Fromm Prize 2019

January 24, 2019

Awarding of the Erich Fromm Prize 2019 to Daniel and Sabine Röder and Pulse of Europe

on Monday, March 18, 2019, 6 p.m. at the Hospitalhof Education Center in Stuttgart

The jury of the Fromm Prize has awarded the prize for 2019 to the initiators of the citizens’ initiative Pulse of Europe and its initiators, Sabine and Dr. Daniel Röderwas awarded. As is well known, the prize is intended to “honor people who have made or are making outstanding contributions to the preservation or recovery of humanistic thought and action in the spirit of Erich Fromm through their scientific, social, socio-political or journalistic commitment.” The socio-political commitment of the Röders and all Pulse of Europe activists fulfills this objective to a high degree.

The non-partisan and independent citizens’ initiative Pulse of Europe (“Europe’s Pulse”), founded by the two in Frankfurt am Main in 2016, aims to “contribute to ensuring that a united, democratic Europe continues to exist in the future – a Europe in which respect for human dignity, the rule of law, freedom of thought and action, tolerance and respect are self-evident foundations of the community.”

According to its own understanding, the initiative pursues “no party-political goals”, but has formulated ten basic statements that guide its actions. These include, first and foremost, the call to publicly commit to the European idea and to stand up for the

Award 3

to safeguard fundamental European freedoms. The preservation of European identity explicitly includes the preservation of regional and national diversity, which is seen as an enrichment.

Erich Fromm recognized a pathological group narcissism in nationalism, which had twice driven Europe into a self-destructive fratricidal war in the first half of the 20th century. According to Fromm, when individual narcissism is transformed into group narcissism, it is not the individual’s own ego that is occupied by the psychic energy of the individual, but the group to which he belongs and with which he identifies.

Pulse of Europe therefore also stands for overcoming dangerous group-narcissistic tendencies and for conflict resolution by working together rather than against each other. The European Union, but also a better European Union than the one already realized today, for which Pulse of Europe is campaigning, is entirely in line with Erich Fromm’s vision of a better world.

Contributions to the award ceremony:

	Welcome by Bernhard Hermann (pdf) Audio recording of the welcoming speech: {play}images/audio/Frommpreis/Frommpreis_2019/01_Hermann_Begruessung.mp3{/play}
	The laudatory speech (pdf) was given by publicist Christian Nürnberger. Born in 1951, studied theology in Nuremberg, was a reporter for the “Frankfurter Rundschau”, editor at “Capital”, head of copywriting at “Hightech” and has been working as a freelance author since 1990. He lives in Mainz with his wife Petra Gerster and two children. He has published books such as: Die verkaufte Demokratie. How our country is being sacrificed to money, Munich 2015, with Petra Gerster: The rebellious monk, the runaway nun and the greatest bestseller of all time, Martin Luther. Stuttgart 2016 and:: The opinion machine. How information is made – and who we can still believe. Munich 2017. Audio recording of the laudation: {play}images/audio/Frommpreis/Frommpreis_2019/02_Nuernberger_Laudatio.mp3{/play}
	Audio recording of the award ceremony: {play}images/audio/Frommpreis/Frommpreis_2019/03_Hardeck_Preisuebergabe.mp3{/play}
	Fromm Lecture 2019: “Why the survival of the European idea depends on a radical change of heart “Why the survival of the European idea depends on a radical change of heart” Sabine Röder and Dr. Daniel Röder for the citizens’ movement Pulse of Europe Audio recording of the Fromm Lecture: {play}images/audio/Frommpreis/Frommpreis_2019/04_Daniel-und-Sabinde_Roeder_Fromm-Lecture.mp3{/play}
	The well-known cabaret artist Thomas Freitag performed an excerpt from his program: “Europe, the traffic circle and a death”.