Harald Krömer, © City of Aachen / Harald Krömer
The International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, which was awarded for the first time in 1950, is the oldest and best-known prize awarded to personalities or institutions that have rendered outstanding services to Europe and European unification. The idea of the Charlemagne Prize was born on December 19, 1949 from the citizens of Aachen.
Charlemagne Prize Laureate 2025: Ursula von der Leyen
© picture alliance / Markus Schreiber
Dr. Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, will receive the Charlemagne Prize of Aachen in 2025. This was announced by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Society for the Conferring of the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, Dr. Jürgen Linden, and the Mayor of Aachen, Sibylle Keupen, on January 15, 2025 in Aachen.
City of Aachen / Andreas Herrmann
An extensive supporting program will get the people of Aachen in the mood for the Charlemagne Prize
The supporting program for the 75th Charlemagne Prize anniversary begins exactly one month before the award ceremony and includes over 40 events, projects and performances. Lord Mayor Sibylle Keupen praised the supporting program as "one with a lot of depth, in a wide variety of formats and as colorful as Europe".
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© City of Aachen / Jane Kaimer
The Charlemagne Prize 2025 goes to the President of the European Commission Dr. Ursula von der Leyen
With this award, the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors honors "an outstanding leader of the United Europe, who leads the Union through a time of profound transformations with vision, courage, determination and foresight."
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Harald Krömer, © City of Aachen / Harald Krömer
The President of the European Commission Dr. Ursula von der Leyen receives Aachen delegation
Ursula von der Leyen receives the Aachen delegation at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels. In its statement, the Charlemagne Prize Board of Directors said that it wanted to "encourage and strengthen Ursula von der Leyen with the award to represent the EU as a significant force in the global political world".
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The Charlemagne Prize in moving pictures
The prize consists of a certificate and a medal, which is worn on a ribbon in the Aachen city colors of black and yellow. Until 2007, this included a cash prize of 5,000 euros. (Since 2008, this sum has been donated to the Charlemagne Prize for Youth.) An independent committee of Aachen citizens still decides on the award today. Due to the prominence of the honored personalities and the international guests, the awarding of the Charlemagne Prize is a much-noticed event every year.
