We mourn the loss of Bernd Asbach
We mourn the loss of our esteemed former colleague, Bernd Asbach. From 1997, he headed the Middle East/North Africa Division and helped establish the offices in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Beirut and Rabat.
Bernd joined Buntstift e.V. in Göttingen in 1990, one of the three predecessor organisations of the Heinrich Böll Foundation. There, he established the organisation’s work on the Middle East and North Africa. Following the merger to form the Heinrich Böll Foundation, based in Berlin, he headed the Middle East/North Africa Department from 1997 onwards and helped to establish the offices in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Beirut and Rabat.
Bernd was a role model in many ways – and a social trailblazer. Whether it was inline skating trips and canoeing holidays with the children, or, later on, recumbent bikes and folding boats: Bernd was always open to new experiences and on the move.
Bernd was a true team player, collegial and loyal. Always ready to listen to his colleagues and willing to grant them a great deal of freedom, he supported newcomers and enabled seasoned staff to keep getting to grips with new topics time and again. Courageous and undaunted, even in the midst of the greatest crisis he continued to seek ways to keep project work and collaboration going.
In 2011, during the Arab Spring, he did not hesitate to resume the project work in North Africa, which had been put on hold in the meantime. His curiosity and the unwavering confidence that, together with the important work of teams and partners, he could contribute to positive change made working with him a truly special experience.
It was a severe setback for Bernd that his health prevented him from realising his dream of heading the Rabat office.
His warm and positive nature, and his enthusiasm for discovery and development, continue to shape the spirit of the work carried out by the Middle East and North Africa Unit to this day.
We thank Bernd for his wonderful work and will cherish his memory. Our thoughts are with his family.
Colleagues from the MENA Team and Bernd’s long-standing colleagues at the Foundation
Translated by Deepl
Translated from the German Version: https://www.boell.de/de/2026/09/04/wir-trauern-um-bernd-asbach