Carmen Würth

Carmen Würth

Her entire life, Carmen Würth has dedicated herself to bringing people with and without disabilities together, creating understanding and acceptance, improving social interaction, breaking down barriers when interacting with people with disabilities and improving their living conditions.

» Reaching out to people to make the world a little better is a matter very close to my heart.
Carmen Würth

Exceptional commitment

Carmen Würth, born in Pforzheim on 18 July 1937 and married to Reinhold Würth since 1956, has always been actively involved in fostering the growth and expansion of the Würth Group. Together with her husband, she established the Würth Foundation in 1987, which is dedicated to promoting cultural activities and the arts, research and science, education and the integration of refugees and people with disabilities. In addition to various prizes in the realm of fine arts, and at Carmen Würth’s prompting, the foundation established the Markus Würth Professorship, currently held by Prof. Renée Lampe, for Pediatric Neuro-Orthopedics and (Infantile) Cerebral Palsy at the hospital “Klinikum rechts der Isar” of the Technical University of Munich.

 

In 1999, Carmen Würth developed a concept for a place of communication and interaction between people with and without disabilities, which culminated in the opening of Hotel-Restaurant Anne-Sophie in Künzelsau in 2003. This very unique hotel and restaurant teaches people with disabilities the work processes of a catering business. The entire hotel radiates Carmen Würth’s heartfelt and profound motivation. At Hotel-Restaurant Anne-Sophie, people with and without disabilities work hand in hand to make every guest feel welcome.

 

Until November 2011, Carmen Würth had been Vice President of the German regional office of the world’s largest sports organization for people with intellectual disabilities for six years: Special Olympics.

 

Carmen Würth received many honors and awards for her exemplary and long-standing work for society, and especially her social commitment in her work with people with intellectual disabilities. Her awards and honors include the honorary citizenship of the town of Künzelsau and the Technical University of Munich, and, since 2014, the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. For her extraordinary commitment to improving the living conditions of people with disabilities she received the Warsteiner Award for her lifetime achievement one year later. In 2017, she was awarded the Order of Merit of the state of Baden-Württemberg.

Carmen Würth at the Music Festival of the Würth Foundation.

Carmen Würth at the Music Festival of the Würth Foundation - the festival of a special kind.

Regional and international commitment to education and society

Apart from her unequaled commitment to the integration of people with disabilities into society, Carmen Würth is also committed to the region and to education. In May 2017, the cultural center Kulturhaus Würth with Bibliothek Frau Holle library opened its doors to the public in Künzelsau. The reference library including the private collection of books of the founder of the cultural center, Carmen Würth, houses more than 9,000 different books from fiction to non-fiction.

 

On her 80th birthday, Carmen Würth Forum Cultural and Convention Center, planned by David Chipperfield Architects Berlin, was officially opened in Künzelsau, the seat of the Würth Group’s headquarters. Nestled in the Hohenlohe countryside and surrounded by a sculpture garden, Carmen Würth Forum has established itself as a cultural gathering place.

 

Carmen Würth is a member of numerous social initiatives with an emphasis on disadvantaged individuals, striving to highlight their strengths and recognize them as equal members of society. But her commitment is not just limited to Germany. As the honorary chairwoman of the European Society for Political, Cultural and Social Affairs “Diaphania,” she also supports disadvantaged individuals in other countries. Moreover, she is dedicated to the children’s center “Ümüt-Nadjeschda” in Kyrgyzstan, which cares for children with disabilities.

 

Since 2008 and following an initiative by Carmen Würth, the Würth Foundation has been supporting the social-pastoral project “iThemba Labantu” in Philippi, South Africa. At the beginning of 2019, the Philipp Lahm Sports Ground was inaugurated there. In January 2020, 25 children in “Carmen Würth class” started their first school year at “iThemba Labantu“. Carmen Würth will be supporting those 25 children throughout their eight years of schooling. To this aim, Carmen Würth contributed part of the charitable donations that made up her birthday present in 2017 to the project.

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