EinDollarBrille e.V. awarded the Marion Dönhoff Prize 2025
This award recognizes tireless international commitment to enabling millions of people with preventable visual impairments to live independent lives
Erlangen/ Hamburg, December 2025 – The EinDollarBrille charity (GoodVision) is receiving this year's Marion Dönhoff Advocacy Prize for its pioneering global commitment to improving vision. “EinDollarBrille proves how much integration is possible through simple but effective solutions,” the jury said in explaining its decision. It is thus honouring a project that has already fundamentally changed the lives of over a million people with a simple idea. The 23rd Marion Dönhoff Prize award ceremony took place on 30 November at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus in Hamburg, hosted by DIE ZEIT, the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS and the Marion Dönhoff Foundation. The main prize went to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Both awards are endowed with 20,000 Euros each.
“In various project countries such as Kenya, Brazil and India, the association provides affordable access to vision aids, creates jobs and contributes to empowering local people,” the jury continued explaining its decision. “Access to vision aids is often the first step towards education, quality of life and social participation.”
Eckart von Hirschhausen was delighted to give the laudatory speech for the Erlangen-based association: he has been following the organization's development for years, knows founder Martin Aufmuth personally, and is enthusiastic about the idea, vision, and courage of its founder.
“Martin, you have a great mission: you want to help people free themselves from poverty,” Eckart von Hirschhausen emphasized in his laudatory speech. "Does seriously fighting poverty make us poor? No, on the contrary: poor eyesight makes us poor. This stupid handicap causes a global loss of income of 270 billion US dollars every year. [...] Instead of asking what something costs us, we should ask ourselves what it costs us to continue as before. [...] Your superpower is diopters, and your prescription is two lenses and a wire. As ingenious as it is simple. And with this prescription, you make it possible to provide people worldwide with care without a prescription."
“What has always preoccupied me since my childhood is the injustice in our world. [...] And during an evening walk, my wife Jelena said to me, ‘Well, then do something about it,’” Martin Aufmuth recounts in his acceptance speech, explaining how he founded EinDollarBrille, which has now distributed over a million pairs of glasses. “It's not just me, that might come across a bit wrong here. There are lots of volunteers and full-time staff all over Germany. [...] Many thanks to everyone, in Germany but also worldwide,” Aufmuth said, visibly moved. “A big thank you, of course, to everyone involved in this award today, behind the scenes, in front of the stage, in the preparation, the jury, the foundation, ZEIT. It is a great honor for me to accept this award on behalf of my entire organization today.”
A simple idea that has already changed over a million lives
What began in 2010 with the development of a simple pair of glasses by mathematics and physics teacher Martin Aufmuth, has become a global flagship project: Today, over 500 employees and numerous volunteers in eleven programme countries are working to give people with preventable vision issues a new perspective. This passionate commitment is driven by a shared mission: good vision for all people.
Since the association was founded in 2012, more than one million people have been provided with eye glasses – and their lives have been profoundly changed . To achieve this, the ambitious teams at EinDollarBrille (GoodVision) have conducted almost 30,000 eye camps, reaching even remote villages at an altitude of 4,000 metres! The association also keeps an eye on the global shortage of trained specialists: EinDollarBrille (GoodVision) has developed a powerful one-year training concept for eye care professionals. EinDollarBrille creates sustainable jobs in the program countries and effectively supports underserved regions while bolstering the local economies.
The concept enables profound change and willful participation: children who can read the blackboard clearly for the first time are finally able to learn and create a future. Adults who regain their eyesight can return to work, secure an income and provide for their families. This is a crucial step in the global fight against poverty. Simultaneously, new jobs are created and even remote regions can be provided with basic eye care for the first time. EinDollarBrille (GoodVision) demonstrates on a high level, that a seemingly small invention can change lives.
Service for editorial offices:
We would be happy to arrange interviews with founder Martin Aufmuth. For further information, please visit GoodVision Germany or www.GoodVision.org.
Copyright: All pictures © Andreas Henn for DIE ZEIT
Press contact:
Susanne Stocker
Public relations
E-Mail: presse@eindollarbrille.de
Phone: +49 9131 913 94 31
