Atlantik-Brücke
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Not to be confused with The Atlantic Bridge, a similar British association
Atlantik-Brücke (English: Atlantic Bridge) is the most influential US-German socio-political influence network, an association that include leading personalities from business, politics, the armed forces, science, the media and culture. It was designed from the start to tie Germany to the US leadership, especially by strenghtening support for NATO, and to further the interests of big corporations.Members have dominated the leadership in every German party since its foundation, and all the chief editors and leading journalist in the German commercially-controlled media are members. [1][2] In addition to decision-makers from these areas, who find a framework for confidential discussions at Atlantik-Brücke, the association also includes young exec autives who forge networks at the "Young Leaders" conferences. The association is closely connected to the deep state Warburg family. The chairman as of 2024, Sigmar Gabriel, is a former SPD leader that is well connected to the business lobby.
Contents
Origins
Atlantik-Brücke was founded in Hamburg in 1952. Eric M. Warburg (founder of the firm currently known as Warburg Pincus) was one of the founders of Atlantik-Brücke, together with editor Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, Chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt and other Hamburg citizens. In those Cold War times, the U.S. was looking for influence on Germany. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) may have given the idea for founding the Atlantik-Brücke; Eric M. Warburg was a friend and consultant for John J. McCloy, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and President of the World Bank. The Atlantik-Brücke is the German counterpart for the U.S. based American Council on Germany.[citation needed]
The group had its headquarters in the old capital Bonn between 1983 and 1999, and is now located in Berlin. The association organizes invitation-only conferences, seminars and colloquia[3]. Through various programs for "Young Leaders", military officers, leading journalists, central politicians and promising students, Atlantik-Brücke fosters strong social networks among current and future pro-US German leaders in business, media and politics.[4]
The Atlantic Bridge cooperates with CIA-close think-tanks like the Aspen Institute and German Marshall Fund, and the membership list has a significant overlap with Bilderberg-participants.
Members
The powerful network, in no way democratically legitimized, consist of people who only see the world from one perspective, from above; and who only know one type of appreciation, that of money and power. If someone wants to be part of the ruling establishment, they have to share this view. If the want to personally benefit from this network, be it an aspiring politician, journalist, civil servant or academic, they must be at the service of those to whom the world belongs.
The number of members is limited in order to preserve the exclusivity of the association, and is only partially public The list of members (see above) is members or associates collected from their own publications.
The Media
A large percentage of the members are journalists. This is not a coincidence. The AB is about who gets to control money an power, and it is important to sell this policy to the outside world.
It is particularly noticeable that a large number of correspondents who have been sent to the USA by their broadcasters and newspapers are on the list of members. Pretty much all of the correspondents are invited to join the Atlantic Bridge before starting their job in the United States. This networking effort makes sense; the AB's connections, especially to conservative politicians and think tanks in the states, are excellent.
String pullers such as Henry Kissinger, Madeleine Albright, Zbigniew Brzeziński and John Kornblum can open many doors in Washington. The reporting is influenced accordingly, and shows a picture of the United States as these elite politicians want European audiences to see it. Figuratively (and probably often literally), the CIA is at the table every time these journalists meet with American politicians, scientists or the military.
Politics
The largest group of members is politicians, While the number of representatives of the individual parties roughly corresponds to the representation in the German parliament, the Left party (Die Linke) is noticeably absent. The representatives that are members belong exclusively to the economic liberal wings of their parties, with strong pro-NATO views.
On the American side, the membership is a pleasant experience in empire mangagement.
Business
Whose interests are to be furthered, is clearly illustrated by another big group of members: managers, many of them from the financial industry, consultants from predatory consultancy companies that often operate worldwide, bankers, PR-companies and lobbyists; they all have only one interest, to defend and expand their privileges and their already huge possessions. [6]
Activities
Atlantik-Brücke's activities include conferences, lectures and discussions, study trips, award ceremonies and the Young Leaders program.
- With its sister organization American Council on Germany (ACG), Atlantik-Brücke holds German-American conferences every year[7]. Since 2005, the two organizations have each held their own Young Leaders conference.
- There are strategic partnerships with institutions such as the Munich Security Conference or the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany.[8]
- An annual expert meeting has been held in Berlin since 1990 with the US Army High Command in Europe, the US European Command.
Award named after CIA-director
Showing it close intelligence ties, from 1993 to 2008, the AB named its highest price [9] in honor of CIA-officer Vernon A. Walters, responsible for such regime changes as the 1973 coup in Chile.[10].
From 2015 onward, their highest price is named after former CIA-director George HW Bush.[11]
Young Leaders
The two Atlantik-Brücke Young Leaders conferences receive more than 500 applications per year, from which 120 Young Leaders are chosen by the steering commitee. Sixty young leaders are chosen for the German-American Conference (30 Americans and 30 Germans) and sixty are chosen for the European Conference. As of 2011, the German-American Young Leaders Conference has been running for 33 years.
The Young Leaders Program initiated by Atlantik-Brücke represents the oldest and largest program dedicated to identifying and nurturing relationships among the future custodians of the transatlantic partnership. Since the first Young Leaders Conference was held in 1973, over 1,500 Europeans and Americans have attended one of thirty-two German-American Young Leaders Conferences or ten European Young Leaders Conferences, a 10-day international young leader exchange.
Alumni of these prestigious gatherings remain in contact with each other both informally and through regional discussion groups and biennial alumni conferences that had been held under the auspices of Atlantik-Brücke. On January 1, 2011 Atlantik-Brücke established the independent organization "Atlantik Forum e.V. – the Young Leaders Alumni of Atlantik-Brücke" to more effectively facilitate and manage all these activities.
Prominent Young Leaders alumni
- Full article:
American Council on Germany/Young Leaders
- Full article:
Its Young Leader program is selected in cooperation with the American Council on Germany, which is affiliated with the Council on Foreign Relations. Examples include Christian Wulff, Former Federal President of Germany
Thomas de Maizière, Former Federal Minister of Interior
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, Former Federal Minister of Defense
Michael Otto, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Otto Group
Jürgen Großmann, Chairman of the Managing Board of RWE
Thomas Enders, President and CEO of Airbus Industries
Paul-Bernhard Kallen, Chairman of the Board of Hubert Burda Media Holding
Hans-Gert Pöttering, Former President of the European Parliament
Charles Schumer, Senior U.S. Senator from New York
Cem Özdemir, Chairman of Alliance 90/The Greens
Edelgard Bulmahn Member of Parliament; Former Federal Minister of Education and Research
Michael Vassiliadis, Chairman of the Board of IG BCE – Mining, Chemical and Energy Industrial Union
Wolfgang Ischinger, Former German Ambassador to the United States
Richard Burt, Former United States Ambassador to Germany
Silvana Koch-Mehrin, Vice President of the European Parliament
Craig Kennedy, President of the German Marshall Fund of the United States
Kai Diekmann, Editor-in-Chief of BILD Zeitung
Katja Gloger, Editor-at-large, STERN Magazin
Joshua Bolten, Former White House Chief of Staff, President George W. Bush
History
Eric M. Warburg (founder of the firm currently known as Warburg Pincus) was one of the founders of Atlantik-Brücke, together with legendary editor Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, Chancellor of Germany Helmut Schmidt and other citizens of Hamburg. In those Cold War times, the U.S. was looking for influence on Germany. The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) probably gave the idea for founding the Atlantik-Brücke; Eric M. Warburg was a friend and consultant for John J. McCloy, Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations and President of the World Bank. The Atlantik-Brücke is the German counterpart for the U.S. based American Council on Germany (members include US diplomats Richard Holbrooke and Henry Kissinger).
Extract of member list
Below is a selection from the member list of the Atlantik Brücke. People listed on the right of the page are either members or have participated in meetings of the group.
Philip D. Murphy, former US/Ambassador to Germany
Henry Kissinger, former US/Secretary of State
Josef Ackermann, former CEO of Deutsche Bank, Germany
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, former Secretary of Defence of Germany
Helmut Kohl, former Chancellor of Germany
Helmut Schmidt, former Chancellor of Germany
Rupert Stadler, former chairman of Audi AG
Torsten Oltmanns, Global Marketing Director at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants
Joachim Gauck, former President of Germany
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany[1]
Related Quotation
| Page | Quote | Author | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lars Hinrichs | “Without my networks I would be nothing” | Lars Hinrichs | 27 February 2021 |
Known members
129 of the 434 of the members already have pages here:
| Member | Description |
|---|---|
| Josef Ackermann | Chairman of Deutsche Bank, G30, Bilderberg Steering Committee |
| Sven Afhüppe | Altantik Bruecke editor |
| Peter Ammon | German diplomat, Atlantik-Brücke, MSC |
| Ali Aslan | Spooky journalist, Georgetown University, many deep state ties |
| Evan Bayh | US lawyer, lobbyist, and politician |
| Kurt Becker | German editor-in-chief and government spokesman. Attended Bilderberg/1967 and Bilderberg/1975. Member of Atlantik-Brücke. |
| Arnold Bergstraesser | German political scientist who headed some deep state groups in the 1950s and 1960s |
| Christoph Bertram | German journalist with a heavy Bilderberg habit |
| James Bindenagel | US Chargé d'affaires to Germany from 1996 to 1997, |
| Kurt Birrenbach | German CDU politician who attended 7 Bilderberg meetings between 1960 and 1972, then first president of the transatlantic deep state network German Council on Foreign Relations |
| Nikolaus Blome | German journalist |
| Hans Karl von Borries | German deep state operative/businessman member of Atlantik-Brücke |
| Philip Breedlove | Supreme Allied Commander Europe |
| Birgit Breuel | German politician, 6 times Bilderberger. Became president of the Treuhandanstalt, the looting of former East German assets, after the assassination of her predecessor Detlev Rohwedder in a suspected false flag attack. |
| Myron Brilliant | Bridge between the business world and the intelligence-connected organizations. Also lobbyist for free trade agreements. |
| Elmar Brok | lobbyist and European parliament politician, MSC regular |
| Zbigniew Brzezinski | A central US Deep politician, Cercle, Bilderberg, ... |
| Richard Burt | US Deep state operative who took part in the discussion about "terrorism" at the 1986 Bilderberg. Founded Diligence |
| Nikolas Busse | |
| Kai Diekmann | Deep state connected German editor. 2001-2015 chief editor of Bild Zeitung, Europe's biggest newspaper. |
| Klaus von Dohnányi | Attended two Bilderbergs in the 1970s. Mayor of Hamburg in the 1980s. |
| Hans-Lothar Domröse | Senior German Army officer. He is believed to have visited Le Cercle in 1983. |
| Mathias Döpfner | "Non-Jewish Zionist" CEO of Axel Springer SE, member of the Bilderberg Steering Committee and other transatlantic networks such as Atlantik-Brücke. Became a billionaire after receiving gift from elderly widow. WEF GLT 2001 |
| Thomas Ebeling | Single Bilderberg German businessman - tobacco, Pepsi, Novartis pharmaceuticals, media executive. Member of Atlantik-Brücke. |
| Tom Enders | Deep state actor and military-industrial complex executive.Chairman of the Atlantik-Brücke; Advisory Board of the Atlantic Council, the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Munich Security Conference...Attended every Bilderberg meeting between 2009 and 2018, and was a member of the Bilderberg Steering Committee. Proponent of spending a lot more money on weapons and German access to nuclear weapons. |
| Fritz Erler | SPD Deputy chair. Attended all Bilderberg meetings from 1955 September to his death in 1967, aged 53 |
| Gotthard von Falkenhausen | German banker |
| Jürgen Fitschen | Co-CEO Deutsche Bank |
| Klaus-Dieter Frankenberger | Transatlantic German editor |
| Chrystia Freeland | "A bit of a living parody of everything wrong with the detached technocratic neoliberal order" |
| Michael Froman | Serial WEF meeting visitor with many other SDS connections |
| Ralf Fücks | German politician married to Marieluise Beck of the German cluster of the Integrity Initiative |
| Sigmar Gabriel | German deep state operative, Atlantik-Brücke Chairman since 2019 |
| Joachim Gauck | President of Germany 2012-2017 |
| Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg | Born with silver spoon as scion of the zu Guttenberg family, but blew his political career in 2011 after academic plagiarism was discovered. Since then has stayed in spooky think-tanks. |
| Katrin Göring-Eckardt | Warmongering German Green politician |
| Robert Habeck | Singularly unqualified politician who was put in charge of the German economy in 2021 |
| Jane Harman | Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and caught her coordinating with an Israeli agent. |
| Tina Hassel | German journalist and member of the Atlantik-Brücke. |
| Lars Hinrichs | German entrepreneur and WEF Young Global Leader 2008. "Without networks I would be nothing". |
| Christiane Hoffmann | Berlin correspondent for Der Spiegel who then became government spokesperson. |
| Wolfgang Ischinger | Spooky German diplomat. Chaired the Munich Security Conference |
| Cherno Jobatey | |
| Josef Joffe | Publisher-editor of Die Zeit |
| Max Warburg Jr. | Grandson of Max Warburg Sr., MSC regular, banker |
| Martin Jäger | |
| Paul-Bernhard Kallen | ACG YL 1991 who successfully kicked both an MSC habit and a WEF annual meeting habit |
| Udo van Kampen | Journalist, Atlantik-Brücke member, visited the Brussels Forum 2007-2009 |
| Frederick Kempe | Spook and deep state actor |
| Craig Kennedy | president of the German Marshall Fund in the period 1996-2014 |
| ... further results | |
Rating
References
- ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFvQuZBxh-Q
- ↑ http://spiegelkabinett-blog.blogspot.com/2013/03/journalisten-der-atlantikbrucke-in.html?m=1
- ↑ http://www.transatlanticperspectives.org/entry.php?rec=133
- ↑ http://spiegelkabinett-blog.blogspot.com/2014/01/das-netzwerk-der-atlantikbrucke.html
- ↑ https://swprs.org/zu-gast-bei-der-atlantik-bruecke/
- ↑ http://spiegelkabinett-blog.blogspot.com/2014/01/das-netzwerk-der-atlantikbrucke.html
- ↑ https://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/programme/konferenzen/deutsch-amerikanische-konferenzen/deutsch-amerikanische-konferenz-2014/
- ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20181004232906/http://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/ueber-uns/interview-mit-friedrich-merz/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20110212154114/http://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/programme/preisverleihungen/vernon-a-walters-award/
- ↑ https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no1/article01.html
- ↑ https://www.atlantik-bruecke.org/george-h-w-bush-erhaelt-preis-der-atlantik-bruecke/
