staffing plan in 2019 and is closely linked to the DAAD’s own Alumni Section.

All membership fees and donations received by DAAD Alumni & Friends are used only for our programme activities; the chief beneficiaries are our Regional Groups.