Dinner im Schloss should also make room for social issues. What matters to me is hearing from people who take responsibility and make a tangible difference.
Five years of 🏰 Dinner im Schloss.
And honestly, I am still deeply grateful that the format has become so well established and has developed so wonderfully in Heidelberg!
Every year, I ask myself again whether an event like this still makes sense and whether continuing it is the right thing to do. The work involved is truly enormous, and I have to ask that question each time. To me, an event is relevant when its speakers are people who make a tangible difference and take responsibility.
Tatjana Kiel is a good example. When someone speaks from experience about what commitment looks like, where things get stuck and what is actually needed, that matters to me. Not grand statements, but concrete ideas for how to help. Tatjana is very direct about this, which I greatly appreciate.
That is exactly why I am pleased that voices like hers will be part of the next 🏰 Dinner im Schloss again. More on that soon.
Of course, there will also be plenty of business topics. That is part of it, and I expect it too. At the same time, it matters to me that we leave room and time for issues beyond business, especially social questions: things that are not always comfortable, but are relevant.
Perhaps that very combination is why Dinner im Schloss is now taking place for the fifth time.
And I am very grateful for that. 🙏
Originally published on LinkedIn on 7 January 2026. Time references and mentions of events relate to that date.
