Founder
Motives and facets
My childhood is inextricably linked to Stuttgart, where I was born in 1953,
by far the youngest of four children. I was immensely fortunate with my family: my father and mother, with their contrasting and exciting talents, and my three much older brothers and sister were a constant source of inspiration for me. I have been able to draw on this throughout my life.
After graduating from high school, I had set my mind on traveling to Asia. As an 18-year-old tramp, alone, with almost no money. I drifted through the world for nine months, and miraculously made it through.
Asia, and India in particular, left a deep impression on me. Since then, I have had a lasting connection with the people there and their destinies.
After studying sociology and politics in Freiburg and Bielefeld and spending scholarships in Peru and Ecuador, it was natural for me to seek my first professional position in development aid. For three years, from 1980 to 1983, I worked for DESWOS, a non-profit organization in the social housing sector, as a project officer with various assignments in South America and East Africa.
My professional career had begun. And with it, other aspirations developed that pushed me toward new challenges. I found them in politics.
For six years, I was making my way through different positions in the Berlin administration
I started in 1983 as a staff member of the Christian Democratic Party, then became personal assistant to the Minister for Economic Affairs, and finally spent three years heading the Economic Policy Department. A promising career in politics seemed to be on the cards.
Until 1989, when the Christian Democrats lost election, the government had to step down, and my future prospects were abruptly blocked overnight.
I had to start completely from scratch, and I found a way to do so in the business world.
For the next 15 years, I held increasingly ambitious positions as managing director, board member, CEO, or supervisory board member in various medium-sized companies. Planning, project development, and restructuring of apartments, hotels, and retail centers became my passion.
The learning curve was steep. Ambitious and seeking success, I wanted to reach the top, which I achieved after years of climbing the ladder, albeit with a few stumbles but with enough merit of my own. This career, which ultimately led to entrepreneurial independence in 2005, could probably be described as a success.
Some of my motives at the time seem questionable and not always appropriate to me today. In any case they were exhausting.
I look back on all these roles with their different facets and lessons peacefully and sometimes shaking my head.
And I would like to thank the friends, companions, partners, and opponents who have accompanied me on my journey. And where necessary and not yet done, I ask for forgiveness.
With the establishment of the Dr. Birk Foundation, I am building a bridge between my connection to Asia and my lifelong affinity for learning and understanding in all its liberating dimensions.
Dr. Manfred Birk
