History of the Foundation

Paul Hindemith's widow and heiress Gertrud Hindemith specified in her will of 4 December 1966: «Our entire legacy is to be transformed into a Hindemith Foundation.» She entrusted the establishment of the Foundation to a circle of twelve friends.

Gertrud Hindemith died on 13 March 1967 in Vevey (Canton Vaud). The friends named in her will gathered together on 10 and 11 December 1967 in Vevey, elected a five-person Foundation Council from amongst themselves and specified Blonay as the headquarters of the Foundation.

The first Foundation Council consisted of the following members:

Dr. Arno Volk, President (Mainz)
Dr. Karl-Herbert Schober, Vice President (Brussels/Vienna)
Marius Décombaz (Vevey)
Prof. Philipp Mohler (Frankfurt)
Prof. Dr. Heinrich Straumann (Zurich)

The Certificate of Incorporation was signed by the members of the Foundation Council on 10 June 1968, and the statutes went into legal force with the entry of the Foundation in the Swiss Trade Registry, Vevey Bureau, on 8 July 1968. The Foundation became acknowledged by the Swiss Department of the Interior with the resolution of 9 August 1968 and has been subjected to the supervision of the Swiss federal authorities.

From 1986 until 1998 Dr. Andres Briner served as the President of the Foundation Council. He was succeeded by Prof. Dr. Andreas Eckhardt from 1999 to 2022. He was succeeded by Prof. Tabea Zimmermann in 2023.

The Hindemith Foundation established the Hindemith Institut Frankfurt in 1974 and founded the Hindemith Musikzentrum Blonay in 1978. Its administrative office is located in the area of the Hindemith Music Centre in the «Maison Marius Décombaz».

From the last will of Gertrud Hindemith, december 4, 1966

»Our entire legacy is to be transformed into a Hindemith Foundation, whose main activity will be to take care of Hindemith's musical and literary legacy and to further expand the archive that I have begun to create in our house.«

Fondation Hindemith
Chemin du Lacuez 3
CH-1807 Blonay
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