Our mission
The Baden-Badener Unternehmer Gespräche (Baden-Baden Entrepreneur Talks) forge connections between business and society, commerce and politics. We bring people together. Over three weeks of meetings, we invite our guests to reflect and to question, encouraging them towards new approaches and to search out previously unknown answers. In short: to surprise them. We use unexpected and unconventional methods to challenge so-called certainties for the common good – that is what we stand for. By doing this, the BBUG helps business leaders increase their awareness of the responsibilities they have to their companies and to society. And we’ve been at it since 1955. Consequently, we have become one of the most important, long-standing institutions involved in developing the next generation of leaders in German business and society. Since 1955, more than 150 conferences have taken place in Baden-Baden, with 300 further events happening abroad. The BBUG alumni network consists of over 3,000 top executives and today represents one of the largest cross-sector networks in Germany. The BBUG is a non-profit association supported by some 120 member organizations from across industry, commerce, transport, the digital economy, media and communication, as well as banking and insurance.
The Baden-Badener Unternehmer Gespräche (Baden-Baden Entrepreneur Talks) are legally and financially operated by the non-profit association of the same name.
In addition to the three-week programme in Baden-Baden, a core feature of BBUG participation includes four joint trips overseas, as well as numerous alumni events both in Germany and abroad. The foreign excursions serve to broaden perspectives on many of the topics discussed. We are interested in a wider European viewpoint and in solving cross-border issues. Our alumni can also keep in contact across eight BBUG regions. Additionally, we publish our own newsletter and the “Perspektiven - Das Magazin der BBUG” magazine.
“In light of the increasingly complex dynamics of our technical, economic and social development, the challenges posed in terms of character, knowledge, education and conduct, far from diminishing, grow ever stronger. [...] The education of the next generation of business leaders is strained by the extraordinary workload, the pace of everyday business, and the natural tendency to focus inwardly on one’s own organization. As such, there is limited opportunity to contemplate and discuss fundamental questions; no moment of quiet to rise above the daily roar and consider the ‘business of tomorrow’ with an executive eye kept trained on the workforce, the wider economy, and the general public.”
These were the thoughts expressed in 1955 in the BBUG’s founding document to the top representatives of German industry. Today, 150 sessions later, the wording may differ, but the ideas remain the same. When the BBUG was established, the shadow of the recent war still loomed large. After years of dictatorship, extermination and displacement, the aim was “to permanently counteract the deficiency, both quantitative and qualitative, in leadership potential for the next generation of industry [...]”. The BBUG was established by individuals including Wilfried Guth and Wolf-Dietrich von Witzleben, alongside 30 founding organizations plus the BDI, the DIHT and the BDA.
The Wolf-Dietrich von Witzleben Medal honours those individuals who have made particular contributions to the BBUG. Its namesake, Wolf-Dietrich von Witzleben (1886-1970), was one of the BBUG’s founding fathers. In 1953, as a member of the Siemens supervisory board, he took over as chair of the BDI (Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie [Federation of German Industries]) working group for the promotion of young business leaders. With the founding of the “Society for the Promotion of Young Business Leaders” as a supporting association, the BBUG conferences launched as a regular event in 1955.
There is no place quite like Palais Biron for the BBUG. Its peaceful ambience provides the perfect setting in which to cultivate the special character, the intensive climate of discussion, and the lasting effects of these talks.