Partnership and commitment are extremely important for a global company such as Wintershall. In our daily work activities we experience the importance and enriching power of exchange across cultural divides. Furthermore, we see ourselves as a neighbor who helps out when needed and we feel connected with the regions in which our company is economically active.. Through donations and various other initiatives we support schools, sporting clubs, hospitals, and local social and cultural institutions.

Our sense of commitment also means that instead of giving Christmas presents to customers and business partners we give donations to charitable and humanitarian institutions. In this way, we have given to schools, homes for children, and an SOS children’s village. In addition, we have made donations to various voluntary organizations and facilities for promoting youth activities.

One of the most exciting projects we have supported in recent years: the reconstruction of the Church of the Dormition of the Holy Virgin in Novgorod, southeast of St Petersburg. Built in 1352 in the style of a Byzantine cross-vault church, the building once had magnificent frescoes, regarded as influential in the development of Russian ecclesiastical painting. The church was almost completely destroyed during the German occupation in the Second World War and for decades, the only visible remains were up to four-meter-high sections of the walls. Around 1.7 million fragments of the destroyed frescoes were buried in the rubble of the church.

UNESCO declared the church a World Heritage site in 1992. The Verein zur internationalen Verständigung (association for international dialog) began its restoration work in 2001. Wintershall took on the role of main sponsor and at the same time commissioned Offenbach’s design university to create a virtual walk-through model of the church and its frescoes. The project, which represents an important milestone in cultural encounters between Russia and Germany, was successfully completed in 2003/04 and opened by then German President Johannes Rau and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Novgorod is only one example of our long-standing intensive cooperation with Russia. Since 2005, and jointly with Gazprom, we have been supporting exchange programs and other socio-cultural projects conducted under the twinning agreement between Kassel and the “gas capital” of Novy Urengoy. In 2004, this meaningful German-Russian dialog received the 12th International Sponsoring Award. The judges praised the joint initiatives, describing them as a model for commitment to remembering the lessons of the past and working toward a shared future.

Support of local clubs and development initiatives in the region around Kassel is another priority for Wintershall. In 2010, a total of 50,000 Euros was donated to charitable projects such as Kasseler Tafel, an initiative that distributes food to the needy, and the Kassel children’s hospice. Not least, the contributions give the honorary initiators of these institutions the opportunity to raise public awareness of their important work.