After agreement was reached between the Federation and the Länder, Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle issued the following statement today (16 December) in Berlin:

“I welcome today’s outcome. It means Germany is making an important and worthy contribution to maintaining the Memorial and Museum Auschwitz-Birkenau. This reflects our historical responsibility.”

It has been agreed that Germany will make a contribution of 60 million euro to the Foundation. The Federation and the Länder are shouldering half each.

The Federal Foreign Office is the lead ministry for the work of the Federal Government with the Foundation Auschwitz-Birkenau. The Foundation has been mandated to ensure the memorial, which threatens to become dilapidated due to weathering, is preserved in the long term.