The Foundation is the responsible legal entity of the Initiative. Based in Heidelberg, it was established in 2005. Chairmen and active advisors to the Foundation were the late former Minister-President Prof Dr Lothar Späth and Federal Minister Dr Hans-Jochen Vogel.
Rudolf Decker, former Member of the Baden-Wuerttemberg State Parliament, was appointed chairman of the board until 2017.
Represented in the bodies of the Foundation (the foundation council and the board of directors) are several current and former members of the German constitutional organs, among them elected delegates and state secretaries.
As per its statute, the purpose of the Foundation is “to promote the awareness of responsibility before God and man, as well as the understanding between the nations of the world, through joint reflection on God”. However, the Foundation pursues no party-political agenda.