display

Darmstadt / Gießen / Kassel (dpa / lhe) - The number of foundations in Hesse continued to rise last year.

Especially in the south of the country, numerous start-ups have been recognized, as the regional council in Darmstadt announced.

152 new foundations were added here alone.

According to the figures from the Federal Association of German Foundations in 2019, Hesse was the state with the highest density of foundations, 34 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Only the city-states of Hamburg (79) and Bremen (49) had more.

According to the association, more recent figures will not be available until spring.

However, a random sample has shown that the corona crisis has so far had no effect on the willingness to donate to foundations.

"It is not noticeable that less is donated," says the association.

Foundations enable educational programs, finance museums and science or help disabled people and socially disadvantaged people.

"The majority of foundations in Germany are set up by private individuals, most of them during their lifetime," says the German Foundation Center.

A long-term, charitable purpose is devised and the assets are transferred to a foundation.

It invests the funds profitably and uses the proceeds to support the foundation's goal.

Of course, companies and families also set up foundations.

display

Last year, according to their information, more than 180 foundations were newly recognized in the responsibilities of the three Hessian regional councils in Darmstadt, Kassel and Gießen.

This means that there are more than 2,300 nationwide with total assets of several billion euros.

Almost 1700 foundations are the responsibility of the Darmstadt Regional Council.

According to the authority, most of the start-ups were in Darmstadt (89) and Frankfurt (30).

According to the regional council, the high number in Darmstadt is due to the establishment of a commercial foundation support, which is also responsible for the administration.

The establishment of a foundation is legally regulated in the civil code.

The state supervisory authorities for approval are the regional councils.

The respective church authorities are responsible for the churches.

There are different legal forms for foundations and not all of them require approval by the supervisory authorities.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210125-99-156155 / 2

display

Foundations in Hessen

Ministry of the Interior on Foundations

Civil Code on Foundations