The Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, will deliver the laudatory speech for the recipient of the Benediktpreis of Mönchengladbach, former Federal President Joachim Gauck. The ceremony will take place on Thursday, December 5, 2024, in the Kaisersaal of the Haus Erholung in Mönchengladbach. “We are very proud of the Minister President’s acceptance,” says Ulrich M. Harnacke, Chairman of the Board of the Benediktpreis von Mönchengladbach Association, “as it not only honors the lifetime achievements of Joachim Gauck but also confirms the significance of the award ceremony.”
As Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Gauck has always championed justice, freedom, and democracy, repeatedly raising awareness of the high value of freedom while emphasizing its connection to responsibility, according to the Board of Trustees of the Benediktpreis von Mönchengladbach Association in its unanimous citation.
The Benediktpreis of Mönchengladbach has been awarded for more than half a century and, since its realignment in 2013, is the third prize in North Rhine-Westphalia with statewide standing and supra-regional importance, alongside the “Aachen Charlemagne Prize” and the “Westphalian Peace Prize” in Münster.
