In 1947, at a Harvard University commencement ceremony, U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall first announced plans to rebuild war-torn Europe.  That speech (full text) led to the creation of the Marshall Plan, credited with putting Europe back on track to democracy and prosperity following the devastation caused by World War II. Twenty-five years later, German Chancellor Willy Brandt went to Harvard to announce plans to create a permanent memorial to Marshall Plan assistance, through a gift of DM 150 million on behalf of the German people. “The memory of the past has become the mission of the future,” he said. 

The German Marshall Fund of the United States is the result of Germany’s generous gift.  Consistent with Brandt’s vision, GMF is dedicated to the promotion of greater understanding and common action between Europe and the United States. The German government renewed its commitment to GMF with subsequent rounds of funding in 1986 and 2001 that resulted in a substantial endowment, ensuring GMF’s work would continue well into the future.

From the very beginning, GMF was envisioned as an institution that would work with all of Europe. After the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, GMF rapidly expanded its work in Central and Eastern Europe and played an instrumental role during the 1990s in assisting with the transitions to democracy in this region.

Today, as an independent American public policy and grantmaking institution, GMF continues to foster cooperation between the United States and Europe on the most pressing transatlantic issues, both inside and outside Europe’s changing borders.  GMF also continues strengthen democratic institutions in the spirit of the Marshall Plan.