PATRIZIA Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary

On 22 December 1999, Wolfgang Egger created the PATRIZIA KinderHaus Foundation with a bold vision: to provide children worldwide with access to education, healthcare, and a safe home. Before that, he had already demonstrated his deep commitment to social causes – as one of the first supporters of Bunter Kreis e.V., which provides aftercare for seriously ill children in Germany, as well as for organisations in Tanzania. His first trip to Africa, motivated by a desire to witness the impact of his contributions firsthand, became a transformative experience: in order to provide even more effective help, he set up the PATRIZIA KinderHaus Foundation – with the aim of bringing about long-term and sustainable change for generations, with responsible local project partners and a commitment to always support each facility for 25 years.

The first project brought the Foundation back to Peramiho: in 2002, the PATRIZIA Children’s Hospital was inaugurated. This initiative has become a regional success story, significantly improving healthcare in the area. In 2023 alone, the hospital treated 31,427 children as outpatients and 6,033 as inpatients.

One of its success stories is Christian, who was born weighing only 1,200 grams. Thanks to the exceptional neonatal care at the PATRIZIA Children’s Hospital, Christian is thriving today. His sister Hilda expressed her gratitude, writing: “I want to thank the Foundation for building the children’s hospital, where my little brother’s life was saved.”

To date, the PATRIZIA Foundation has positively impacted the lives of 750,000 children and young adults worldwide through 25 KinderHaus facilities across 15 countries and five continents, offering them the chance for quality education and a self-determined life.

We continue this journey together, with our goal to reach one million children by 2030 steadily within reach. With your continued support, this vision will become a reality.

Milestones of the PATRIZIA Foundation:

• 1984: Wolfgang Egger founds PATRIZIA, regularly supporting social causes, including The Bunter Kreis e.V. (Colourful Circle) which provides aftercare for children in Germany with severe illnesses. The Bunter Kreis’s work ends up inspiring change in the German healthcare system
• 1999: The PATRIZIA KinderHaus-Stiftung (PATRIZIA Children’s Foundation) is founded by Wolfgang Egger
• 2002: First project: PATRIZIA Children’s Hospital Peramiho, Tanzania
• 2008: First dormitory: PATRIZIA Vocational Training Centre Ntarama, Rwanda
• 2010: First school: PATRIZIA School Buyamba, Uganda
• 2018: Opening of PATRIZIA Vocational Training Center Alego, Kenya, with Dr Auma Obama – the founder of partner organisation, Sauti Kuu Foundation – and her brother Barack Obama – the 44th President of the United States
• 2019: FIFA World Cup winner Mario Götze and his wife Ann-Kathrin become Ambassadors of the Foundation
• 2020: Corona Fund Education Healthcare is launched to support the KinderHaus projects during times of crisis
• 2021: First hiking challenge launched by PATRIZIA employees to support KinderHaus projects
• 2021: Start of the long-term initiative ‘Ready for the Future’ to ensure access to digital educational opportunities
• 2021: The PATRIZIA impact model is developed with the NPO Competence Centre of the Vienna University of Economics and Business
• 2022: An ex-post evaluation confirms the long-term impact of the KinderHaus projects in Songea and Peramiho, Tanzania
• 2022: The EduCare Europe Fund is set up to help traumatised children from Ukraine who had become refugees after the invasion into the country by Russia
• 2024: Successful completion of the 5-year partner programme with the PATRIZIA Vocational Training Centre, Rwanda, transforming it into a sustainable and solar-powered school
• 2024: Lord and Lady Lloyd Webber become global Ambassadors
• 2024: The PATRIZIA Foundation expands its global impact with the launch of the PATRIZIA Foundation UK and its first UK-based cooperation with MiSST (Music in Secondary Schools Trust)
• Lighthouse project from 2025: New Vocational Training Centre Bumthang, Bhutan – as trusted partner of the Queen Mother of Bhutan