Award recognises cultural innovation and commitment to a liberal society - to be presented on 17 June 2026
The Director of the Research Department at the NATO Defence College in Rome, Florence Gaub, has been awarded this year's Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis. She is being honoured for her contributions to security and strategic foresight as well as her advocacy of Europe's ability to act.
Die Zeit and the BKHS will award this year's Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis to the winner on 17 June 2026 at the Thalia Theater in Hamburg. The prize is supported by the publicly traded Hamburg shipping company Ernst Russ AG and the Harald Christ Foundation for Democracy and Diversity. Since 2022, the award has honoured outstanding, innovative achievements in the fields of democracy, society and technology.
"Florence Gaub takes a non-ideological approach to the issues that are so preoccupying 'the West' and Europe in particular: the struggle for democracy, security, prosperity and freedom in an increasingly fragmented world that has become more aggressive. The prizewinner emphasises the self-efficacy and creative capacity of free societies. Above all, however, she puts an end to the idea of European helplessness that is wafting through the continent," said the jury in honour of the prizewinner.
This year's jury for the Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis is made up of jury chairman Uwe Jean Heuser (world business correspondent for Die Zeit and publisher of Zeit für Unternehmer), Alexander Birken (Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Otto Group), Francesca Bria (innovation economist), Vanessa Nakate (climate activist and social entrepreneur), Meredith Whittaker (President of Signal) and Meik Woyke (Chairman of the Board and Managing Director of the BKHS).
More about the Helmut Schmidt Future Festival
What could happen if there was a basic inheritance for all 18-year-olds and a social year at the same time?
What would change politically if Europe had a common army and at the same time wide-ranging data co-operatives?
Or would large nature reserves make the continent wilder and more vibrant?
The festival works with ten ideas for change that make a difference.
In small festival teams, two ideas are linked together and their joint potential is explored anew.
This rebalances our sense of possibility and creates unusual alliances.
The view of a wild future changes our perspective.
The forest also opens up a different view: diversity is not created through control, but through time, relationships and resilience.
Three fields mark the horizon:
- Wild diversity
How does ecological diversity develop and what can we learn from the forest? - Untamed society
How can democracy be revitalised under pressure? - Technology gone wild
How do we combine the new with responsibility?
Das Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftsfestival 2026
Das Zukunftsfestival eröffnet in diesem Jahr die Ärztin, Autorin und Journalistin Gilda Sahebi. Mit einem besonderen Blick für Menschenfreundlichkeit und auf alles, was dagegen ankämpft.
Das Brachland-Ensemble sorgt für Überraschung. Die Lagerfeuer-Gespräche runden den ersten Festivaltag ab. Hier geht es um ungewöhnliche Allianzen.
Den zweiten Festivaltag eröffnet ein „Kopf mit Körper“: Marco Wehr, Physiker, Philosoph und Tänzer. Jemand, der die Komplexität der wilden Zukunft nicht nur denken, sondern auch erfahren will. Nach dem Mittagessen führt eine Mini-Exkursion in den benachbarten Wald.
Wie naturnahe Waldwirtschaft über Generationen gelingen kann, zeigt Fried Graf von Bernstorff aus Gartow. Philipp von der Wippel sucht als Gründer von ProjectTogether nach Kooperationen, die auf der Höhe der Zeit sind.
Der zweite Festivalabend stellt die Frage nach den Möglichkeiten unserer Generation scharf: Mit dabei die Greenpeace-Sprecherin für sozial-ökologische Gerechtigkeit Baro Vicenta Ra Gabbert, der News-Influencer Fabian Grischkat und die ZEIT-Journalistin Yasmine M’Barek.
Zum Höhepunkt des Festivals geht es ins Thalia Theater in Hamburg.
Dort wird der Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis verliehen.
Florence Gaub erhält in diesem Jahr den Helmut-Schmidt-Zukunftspreis.