Königswinter
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The Königswinter Conference is convened once a year by the society Königswinter UK and its German counterpart, the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft, bringing together around 80 German and British politicians, diplomats, business managers, academics and journalists for a profound exchange of ideas. The format is similar to the Bilderberg conference, being part of the interlocking networks that tie together the ruling elites in Western societies. Given this elite base, one will see significant overlap with membership in the Bilderberg conferences etc.
In fact, since it was founded in 1950, four years before the first Bilderberg conference, it might be seen as a kind of template, in this case designed to tie the West-German elite to the British Empire.
As is fairly common with these kind of networks of powerful people, despite having a website and pretending to be open, the Köningwinter Conference is not even mentioned in Wikipedia. The summary reports from the meetings are available on the webiste [1], but can't be copied from, making the information semi-private.
History
The Königswinter Conference was established in 1950 with the aim of binding West-Germany to Great Britain. It takes its name from the Rhineside spa opposite Bonn where the Conference took place initially. Since then the Conference has convened once a year bringing together around 80 German and British politicians, diplomats, business managers, academics and journalists for a profound exchange of ideas. Königswinter has created bonds and friendships helping to improve the understanding of policy differences on topical issues and challenges and to work towards common approaches. The issues discussed over the years have ranked from security policy, the Atlantic alliance, European integration, the future of the welfare state, education policy and the integration of ethnic minorities to international economic policy. The Königswinter Conference is organised jointly by the Deutsch-Britische Gesellschaft and its British counterpart, UK Koenigswinter.[2]
Conference Location, Date and Program
The Königswinter Conference takes place alternately in Germany or Britain, normally in spring or early summer of each year. The overall theme of the Conference is always a broad one in order to allow for exchange between participants of different backgrounds.
The conference lasts for two days, beginning with a plenary discussion. Afterwards, participants break up into working groups devoted to in depth discussion of a specific topic, such as security issues or economic questions. The conference usually begins with a plenary discussion. Results of these working group meetings are presented in the closing session.
The agenda covers topical issues, for example European integration, the future of the welfare state, the international economy, joint European defence policy or growing ethnic diversity and its implications for our societies. Working groups discuss allocated topics and report their results at the closing session.
Over the past decades, it has proven useful to maintain a mix of “newcomers” and experienced participants with the aim of maintaining the spirit of Königswinter as well as promoting novel connections.[3]
The summary reports can be found on the associations website.[4]
the 69th Königswinter Conference 2019
The of the conference the 11-13. April 2019 theme was 'Europe's role in a multilateral order'.
