For 50 years, the Kühne Foundation has been committed to the good of society: it addresses important issues, initiates projects and supports developments in logistics, humanitarian aid, climate, medicine and culture.
33
In 33 countries, the Kühne Foundation, through HELP Logistics, is driving the improvement of supply chains – thereby strengthening humanitarian aid and development work.
65 m
In 2026, the foundation’s spending will amount to 65 million Swiss francs. The foundation’s total budget, including (third-party) funding, will be 135 million Swiss francs.
2,300
The Kühne Foundation is expanding its logistics expertise in Asia and Africa through collaborations with 18 universities, where approximately 2,300 students graduate annually.
500
Five hundred physicians, nurses, researchers, and data experts at the Kühne Foundation are dedicated to medical progress and the rehabilitation of patients in allergology, cardiology, and pulmonology.
42%
Logistics accounts for the largest share of the foundation’s funds at 42%. This is followed by medicine (20%), climate (15%), humanitarian logistics (11%), culture (7%), and administration (5%).
641
In the first two years since the founding of the Kühne Climate Center (KCC), over 600 people have participated in KCC training courses on green logistics in Africa.
800
Nearly 800 employees worldwide are driving the Kühne Foundation’s goals forward.
1.8 m
The opera houses, concert halls, and music festivals supported by the Kühne Foundation attract approximately 1.8 million visitors annually.
42
With ten offices in nine countries, the Kühne Foundation implements its international projects in 42 countries.
5%
The Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg is among the top 5% of business schools worldwide that are accredited by AACSB.
11
The Kühne Foundation’s activities are overseen by a board of trustees, currently comprised of eleven members.
We are grateful to our founder, Klaus-Michael Kühne, that this non-profit work is possible. It is the proceeds from his impressive entrepreneurial endeavors that the Foundation uses to find solutions to global challenges. And it is his entrepreneurial principles – which he has consistently applied to the Foundation’s purpose – that guide the Kühne Foundation.
Klaus-Michael Kühne
Our founder
Our Board of Trustees
The Foundation’s highest governing body is the Board of Trustees, which is also responsible for the overall management and supervision of the Kühne Foundation. The Board of Trustees has eleven members.
Prof. Dr. h.c. Klaus-Michael Kühne (President)
After a commercial apprenticeship and several years of thorough training, Klaus-Michael Kühne joined the family business Kühne + Nagel in the early 1960s, became a personally liable partner in 1963 and three years later Chairman of the Management Board. From 1975, he served as Chief Executive Officer and later Chairman of the Board of Directors at the company’s international headquarters in Switzerland. He has been Honorary Chairman since 2011. The majority shareholder of the Kühne+Nagel Group is Kühne Holding AG, which was founded by him in 1993 and also holds a 30 percent stake in Hapag-Lloyd AG, one of the world's leading container shipping companies, and a significant stake of shares in Lufthansa AG. In addition, Kühne Holding AG has further shareholdings in companies and real estate and is involved in the high-end hotel industry. Together with his parents, Klaus-Michael Kühne founded the Kühne Foundation in 1976.
Christine Kühne
Christine Kühne is Klaus-Michael Kühne’s wife and supports him in all his projects. The Christine Kühne – Center for Allergy Research and Education (CK-CARE) was founded on her initiative in 2009 to promote allergy research in the long term.
Dr. Thomas Staehelin (Vice President)
Dr. Thomas Staehelin holds a PhD in law and has been a partner of Fromer Advokatur und Notariat based in Basel since 1981. His expertise includes international mandates, corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, tax law, contract and commercial law as well as banking and stock market law. Dr. Staehelin is a member and/or President of the Board of Directors of several Swiss and international companies. Dr. Staehelin has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 1998 and has been its Vice-President since then.
Michael Behrendt
After studies in law, Michael Behrendt joined VTG Vereinigte Tanklager und Transportmittel GmbH in 1985 and became Managing Director in 1994. In 1999, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer of VTG Lehnkering AG. Michael Behrendt became Chairman of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG in 2002; and has taken over as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG in 2014. Furthermore, he is Honorary President of the Übersee-Club e.V. in Hamburg and board member of the non-profit science organisation Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft e.V. Mr. Behrendt was first appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation in 2005. From 2008 to 2016, he sat on the Board of Trustees of the Klaus-Michael Kühne Foundation.
Dr. Thomas Buberl
Dr. Thomas Buberl began his career as a consultant at the Boston Consulting Group for the banking & insurance sector and joined the Winterthur Group in 2005. He moved to Zurich Insurance in 2008 as CEO for Switzerland. He was appointed CEO of AXA Germany in 2012, then CEO of the Global Health business line in 2015, before being appointed CEO of the AXA Group in 2016. He holds a Master of Economics degree from WHU Koblenz (Germany), an MBA from Lancaster University (UK) and a PhD in Economics from the University of St. Gallen (Switzerland). He is a member of the IBM Board of Directors and sits on the Board of Trustees of the World Economic Forum. Thomas Buberl has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation since November 2023.
Karl Gernandt
Karl Gernandt started his career with Deutsche Bank AG, after graduating with a Master in Business Administration at the University of St. Gallen. He moved on to A.T. Kearney, focusing on strategy development for financial institutions, then to Alsen AG und Holcim AG, most recently as CEO of the Region Western Europe. From 2009 to 2011 Karl Gernandt was Delegate and from 2011 to 2016 Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Kühne + Nagel International AG, and has been Vice-Chairman since 2016. Furthermore, he is Chairman of the Kühne Holding AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG as well as a member of the Supervisory Board of Lufthansa AG.
Dr. Jörg Dräger (Executive Director of the Board of Trustees)
Dr. Jörg Dräger studied Physics and Economics in Hamburg and New York. After his graduation, he worked for Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in Frankfurt/Main. He returned to Hamburg as CEO of the Northern Institute of Technology. From 2001 to 2008 Dr. Dräger took office as Hamburg’s (independent) Minister of Science and Research. In addition, he was a member of the Conference of Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and a deputy member of the German Bundesrat. From 2008 till the end of 2021 he was a member of the Executive Board at the Bertelsmann Foundation. Dr. Dräger was first appointed to the Board of Trustees in 2008 and has been the Executive Director of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation since 2022.
Dr. Wolfgang Peiner
Following an apprenticeship at Kühne + Nagel in Hamburg, Dr. Wolfgang Peiner studied business administration in Hamburg and Kansas, USA, and subsequently worked as a tax consultant and public accountant at Arthur Andersen + Co. and the Werner Otto Group. From 1984 to 2001, he was a member of the Executive Board and later Chairman of the Executive Board of the Gothaer Insurance Group. During this period, he also held several board positions. From 2001 to 2006, Dr. Peiner served as Senator for Finance of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg; at the same time, he was Federal Treasurer of the CDU Germany. In 2010 and 2011, he was Founding President of Kühne Logistics University in Hamburg. From 2008 to 2022, he was also a member of the Board of Directors of Kühne Holding AG. Dr. Peiner has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation since 2005.
Dr. Marc Pfeffer
Dr. Marc Pfeffer is admitted to practise law in Switzerland and Germany. He studied at Saarland University, where he obtained his doctorate with distinction. In the late 1990s, he worked for, amongst others, the FTC in Washington D.C., USA, and the German Federal Cartel Office in Berlin. Between 2002 and 2006, he held various management positions within the DB AG Group, most recently as Head of Legal at DB Netz AG. At the end of 2006, he moved to Switzerland and worked for OC Oerlikon for six years, including as Group Legal Counsel. Dr. Pfeffer has been advising Kühne Holding AG since 2013 and joined Kühne + Nagel as General Counsel in 2014; he was appointed Secretary to the Board of Directors in 2019 and joined the Executive Board in 2023. From 2008 to 2019, he served on the Board of Directors of Ruf Holding AG, and from 2019 to 2022 as Executive Director, Board Member and member of the Audit Committee of Kühne Holding AG. Dr. Pfeffer was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation in April 2023.
Tobias Staehelin
Tobias B. Staehelin is a qualified lawyer specialising in corporate law. He graduated from the University of St. Gallen with a lic. iur. He also holds a CEMS Master’s in International Management, an LL.M. from Northwestern University, USA, and the Instituto de Empresa, Spain. From 2021 to 2024, he was a member of the Group Executive Committee of the Schindler Group, responsible for Corporate Human Resources. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors Schindler Holding AG and has been a member of their Supervisory and Strategy Committee since 2024. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of Kühne + Nagel International AG since 2021 and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Kühne Foundation since 2023.
Dr. Jörg Wolle
Jörg Wolle, who holds a PhD in engineering, shaped and led DKSH AG as President and CEO from 2000 to 2017; the company, which emerged from the merger of three long-established Swiss trading houses in Asia, had a turnover of 11 billion Swiss francs and 35,000 employees. Since 2010, Dr. Wolle has been a member of the Board of Directors of Kühne + Nagel International AG, which he has chaired since May 2016. Dr. Wolle has been a member of the Board of Directors of Kühne Holding AG since June 2013. He also chairs the Board of Directors of Klingelnberg AG and, since 2019, has been a member of the Board of Directors of Olam, one of the world’s largest commodity traders, listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange.
Dr. Jörg Dräger, Foundation & Special Projects
Dr. Jörg Dräger is the Executive Director of the Board of Trustees and, together with the founder and the Foundation Board, shapes the Foundation’s strategic development. He also oversees building the new Hamburg State Opera House.
Dr. Niklas Wilmking, Logistics & Climate
Dr. Niklas Wilmking is the Managing Director of the Kühne Foundation. He is responsible, in particular , for the foundation’s logistics and climate projects, as well as its intercontinental offices.
Dr. Georg Schäppi, Medicine
Dr. Georg Schäppi is responsible for the Kühne Foundation’s medical division and the Davos Medicine Campus.
Emilie Reichmann, Operations & Culture
As Head of Operations & Cultural Affairs, Emilie Reichmann is responsible for finance, legal affairs and governance, and HR; she also oversees the foundation’s cultural funding projects and the Kühne Academy.