Cultural and scientific variety
In the field of arts and science we sponsor a wide range of projects. One aspect is the funding of outstanding research and teaching at the higher education institutions in the city. Our funding focuses on special research projects, endowments for professorships and the technical equipment for scientific work.
The promotion of arts and culture includes the major cultural institutions as well as many other smaller initiatives that keep culture alive and vibrant in Lübeck.
Funding examples
Salon Ida by GEDOK
The art society GEDOK was founded in 1926 as Society of German and Austrian Female Artists and Female Friends of Art. In 2025 GEDOK established a forum entitled Salon Ida. Authors an recipients of literaturte grants from GEDOK meet to read from their works and enter into dialogue with the audience. The Salon Ida celebrates the poet, women´s rights activist, salonniére and founder of the GEDOK Ida Dehmel. And it commemorates the Lübeck writer Ida Boy-Ed, who is also known for backing the young Thomas Mann. There is also a link between her and our founder Emil Possehl: She highly idealized him in her novel "A King among Merchants".
Endowed Lichtenberg Chair for Neurobiology
Together with the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, the Volkswagen Foundation and the University of Lübeck, the Possehl Foundation established Germany's first “Endowed Lichtenberg Chair for Neurobiology” foundation in 2018. The funds raised will enable the university to implement its strategy of focusing on scientifically outstanding and socially significant topics. Research at the established Chair of Chronobiology is of great importance for personal and public health and combines scientific findings with direct social benefits.
One more excellent example of the interplay between higher education establishments in Lübeck is the creation of the first joint professorship at the Lübeck University of music and Lübeck University. It is the chair of musician´s health that offers lectures on the principles of healthy music-making, the neurosciences of music and a seminar on the treatment of stage fright.
The Schleswig-Holstein
Music Festival
With 120 venues at 71 different locations, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival is one of the largest regional festivals in Europe and it is based in Lübeck. Classical music can be heard at both established and unusual venues, but pop, jazz, fusion, comedy and readings are also on the programme. The "Music Festivals in the Countryside" combine music and informal get-togethers at the most beautiful country estates in Schleswig-Holstein. Festival orchestras and masterclasses promote young musical talent. The programme has a common theme every year.
The Possehl Foundation is a dependable sponsor of the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. In Lübeck, it supports the Shipyard Summer at the Gollan Cultural Shipyard and the "Outside the Gates" concert series, where festival visitors are invited explore Lübeck off the beaten track with innovative concert formats. The foundation also supports the masterclasses held at the Lübeck College of Music.
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"The beauty of the city",
Art & Culture
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