Corporate Citizenship
Hamburg is our home. As a company rooted in northern Germany, cosmopolitanism and an international view of things are part of our self-image. Social issues, sport and culture are particularly close to our hearts. In line with our Corporate Social Responsibility guidelines, we would like to make a contribution here in our region with our sponsorship. We have been supporting the following projects and organisations for many years or decades.
Social commitment: by people for people
We have always been committed to social causes. A total of 20 associations, societies and foundations from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein received a total of one million euros for their valuable work as part of the two donation campaigns in 2024. The organisations have different focuses and are committed to helping elderly people in need, children in need or from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, victims of domestic violence, homeless people and people with disabilities and their families.
- Aladin ambulante Hilfen und Therapie gem. GmbH is a non-profit child and youth welfare organization in Hamburg. Since 1997, Aladin has been working with families who have problems and need support in raising their children. The services are used by up to 250 families per year and include educational counselling, socio-educational family support and more.
- Arche Hamburg e. V. offers children and young people in need a reliable place to go and the support they need to get ahead. With talent promotion, learning camps and other programs, Arche Hamburg reaches around 1,200 children and young people in four facilities.
- The Sozialheld*innen make people, institutions and companies aware that people with disabilities are a target group for products and services. For more than 15 years, the organization has been working on solutions for more participation and accessibility. As experts in their field, they launch political campaigns, develop technologies and share their knowledge with companies and organizations.
- Deutsche Aidshilfe (DAH) is the umbrella organization of around 115 organizations in Germany that represents the interests of people living with HIV/AIDS in the public, political, scientific and medical research arenas. DAH’s #positivarbeiten initiative was launched in 2019 with the signing of a declaration in Hamburg, and has since sent a clear and visible signal against discrimination of people with HIV.
- “We help Hamburgers in need – from person to person” is the motto of Hamburger Abendblatt hilft e. V. The organization provides low-threshold assistance to people in financial or health-related need. Last year, 17,800 children, adolescents, adults and seniors received support, including learning therapies, integration projects and financial assistance for urgently needed purchases.
- Hamburger Tafel e. V. collects surplus food from retailers and manufacturers and distributes it to 31 food pantries in and around Hamburg. It is an idea that benefits everyone involved: Food retailers and manufacturers assume social responsibility, and those in need receive high-quality food and motivation for the future for little or no money.
- “Intergenerational projects make life more colourful and easier” is the motto of Jung & Alt e. V. is convinced. The association promotes active interaction between the generations, thereby easing the burden of everyday life. Parents enjoy the contact between their children and the grandparents generation. For the elderly, contact with children is a valuable enrichment of everyday life. Thanks to the Young & Old Association, volunteers in Hamburg are building bridges between the generations.
- The Kinderschutzbund sees itself as a lobby for children and young people in Germany, advocating on their behalf in federal and state legislation and in planning and decision-making in cities and communities. HCOB supports the regional associations in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein in their efforts to create better living conditions for children.
- The Mittagskinder Foundation provides more than 200 children in two children’s clubs in socially deprived areas of Hamburg with regular healthy meals free of charge. The children also receive help with their homework and expert socio-educational support.
- The non-profit organisation WELCOMING OUT UG was founded in Hamburg in 2021 and aims to initiate a social movement to visibly increase the acceptance of gender and sexual diversity in Hamburg society. WELCOMING OUT creates a low-threshold symbol so that people can make their openness and acceptance of LGBTIQ+ people visible to the outside world.
- The bank’s private aid initiative #HCOBEmployeesStandWithUkraine travelled to Ukraine again in 2024 – for the eighth time – to deliver much-needed relief supplies and aid on the ground. Since the start of Russia’s war of aggression, dedicated colleagues have been collecting and transporting donations in kind and cash to Ukraine. These include medical equipment for hospitals, power generators, water purification systems, food, toys and much more. In 2024, the initiative focused on the needs of families in regions severely affected by the war, enabling children and young people living there to participate in education and the community. Between Donetsk and Kharkiv, for example, classrooms and playrooms were rebuilt and equipped with all the necessary materials. Around 1,000 Christmas presents for children in Ukraine will be delivered on the last trip of the year in December.
- The organization ArbeiterKind.de helps young people without an academic background to study. This is important because those who want to be the first in their family to go to university are often put off by a lack of knowledge and fear of financial debt. The association has offices in Hamburg and Berlin and offers individual advice.
- Beistand am Lebensende e. V. is an outpatient hospice service that has been supporting terminally ill people and their families at home, in care facilities or in hospital since 2005. The association has around 160 members, about a quarter of whom are volunteers.
- Der Norden hilft e. V. supports people of all ages with disabilities in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. The association’s members volunteer their time to help others, run two clothing banks and organize the “Wunschbaum” (Wish Tree) campaign, which provides more than 500 gifts funded by donations.
- The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) is an independent, donor-funded organization that rescues people in distress in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. The work of the predominantly volunteer lifeboat crew is made possible solely by voluntary donations.
- The German Red Cross Hospice Hamburg Harburg gGmbH provides support, comfort and companionship to the terminally ill. Professional carers, doctors, therapists and dedicated volunteers provide individual care for up to twelve guests and their families.
- The Familienbildungsstätte Kiel e. V. is a non-profit organization that offers a range of educational, care and support programs for parents and children in the Kiel region. The organization runs two crèches, a forest day-care r and a family center.
- The non-profit organization Frauen helfen Frauen Hamburg e. V. supports women and children affected by domestic violence. The association runs two independent women’s shelters in Hamburg, offering protection, counselling and accommodation.
- The Loki Schmidt Foundation promotes nature and species conservation in Hamburg and throughout Germany by protecting natural habitats and providing environmental education. With more than 1,000 events a year and active public relations work, the foundation aims to bring people closer to nature and inspire them to protect it.
Tiertafel Hamburg e. V. supports pet owners in need in Hamburg. The association’s volunteers help provide food, gifts and basic medical care for the pets of people in financial need. - The Zonta Club Hamburg Hafen e. V. and its non-profit circle of friends are committed to equal rights, education, equal career opportunities and the strengthening of the rights of women and girls, and is explicitly committed to combating violence. In addition to educational programs, the network of women for women also offers aid initiatives such as the “Madame Courage” project, which supports female students who do not receive state financial support (BAföG) or similar benefits in the final phase of their studies.
HCOB Art Foundation for Schleswig-Holstein
We support the Schleswig Holstein Art Foundation for contemporary visual arts and culture. The foundation enables a curator to develop and implement an art programme in line with the foundation’s purpose.
At the core of the foundation’s purpose is the promotion of young, talented artists. Starting out in this profession, which is as fulfilling as it is full of uncertainties, requires courage and a strong, supportive hand. We are happy to lend such a hand.
The purpose of the foundation is realised in particular through measures that promote talented young artists; it does not include the purchase of works of art.
Board of Trustees:
Ulrik Lackschewitz, Member of the Board of HCOB, Hamburg
Karin Prien, Minister for General and Vocational Education, Science, Research and Culture of the State of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
Dr. Bernd Brandes-Druba, Managing Director of Sparkassenstiftung Schleswig-Holstein and Foundation Advisor at Sparkassen- und Giroverband für Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel
Thomas Schwitalla, Press Spokesman Hamburg Commercial Bank, Hamburg
Dagmar Linden M.A., Head of Museum Certification Schleswig-Holstein/Hamburg, Rendsburg
Thomas Schwitalla, Communications Specialist, Wohltorf
Board of Directors:
Office:
Friederike Rummer, Kiel
The HOCB Art Foundation for Schleswig-Holstein is supporting the art project “What unites us. The integrative power of textile art” at the Museum Tuch + Technik in Neumünster. The participatory project comprises five creative workshops between September 2024 and March 2025. The works created there will then be exhibited in the museum.
Information about the project:
In today’s world, divisions are becoming ever more apparent – both within states and communities and between states. Connecting elements and commonalities are increasingly receding into the background.
With the art project “What unites us. The integrative power of textile art”, the Museum Tuch + Technik is countering this development. What unites us is an integral part of all textile techniques: Warp and weft threads are crossed in weaving, stitches are joined together in crochet or knitting, seams connect fabrics. At the same time, textile techniques also connect people worldwide in cultural terms. Fabrics have been made at all times and in all cultures – be it to keep warm or to clothe oneself, be it as an ornament or a work of art.
Five creative workshops will focus on various textile techniques with the aim of giving them a forum as a form of artistic expression. At the same time, the aim of the workshops is to bring people together: across city and national borders. The workshop leaders are of different origins and have different cultural backgrounds.
Further information, the dates of the workshops and the exhibition can be found here: Weaving courses | Museum Tuch + Technik Neumünster (tuchundtechnik.de).
In our diverse world, there are many areas of life that have hardly any points of contact with each other. Accessibility – even in the figurative sense – often does not exist. Inclusion and art are terms that are rarely associated with each other. This is the starting point for the “WIR!” art project, which the Hamburg Commercial Bank Art Foundation is supporting this year.
The abbreviation “WIR!” stands for “Worlds in Resonance”. The project brings together worlds that would otherwise hardly come together. This is possible because the two artists Chili Seitz and Ute Diez from Kiel are developing a work of art in workshops together with a group of people with disabilities. An interactive and barrier-free installation is planned, which only becomes complete when the viewer becomes active. It will consist of different parts at different locations. The objects will be connected to each other and react to each other, and will promote resonance. A vernissage in November 2023 is planned to mark the end of the project.
Since 2014, visual artists Seitz and Diez have been developing artistic strategies as the “büro für nichtlineares denken” (office for non-linear thinking) and investigating aspects of everyday life in society at large. Laura Schwörer, education specialist at the Institute for Inclusive Education in Kiel and also an artist, also supports the workshops. The workshops will be moderated by Silke Adam, a specialist in “Augmentative and Alternative Communication” and “Easy Language”. All other participants are employees of the Drachensee Foundation in Kiel, who have different qualifications. The Drachensee Foundation is a facility for people with disabilities that offers employment, education, housing and leisure activities.
The “WIR!” project has received funding from the HCOB Kunststiftung für Schleswig-Holstein of almost EUR 45,000. The foundation has been supporting various art projects in Schleswig-Holstein for over 30 years. “We were very impressed by the inclusive and integrative approach of the project,” said Ulrik Lackschewitz, Chief Risk Officer and Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Hamburg Commercial Bank. “‘WIR!’ makes an important contribution to joint, inclusive work and explores new dimensions. We are delighted that our foundation can support this.”
The project is curated by Gesa Kobs, Managing Director of the Institute for Inclusive Education at Kiel University and IIB2 gGmbH, who also developed the project.
sinn.vor.ort
The rediscovery of public space
The art project “sinn.vor.ort” in October in Pinneberg near Hamburg was based precisely on this idea. Lackschewitz: “It is precisely such fresh impulses that Germany needs now for a new social, economic and cultural start.” Public space needs to be rediscovered and revitalized – especially after the long and gloomy weeks, months, years of the pandemic. This was the central idea behind the project “sinn.vor.Ort”, which took place over three weekends in October in the northern German city of 43,000 inhabitants.
The Pinneberg Museum and the art group “feine menschen” wanted to capture and revitalize the public space of Pinneberg around Drosteiplatz with their art. “Both the specific local history and the contemporary developments in our society were given expression through the project’s activities, and their respective relevance was examined,” says Ina Duggen-Below, Director of the Pinneberg Museum. “Pinneberg – a small town in the shadow of the big city of Hamburg – is often mocked, dismissed as a commuter town, perceived superficially,” says Duggen-Below. The art campaign vividly showed that this image is wrong and that Pinneberg is very vital and colorful beneath these superficial observations
Hamburg Commercial Bank with a long tradition of supporting art
The project was supported by the Art Foundation of the Hamburg Commercial Bank. HCOB promotes contemporary visual art and culture in Schleswig-Holstein through its Art Foundation that was established by LB Kiel in 1992. The foundation enables a curator to develop and implement an art program in line with the Foundation’s mission. </p><p>The promotion of young, talented artists is at the heart of this mission, especially when they are getting started in this profession, which is as fulfilling as it is fraught with uncertainties and which requires courage, together with a strong, supportive hand.
Focus on promoting young art
Performing artist Sabrina Schuppelius, who earned her master’s degree at the Muthesius Academy of Fine Arts in Kiel in 2019, is one such young talent who was artistically active in Pinneberg. In her opening performance, “An bei,” Schuppelius used “choreographic walking” to re-experience the movements and flows of urban space. Space that many have taken too much for granted in recent years, often regarded as being of little relevance, and which now needs to be opened up again for the community.
The four artists from “feine menschen” also wanted to do their part. The art group’s work is known for subtly questioning the self-evidence of public space and addressing its social relevance in a straightforward way.
“The exciting thing about this project was the encouragement of physical engagement with art and space. It was about people’s own position in space, which activates perception and elicits an immediate response from the viewers,” say Angela Kryzowksi and Nicole Neumann from the HCOB Art Foundation’s Board of Directors.
In total, almost 30 artists were involved in the overall performance over the three weekends, including the creative writing group “Der Schnipsel” and the sculptor Oskar Schroeder.
Studio 15 │25
Under the title “Studio 15 │25” Dr. Michael Fuhr curated an art program for the art foundation for the year 2019.
It was a nationally unique programme that brought together artists with teenagers and young adults between 15 and 25 years of age.
Dr. Michael Fuhr, director of the Museumsberg Flensburg, has developed an innovative, attractive concept for the art foundation, which distinguishes both the participating artists and the young participants in a unique way. In the course of 2019, 10 workshops were held by artists for young people. The results of these workshops were exhibited until the end of the year. The museum provided two rooms in the Hans-Christiansen-Haus throughout the project. Between the workshops, a supporting programme in the exhibition rooms offered opportunities for exchange with a broad public.
In the workshops, teenagers, trainees, students and young adults could experience authentic originals in the museum, they could meet artists and work together with them. The participants were given the chance to become artistically active themselves and find their own personal approach to art. Professional art educators organized and accompanied the workshops and the events of the supporting program.
The workshops produced works of art or multimedia documentations. Changing presentations showed the works of the participants or the documentation of their actions. Thus a constantly changing exhibition was created with the active participation of the project participants and visitors. The rooms remained accessible to the general public the whole time.
It is the first project of the Art Foundation that deliberately aimed at introducing young people between the ages of 15 and 25 to the museum.
Ukraine donation
We are also supporting victims of the war in Ukraine by donating EUR 150,000 to various aid organisations in 2024 and have supported aid deliveries to Ukraine with around EUR 550,000 to date. These contribute in various ways to alleviating at least some of the immeasurable suffering of the people affected by the war. These organisations help on the ground and support refugees in neighbouring countries by supplying food and medicine.
Elbphilharmonie Hamburg
The cultural symbol of the Hanseatic city. With the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg not only has a spectacular architectural landmark, but also one of the best concert halls in the world. Its programme represents the best that the international music scene has to offer and ranges from classical music and jazz to world music and pop. At the same time, the city’s high-ranking orchestras, such as the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, the Philharmonic State Orchestra and the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, organise their own concert series. We have been supporting the Elbphilharmonie as a “Classic Sponsor” since its opening in 2016.