Our history
One Hundred Years, Many Bridges
Hundert Jahre, viele Brücken
From its founding in Hamburg, through the forced dissolution of 1937, to two new beginnings after 1949 and 1990: the history of Rotary in Germany is a story of friendship, responsibility, and the courage to build bridges.
The Founding Years
1927 to 1933- 7 October 1927In Hamburg, 33 public figures found the first German Rotary club. Its president is Dr. Wilhelm Cuno, managing director of the Hamburg America Line and former Chancellor.
- 8 October 1927RC Hamburg is chartered as club no. 2676, sponsored by the Rotary Club of San Francisco.
- December 1927Frankfurt am Main follows as the second German club.
- 1928Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart and Dresden. Cologne is the first club founded by a German club; Paul Harris visits in June 1928. Thomas Mann, Bruno Frank and Hans Knappertsbusch are among the Munich founders.
- 1929Berlin, Leipzig, Nuremberg, Chemnitz and Plauen. The German and Austrian clubs form the joint District 73, with Wilhelm Cuno as its first governor.
- 31 January 1931German and French Rotarians found the “small committee,” the first intercountry committee in Rotary’s history.
- 18 April 1931At the Görlitz charter celebration, Dresden’s president Viktor von Klemperer calls on every Rotarian to become a bridge builder, from club to club and across national borders.
- 1931At the initiative of Carl von Frenckell, a Rotary archive is established at the Deutsche Bücherei in Leipzig.
Under Pressure
1933 to 1945- April 1933Thomas Mann is expelled from RC München. Jewish members are forced out of the clubs; many are stripped of their rights and persecuted.
- June 1937At the convention in Nice, 400 German and French Rotarians meet for a joint banquet.
- 15 October 1937Under pressure from the Nazi regime, the German clubs dissolve themselves ahead of a ban. 43 clubs with 1,082 members cease to exist.
- 1937 to 1945Former Rotarians keep meeting in private circles of friends, in Stuttgart as the “Club of Friends of 1927.”
A New Beginning
1949 to 1989- 27 April 1949Frankfurt am Main is refounded under its old charter number, the first German club after the war.
- 1949Stuttgart receives its renewed charter in the presence of RI President Percy Hodgson; Hannover follows on 31 May.
- 1952The Germany and France intercountry committee is founded in Heidelberg as successor to the “small committee.” It still meets every year.
- 1960Rotary Youth Service Germany begins its student exchange program.
- 1962Friedrich von Wilpert writes a first history of Rotary in Germany. It is not allowed to appear until 1981.
- 1968The first Rotaract clubs are founded in Germany.
- June 1987For the first time, a Rotary World Convention is held in Germany, at Munich’s Olympic Center.
- 1989Women can join Rotary clubs. West Germany has 543 clubs with 24,787 members.
Reunited
1990 to today- 3 November 1990Leipzig becomes the first club chartered in the former East Germany. West German clubs help with the new beginning in the East.
- 2015Around 60 Rotarians begin systematically researching the history of Rotary under National Socialism.
- June 2019The Rotary International Convention comes to Hamburg, with Rotary members from 170 countries.
- 1 July 2020Holger Knaack becomes the first German President of Rotary International. During his year, the environment becomes a Rotary area of focus.
- 2021After the Ahr valley flood, around 100 clubs raise about €2.5 million for reconstruction.
- 26 February 2022Two days after the invasion began, the Ukraine relief effort “War in Europe: Rotary helps” is launched.
- 20261,161 clubs with 58,764 members (March 2026). The centenary year begins on 7 October.
- 7 October 2027100 years of Rotary in Germany.
The first clubs
From Hamburg to Offenburg
Every club founded before the dissolution in 1937. Founding and charter dates can differ; the founding year is shown here.
Breslau (Wrocław), Liegnitz (Legnica), Stettin (Szczecin) and Danzig (Gdańsk) are in Poland today.
Remembrance and responsibility
Telling the Dark Years Honestly
Die dunklen Jahre ehrlich erzählen
After 1933, Rotarians were pushed out of their clubs for political and racist reasons, stripped of their rights and persecuted. The clubs offered hardly any resistance. The files seized by the Gestapo in 1937 ended up in East Germany by way of Moscow and have only been accessible since reunification.
Since 2015, a group of Rotarians has been researching this period. Their database covers about 2,800 Rotarians and 56 clubs, along with a digital memorial to those who were persecuted. They presented their findings at the 2019 convention in Hamburg, together with an expression of deep regret.
Visit the digital memorial: memorial-rotary.deSources: Rotary history research group (memorial-rotary.de); Rotary Magazin; rotary.de; Rotary International; Manfred Wedemeyer, “Den Menschen verpflichtet: 75 Jahre Rotary in Deutschland” (2002); Andreas Bednarek, “Der Rotary Club Görlitz und seine Geschichte” (2012).