If local lore is to be believed, Munich residents can primarily thank Henry Kissinger and the American love for Carnival for their city’s annual transformation into a global meeting hub.
We are, of course, not referring to Oktoberfest, but to the Munich Security Conference (MSC). Here, world leaders gather annually alongside industry titans and top military brass.
A Private Post-War Gathering
The conference archives reveal that it was initially known as an “Atlantic family meeting.” Originally, the event bore the pragmatic title of the International Meeting on Military Affairs. It was not held in the luxurious Hotel Bayerischer Hof, and it was strictly an all-male circle.
Numerous stories surround the origins of this summit. Long-time chairman Wolfgang Ischinger wrote in 2014 that the core idea was collective security in the face of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact. This required decision-makers and specialists to be brought together in one place.
Was Munich the First Choice?
The first meeting took place in 1963 at the premises of the Chamber of Crafts, as reported by the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Why Munich was chosen over the then-capital, Bonn, is not exactly known. It is likely that Munich’s short distances to neighboring countries and its proximity to US Army bases made it strategically advantageous. The fact that founder Ewald von Kleist lived in Munich himself may also have been a decisive factor.
Equally important was Fasching—the traditional German carnival. Ischinger noted that today’s participants have almost no time left to celebrate Carnival the way early attendees did.
At that first meeting, future Chancellor Helmut Schmidt (SPD) and future US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were present alongside a Carnival-loving American delegation. Kissinger, born in Franconian Fürth, later served under President Nixon; at the time, he had just written a book on the role of nuclear weapons in diplomacy, which instantly secured him an invitation to Munich.
The “Oscar of Security” in Munich
Today, the private meeting has long since evolved into a major media event, and much has changed: more women participate in discussion panels, and the guest lists now include significantly more representatives from Asia and South America.
The event is now held at the pompous Hotel Bayerischer Hof. According to the SZ, this hotel was chosen for its central location and its excellent bar—a detail that remains as relevant today as it was 50 years ago. Ischinger remarked in 2014: “Where else can you find a group of EU ministers in a small corner of the rustic Palais Keller hall, arguing with each other over a glass of beer, or a head of government secretly buying themselves a pair of Lederhosen?”
Whether that original inner circle expected their “family meeting” to turn into the “Oscar of Security,” as a US ambassador once called it, is hard to say. However, the familial atmosphere apparently persists, despite the growing number of participants and international crises.Source: Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ), Wolfgang Ischinger
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