Internationale Martin Luther Stiftung

The daily Luther

19th March

If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.

Interpretation of Martin Luther ...

LutherConference & award ceremony of the LutherRose 2018

Kenneth Bengtsson

Kenneth Bengtsson, born 1961 in Ljungby, chairman of the boards of Clas Ohlson, Ahlsell AB, Systembolaget, board member of Herenco, Synsam. He is also chairman of the World Childhood Foundation, Ersta Diakoni as well as being non-executive president of EuroCommerce.


Kenneth Bengtsson began his retail career as a store manager of a local ICA supermarket in south Sweden. In 2000, he became CEO of ICA Sweden and in 2001 president and CEO of the entire ICA Group. ICA is a Swedish retailer with a focus on food and health products.


From 2006 to 2010 Kenneth Bengtsson was active as the chairman of Svensk Handel (Swedish Trade Federation), following this from 2010 to 2013 he was chairman of Svenskt Näringsliv (Confederation of Swedish Enterprise), the employers' organization for private sector and business sector companies in Sweden.


Kenneth Bengtsson is passionate about supporting young entrepreneurs. From 2013-2017 he was chairman of Young Enterprise Sweden, a non-profit organisation with the aim of integrating entrepreneurship and a business perspective with social awareness into the Swedish education system. Moreover, he was also a member of H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf’s Foundation for Young Leadership (Ungt Ledarskap) and Prince Daniel’s programme of grants for the education and training of young entrepreneurs.
Kenneth Bengtsson is married and has three children.

LutherRose & Internationale Martin Luther Stiftung

The LutherRose will be presented directly after the 11th LutherConference on the future of business and society organised by the IMLS. This year marks the 11th time that the award has been presented, The previous laureates are Dr. Heinz Horst Deichmann (2008), Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. h. c. Hans Peter Keitel (2009), Gabriela Grillo (2010), Dr. Dirk Ippen (2011), Jon Baumhauer (2012), Dr. Peter Gauweiler (2013), Dietrich Pestalozzi, (Switzerland) (2014), Ulla Unseld-Berkéwicz (2015), Niels Due Jensen, (Denmark) (2016) and Dr. Nicola Leibinger-Kammüller (2017).


The prize itself is a quality reproduction based on a pane from the medieval stained glass windows (from about 1310) of St Augustine’s church in Erfurt. Martin Luther lived as a monk at St Augustine’s monastery in Erfurt from 17th July 1505 until autumn 1511. He would have had this window in front of him each time he prayed, which would have been at least seven times every day and was the inspiration for his coat-of-arms. It portrays a rose between two lions. On 8th July 1530 Martin Luther described this rose as “a sign of my theology” and provided it with an impressive, meditative explanation. Henceforth he used it as his seal for documents. Since then the Luther-Rose has become one of the important symbols of international Evangelical-Lutheran Christianity.

 

The Internationale Martin Luther Stiftung (IMLS) is a private foundation registered in Eisenach with its offices at the Evangelisches Augustinerkloster (St Augustine’s) in Erfurt, the state capital of Thuringia.

The IMLS was founded on 10th November 2007 in Wittenberg. It aims are to develop the basic impulses of the Reformation into a topic-related and outcome-oriented dialogue between Church, business, academia and politics, in order to contribute to the development of a responsible and efficient business and civil society. It supports people, groups, ideas and initiatives that promote Christian values and ethical business practices based on the Reforming tradition and that use their talents for the general good.

Luther and Sweden. Protestant work ethic today?

The 11th LutherConference and the award ceremony of the LutherRose takes place in Stockholm on 20th October 2018.

In order to assist you in your search for accommodation we have selected a number of hotels in central Stockholm. All of these hotels are within easy walking distance of both venues: Kungliga Akademien (Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts) and Sankta Gertruds kyrka (St. Gertrude's Church) as well as most of the major tourist attractions in Stockholm.

 

In co-operation with the German Embassy in Stockholm