University of Bremen Turns 50

Showing at the Bremen State Representation: “Reaching for the Stars”

This has never happened before. The alumni association, together with the Weserbrücke association, hosted more than 50 people in the Bremen State Representation in Berlin – to have the shared experience of watching the talk "Reaching for the Stars” as it happened, streamed live from Radio Bremen’s studio. It was an exciting evening that also saw the forging of first contacts for new networks...

50 years – A look back with a view

The mayor of Bremen, who acknowledges "his" university in his laudation. The vice president of the Bremen Parliament, whose life journey is inextricably linked to the university. The speeches at the ceremony in the Upper Town Hall on the occasion of the University of Bremen’s 50th anniversary made one thing very clear: the University of Bremen, which was much maligned in the beginning, has become an integral part of society. What's more, many of those who now guide and lead the state of Bremen have found their academic home here and taken with them not only a good education, but also values like cosmopolitanism and social responsibility. Here, a look back at our anniversary year.

Anniversary Talk Series: “Just change the world”

50 Years of Uni Bremen – 50 years of equipping people with knowledge, influencing destinies and writing history. With the audacity to want to change the world, the earnestness to acquire the knowledge needed to do so, and the intrepidness to see it through. In honour of this spirit, the University and the Alumni Association are putting on an exciting winter online talk series. Speakers include Dr. Hans Königsmann, alumnus and long-time Vice President of SpaceX in the USA; Dr. Uschi Eid, President of the Africa Foundation; and our alumna Prof. Dr. Antje Boetius, Director of the Alfred Wegner Institute for Polar and Marine Research.

Things are getting festive

As autumn approaches, the University of Bremen’s 50th anniversary year is heading inexorably towards its climax. On 14 October there will be a grand ceremony in Bremen’s Upper Town Hall, the very place where the founding charter for the new university was signed. In addition, the university is inviting not only all students and staff but the entire city to numerous events where they can learn more about their university.

In October 2021, the University of Bremen will celebrate its big anniversary: Almost 50 years ago, the university started its teaching activities on the newly built campus. Low hierarchies, interdisciplinarity, project-based learning – all those were principles and values for the establishment with which the university was able set itself off in the higher education landscape. Thanks to excellent research, the university and Bremen as a science location today enjoy a formidable reputation and have become a meaningful economic factor for the region.

From now on, we would like to discuss in this section what the 50^th anniversary means for us, our members, and the university in a number of ways.

Learning space number one – GW2 cafeteria

To mark the university’s 50th anniversary, we launched an “alumni wall" in early summer at www.meineunibremen.de, where alumni can post their profiles and share what connects them to the University of Bremen. Particularly worth reading: the many anecdotes that give a good idea of what the University of Bremen is all about.

Let’s talk about Science

Lights on, camera rolling! On the studio sofa, presenter Robin Funke welcomes the Dean of Faculty 9, Professor Dorle Dracklé. What is culture, actually? What do they study in the Faculty of Cultural Studies? Which themes animate researchers there? Students at the University of Bremen have developed a TV format to illuminate these questions and to get young people excited about science. With shooting recently completed, the project — part of the university-funded initiative "50 Years of Uni Bremen” — is moving into post-production.

Digital Open Campus Week

Open Campus traditionally takes place every two years on a weekend in June, with a colourful programme that opens the University of Bremen to the public. In this anniversary and pandemic year, everything was different: the university presented itself to Bremen for an entire week, entirely digitally. For five days under the motto "OPEN WORLDS - SHARE KNOWLEDGE", university departments, institutes and facilities showed what they are made of. With an interactive map, guests were able to find their way around the campus and visit the diverse offerings in virtual pagodas. We alumni were also there, in pagoda number 4. You can visit the online "OPEN CAMPUS" until the end of the year.

Uni Bremen’s DNA: Open-minded

It could hardly be more succinct. The image that alumni, staff and students have of the University of Bremen can be summed up in one descriptor: open-minded. This is the result of a survey on the “DNA” of the university, which the alumni association, Faculty 8 (Social Sciences) and the Social Science Methods Centre sent out in 2020 to our more than 8,000 alumni newsletter subscribers. The survey has now been evaluated as part of a research project by master's student Lena Wollenberg — with exciting results.

WHY? THAT’S WHY!

Why has the University of Bremen been so closely connected to its hometown and has been such an important part of the Bremen DNA for the past five decades? And where can it be found within the city and urban society? For its 50th anniversary, the University of Bremen unveils the many ways in which people from the university have made a difference. Fifty examples illustrate where the university is present and how it has changed the city – since 1971. Between March and August, fifty stations will be visible throughout the entire city. In October, an exhibit in the Lower City Hall will recapitulate them all. Further information is only available in German.

"Still bound by the spirit of the societal responsibility"

50 Years of Uni Bremen – what does the university stand for today, and which perspectives does it have? We put those questions to Professor Dr.-Ing. Bernd Scholz-Reiter, who has been Rector of the University of Bremen since 2012. “Many ideas for reform from the 1970s are still present today, for example the flat hierarchies,” stresses Scholz-Reiter in the video interview. At the same time, the then reform university has evolved and set new trademarks along the way.

Tweets from the past

It’s quite something: Historians tweet about the university’s anniversary in the class ‘#unibremen50’. Since summer semester 2019, students conduct research in the university archives as well as the Bremen state archives and engage with the history of Bremen’s university through objects. One result: ‘material’ history compressed in tweets.

University Fund Supports Projects for “50 Years of Uni Bremen”

In spring, the University of Bremen called its members to get involved with their own project in one of the programs in the anniversary year in 2021 that reflects the university and its multiple facets. The project is supposed to cover these questions: Where do we stand; where do we want to go; where do we come from? The response was stunning. 24 projects have been selected from 74 proposals. Some of the projects such as the video project "Uni - then and now" explicitly focus on the beginnings of the university and its protagonists. If you can provide any input in this area, please contact us at alumni@uni-bremen.de.

The University Reflected in its Theses

That is the topic of a group of alumni searching for documents and findings in the University Archive on the fifty years of history of the University of Bremen. Yet, as is common for historians, they at first have questions for their former fellow students.

Survey: Alumni Exceptionally Content with Their Studies

What is your view on the University of Bremen? How did you experience your studies? In a survey, we recently wanted to explore the DNA of the University of Bremen. Now, the first results are in.

Exploring the DNA of the University of Bremen

Next year, the University of Bremen celebrates its 50^th anniversary. What type of identity do graduates of the university have concerning their alma mater? How has the university’s image changed over the years among students and in public? The alumni association would like to start a comprehensive survey in collaboration with the Social Sciences in Department 8 and its affiliated Methods Center under the supervision of Prof. Uwe Engel, whom we have already interviewed in advance.

History of the University: Hobby Archivists Wanted

Thousands of photos, posters, flyers, and newspaper articles, workpieces from the degree course Labor Studies/Politics – the archive of the University of Bremen hosts a wealth of documents on the history of our university. For the 50^th anniversary, we would like to prepare archive documents for an exhibition of the alumni association and are looking for volunteers for the project.