Have You Heard of...?

The warm and earthy smell of wood gives it away: Here, in the University of Bremen’s maintenance depot, the carpentry workshop is the place for drilling, repairing, and sawing. This is master carpenter Christiane Sarnow’s realm, with her two journeypersons and four trainees. 

From the lower jaw of a mammoth to a giant deer skeleton – the University of Bremen’s Geosciences Collection houses many fascinating specimens. Fossils, skeletons of extinct animals, crystals, and rocks can be found here.

The Drop Tower located on the University of Bremen campus attracts a lot of attention. However, few people know what lies behind the doors of ZARM, the Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity, at its feet.

The observant passer-by may have noticed the elegant white dome on the roof of NW1 Building (Natural Sciences 1) at Otto-Hahn-Allee. What goes on there? Does it house a planetarium, a telescope, or some other kind of mysterious astronomical gadget?

In October 2022, the University of Bremen has established its Green Office. It is run by student assistants and intends to connect various actors on the topic of sustainability. In an interview with up2date. Tugay, student assistant at the Green Office, talks about how the start was.

The university campus has much to offer – including art! Have you ever taken a closer look at all these artworks? One of them is actually on campus twice.

What the section in the background of this sculpture is intended to represent is clear to most: our earth’s continents. What exactly the black plate in front of it means might require a little more consideration. However, the name of the installation says it all.

We rely on clocks to get to class on time or catch the last bus. But isn’t the time displayed on a clock completely arbitrary, considering that someone could simply adjust the hands? Or replace the numbers? This is the subject of Rendezvous by artist Horst Müller.

New blockbusters, popular classics, or real insider tips: every semester, the CampusKino team at the University of Bremen selects great movies and hosts movie nights in the “Keksdose”. Of course, popcorn is just as important as regular themed evenings. Farina and Arne talk about what motivates them, who chooses the movies, and how you too can take part in the Bremen CampusKino.

In 1997, artist and cameraman Tobias Baader hit upon the idea for the blue tile mural during a study trip to Portugal. The inspiration for his impressive work came from Portuguese street signs – these were still hand-painted at that time, making each one unique.

The GW2 building houses the world’s largest collection of Maltese literature outside Malta.

In a gray building in the middle of the campus on Leobener Straße is the technical heart of the University of Bremen. The Green-IT Housing Center. Every lecture video on Stud.IP, every saved file on Seafile, this data can be found somewhere on the servers in this nondescript building.

The researchers from MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences at the University of Bremen on Leobener Straße are networked globally and are making an important contribution to climate research. With its Cluster of Excellence, the institute is one of the most significant marine research facilities worldwide.

From special rolls to coconut yogurt: Bremen Student Services Organisation has expanded its offerings

Roswitha Krebs-Goldbecker is the ruler over the world of glass at the University of Bremen. Her working materials are extremely fragile and dozens of glass tubes and rods of all lengths and sizes can be found on her workbench. Hidden away on the ground floor of NW2 Building, the master scientific glassblower creates special products for laboratory and experiment set-ups. Her clients are scientists who teach and carry out research within the Faculty of Biology / Chemistry and Faculty of Production Engineering, for example.

There is a great deal to be discovered on campus but what is the story behind it all? up2date. has collected the answers for all of you curious readers. Welcome to your tour of the campus!

Some of the University of Bremen’s special features cannot be seen immediately – they’re not made of stone. Dickinson College has no building of its own on campus. Only the unspectacular office of the director on the fifth floor of the Sportturm Building. The guests from Pennsylvania are among us on campus, they learn German, go to lectures and seminars. And they’ve being doing all that for 35 years.

Students and guests often wonder about the snow-white cube, which seemingly appears to be floating next to the Bremen State and University Library. Its façade gives some clues as to what is inside. If the light is right, for example when the early morning sun is shining, relief-type words can be seen on the anodized metal sheets: literature, pages, novel, characters, works, citation, and many more terms related to reading.

“We were rather prophetic, weren’t we?” muses Jimmi D. Paesler as for the first time in many years he once more stands in front of the wall painting on the ground floor of the GW2 building. He hasn’t seen it for such a long time and is surprised about the good condition of the acrylic painting.

They’ve been fiercely battling to win the final since October 1978. Three cyclists whipped by their trainers. Peter Mittler, an artist from the Eifel, called the scene “Competition”. The ravages of time paired with student recklessness have taken their toll on the nearly life-size naturalistic figures. The fragments confuse many passersby yet taking a closer look is worthwhile.