In total, there are 23,230 foundations with legal status according to the Civil Law in Germany. 88.6 percent of these are based in the western states. On top of the list in terms of the increase of the number of foundations, though, are the states in the east of Germany. Saxony leads the list with 4.9 percent. The average increase in the new federal states is with 2.7 percent slightly above the average of the whole of Germany which is 2.1 percent. 80 of the 576 new foundations were established in East Germany including Berlin.
Hamburg remains the federal state with the most foundations compared to the number of inhabitants: 78 foundations for every 100,000 inhabitants. The state with the lowest density of foundations continues to be Brandenburg with 10 foundations per 100,000 inhabitants.
Taking a glance at the top 3 of the foundation capitals, Darmstadt is on course to the top of the list and will shortly be the German foundation capital. Würzburg is the only city to date that has even more foundations per 100,000 inhabitants. Oldenburg comes in third clearly after Darmstadt.
Foundations worldwide
Networks, umbrella initiatives and foundation associations and institutions: Find out more about foundations in Europa and worldwide.
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