Rottendorf Foundation exists for 50 years

On 6 December 2024, the 50th anniversary of the formal recognition of the Rottendorf Foundation as a charitable legal entity was celebrated at Crassenstein Castle. In his welcoming speech, Hermann-Ulrich Viskorf, Chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Directors, noted that the decision of the founding couple Andreas and Rose Rottendorf to leave their entire fortune to a charitable foundation has proven to be a great blessing in every respect. He emphasised that the foundation is expressly committed to the tradition of the founders, who were characterised by social and societal responsibility, and to the fulfilment of the foundation’s objectives.

In addition to the members of the foundation’s committees, the celebration was attended by important and high-ranking representatives from parliaments and local authorities, numerous protagonists of the foundation’s diverse sponsorship projects as well as representatives from the company’s management and supervisory board.

The foundation used the anniversary as an opportunity to launch two new projects. As a regional project, the foundation is supporting the ‘Complete edition of the documents of Liesborn Abbey up to the end of the Middle Ages’ and as an international project the ‘Construction of a medicine warehouse in Kibaha, Tanzania’ in cooperation with action medeor e.V..

Rottendorf Prize 2024 goes to Dr phil. Robert Damme and the film collective ‘wenndienaturnichwill’

On Wednesday, 9 October 2024, the Rottendorf Prize for services to the Low German language was awarded for the 30th time in a festive setting at the Haus Nottbeck cultural estate in Oelde-Stromberg.

The main prize, endowed with €6,000, went this year to Dr phil. Robert Damme. The laudatory speech for Dr Damme, held in the entertaining form of an interview with the prizewinner, was given by Georg Bühren, Chairman of the Rottendorf Committee of the Westphalian Heritage Association. It quickly became clear that the award winner is a passionate linguist who has spent his entire professional life recording and documenting Westphalian dialects. Dr Damme receives the prize in recognition of his numerous publications on Middle and Low German lexicography and, above all, in recognition of his extraordinary efforts in completing the Westphalian dictionary.

The ‘Sünnerpries’, endowed with €4,000, was awarded to the four-person film collective ‘wenndienaturnichwill’ – consisting of Nikos Saul, Hein Köhler, Dominic Stermann and Henning Wirtz – for their great services to the teaching of Low German through the production of the Low German short film ‘Wild Wild Westfalen’. The laudatory speech was held by Prof. Dr. Markus Köster, Head of the LWL Media Centre for Westphalia, in dialogue with the award winners Nikos Saul and Henning Wirtz.

The prizes were presented by Hermann-Ulrich Viskorf, Chairman of the Rottendorf Foundation, and Mr Carl Pinnekamp, member of the Board of Trustees of the Rottendorf Foundation, with certificates and much applause.

Dr Lilian Klewitz-Haas, Deputy Chairwoman of the Rottendorf Foundation, then gave the closing speech, congratulated the award winners once again and thanked all those present for coming.

The award ceremony was accompanied by the music group ‘Strauhspier’, consisting of Nikolaus Evers, Hermi Sürken and Helmut Schnieders. The group, winners of the Rottendorf Prize in 2008, played their own pieces of music as well as their own interpretations of well-known artists – all in “Platt”, of course.

Low German short film project “Wild Wild Westfalen” successfully completed

The Low German short film project “Wild Wild Westfalen” of the Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (LWL), in cooperation with the Department of Media Production and Media Technology – LWL Media Center for Westphalia has been successfully completed. The premiere took place on June 19, 2023 in Ahlen.