No move to Berlin IRZ Foundation surprisingly stays in Bonn after all
Bonn · It is a success for Bonn that was not expected. The German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) is not moving to Berlin. 70 jobs will remain in the federal city.
The German Foundation for International Legal Cooperation (IRZ) will stay in Bonn after all. As the association's chief executive, Frauke Bachler, confirmed to the GA at noon on Tuesday, the association's general meeting rejected the idea of moving its headquarters from Bonn to Berlin and thus also of relocating 70 jobs from the Rhine to the Spree.
The decision was made in a postal vote following the digital general meeting. It comes as a surprise because the association's board of trustees had voted a few days earlier to relocate the headquarters and thus also to move to the federal capital. "This is really good news," said Norbert Röttgen (CDU), member of the Rhein-Sieg Bundestag, in an initial statement.
"The decision ensures the high quality of the Foundation's work and also strengthens Bonn as an international location," Röttgen continued. IRZ Chief Executive Bachler told the GA: "We are pleased that the decision was made so quickly, so that the staff will be spared a long period of uncertainty." The foundation had been initiated in the early 1990s by the then Federal Minister of Justice Klaus Kinkel (FDP).
Original text: Bernd Eyermann
Translation: Mareike Graepel
