History
The founder, Andreas Heinecke (*1955), had both Jewish and German ancestry. At the age of 13 he realized that members of his mother’s family had been victims of the Holocaust and members of his father’s family had been supporters of the Nazi regime. From that point on Andreas Heinecke got involved with the issue of marginalization.
The foundation stone for the social enterprise Dialogue in the Dark was laid in 1986. At that time the founder, Andreas Heinecke, worked as a journalist and documentary writer for a broadcasting corporation in Germany. One day he was instructed to develop a training program for a colleague who had lost his eyesight. At the first meeting Andreas Heinecke felt above all pity and insecurity. However, he was fascinated by the world of blind people, and he was shocked by the discrimination against them, to which they are still exposed today.
In December 1988 Dialogue in the Dark had its premiere in Frankfurt, Germany. For over 10 years was touring throughout the world as a travelling exhibition in museums or as a special event on fairs and festivals. The first permanent exhibition was established in Hamburg, Germany (Dialog im Dunkeln) in 2000.
There have been exhibitions in more than 150 cities in over 30 countries in America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Meanwhile there are now permanent exhibitions in Japan, Italy, Israel, Austria and the USA. The most recent being the temporary exhibition in New York City which opened in August 2011(www.dialognyc.com).
The founder, Andreas Heinecke, was announced Social Entrepreneur by Ashoka (2005) and the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship (2007).
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