The Fondation CANDIDA promotes the intercultural dialogues through its support of conferences and debates at the Institute Pierre Werner in Luxembourg.

The Institute Pierre Werner is a European cultural center in Luxembourg. It offers a place for intellectual exchanges between its founding countries: France, Germany and Luxembourg, among other European countries. Through a lively programme of debates and lectures, the Institute seeks to encourage the ideas of the Enlightenement, European citizenship and the humanist and democratic values developed following the Second World War.

The Fondation CANDIDA is proud to have supported the following events at the Institute Pierre Werner: 

2025: Debate between François Debras, Philip Manow, and Albert Ogien

Moderated by author and editor Julien Paulus, François Debras (University of Liège), Philip Manow (University of Siegen) et Albert Ogien (CNRS) debated on the theme "Democracy: A Tool for What Future?". The debate sought to unpack and reflect on the meaning and future of democracy, particularly within the challenging political conext of today.

© Institut Pierre Werner

2024: Lecture and interview with Caroline de Mulder by William Irigoyen

Journalist William Irigoyen (ARTE) speaks with author Caroline de Mulder about her novel “La pouponnière d'Himmler” (Gallimard - Collection Blanche, 2024). The novel recounts the last months of a Nazi maternity ward, through the eyes of a nurse, a mother-to-be, and a prisoner assigned to maintain the estate.

© Institut Pierre Werner

2024: Conference on the Piron Bigade in Brussels

As part of the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Brussels and Luxembourg City, the Embassy of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg in Belgium, in collaboration with the Institut Pierre Werner, the Fédération Royale Nationale de la Brigade Piron and the Musée Royal de l'Armée de Bruxelles, with the support of the Centre de Rencontres Belgo-Luxembourgeois, organized a conference on the history of the participation of the Piron Brigade. The conference took place at the Musée Royal de l'Armée in Brussels.

With lectures by Prof. Francis Balace, historian Vincent Artuso and Colonel Jacques Luyckx, the conference explored the first Belgian-Luxembourg military cooperation.

© Fédération Royale Nationale de la Brigade Piron

2024: Interview with Thomas Sparr by Renée Wagener

Historian Renée Wagener interviewed author Thomas Sparr on his latest book "The Biography of the Diary of Anne Frank" (S. Fischer, 2023), which uncovers the unknown history of one of the world's most-read books. 

© Institut Pierre Werner
 

2023: Interview with Claude Martin, former Ambassador of France to Germany and China

Born in the last days of the war, Claude Martin has always been interested in Germany. As Ambassador to Berlin, the new capital of reunified Germany, his top mission was to help reconstitute a solid Franco-German “couple”. For three decades, Martin took part in all European negotiations in which the “Franco-German engine” allowed Europe to move forward. In an interview with William Irigoyen (ARTE), he spoke about this long chapter of history, which formed the basis of his latest book, "Quand je pense à l'Allemagne, la nuit" (Editions de l'Aube, 02-2023).

© Institut Pierre Werner

2023: Conference-interview with economist Prof. Oded Galor

After presenting the major themes of his latest book, The Journey of Humanity: The Origins of Wealth and Inequality, Oded Galor sat down with journalist Alexander Hagelüken (Süddeutsch Zeitung) to further explore what his findings mean for the future.

2022: An interview with author David Van Reybrouck, by William Irigoyen

In a conversation with William Irigoyen (ARTE), David Van Reybrouck explores the historical research behind his latest work Revolusi: Indonesia and the Birth of the Modern World (2020, French translation, Actes Sud, 2022).

A recording of the conversation from October 22nd, 2022 can be viewed here.

William Irigoyen (left) et David Van Reybrouck © IPW

2022: An Interview with Géraldine Schwarz, by William Irigoyen

The French ARTE journalist William Irigoyen speaks with the Franco-German journalist and author Géraldine Schwarz on her work "Les Amnésiques", winner of the European Book Prize and published in 2017 (Flammarion).

This book, in which the author discovers that her grandparents collaborated with the Nazi regime, raises the crucial question of whether making citizens victims of history instead of holding them responsible opened the way to populism and weakened our democracies.    

Géraldine Schwarz © Astrid di Crollalanza

2021: Debate between Pascal Ory and Vincent Artuso

The French historian, Pascal Ory, speaks with Luxembourg historian, Vincent Artuso, on his most recent work "Qu'est-ce qu’une nation? », published in 2020 (Bibliothèques des histoires, Gallimard).

Pascale Ory © Francesca Mantovani – éditions Gallimard

For more information on this event: https://www.ipw.lu/pascal-ory-quest-ce-quune-nation-une-histoire-mondiale-entretien/#.YCU25Wi2mUk

2020: Conference-debate with French historian Pierre Birnbaum

The French historian Pierre Birnbaum participated in a conference-debate with Vincent Artuso, a Luxembourg historian, on Birnbaum's most recent book, "La leçon de Vichy - Une histoire personnelle", published in 2019 (Seuil).

Pierre Birnbaum © E. Marchadour