Ernst Reuter (1889 - 1953), as Lord Mayor (from 1950 Governing Mayor) of Berlin, played a decisive role in the founding and establishment of Freie Universität Berlin. He was chairman of the founding committee and the first board of trustees.

His greatest wish was to establish a society dedicated to promoting young academics. On January 27, 1954, the non-profit association Ernst-Reuter-Gesellschaft der Förderer & Freunde der Freien Universität Berlin e.V. was founded. For years, the Ernst Reuter Society has enjoyed a continuously growing number of members.

The association's purpose is to maintain and strengthen Freie Universität Berlin as an independent place of the free spirit, and to provide Freie Universität with non-material and material help free of charge. Since its founding in 1954, the Ernst Reuter Society has provided non-material and material assistance as a central association for the advancement of Freie Universität's position as a place of innovative ideas.

The Society also supports publication expenses upon application: https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/erg/foerderaktivitaeten/foerderungen/druckkostenzuschuesse/index.html