Since 1:30 p.m.:
Anniversary Flag Waves from the University of Hohenheim’s Palace Dome [17.01.18]
Despite stormy winds and poor weather: President & students hoist the anniversary flag / Festive event takes places in Otto Rettenmaier Audimax / Light show at the Palace starts at 5:00 p.m.
Fanfare: To kick-off the 200th anniversary year of the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, the anniversary jingle will be played for the first time. The University’s concert band composed it just for this year. To this music, President Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert and students will hoist the anniversary flag with the big, red “200” in the stormy winds blustering around the Hohenheim Palace dome. The President is currently speaking at the kick-off event in the Otto Rettenmaier Audimax. At 5 p.m., the light show on the Palace facade will start - with mulled wine from the University’s vineyards and protection from the rain for the audience. Ongoing impressions of the festivities can be found with #hohenheim200 on Facebook and Instagram. PRESS PHOTOS are continually updated at www.uni-hohenheim.de/presse
“200 years ago, a climate catastrophe led to the founding of our University. We can’t let a little bad weather keep us from celebrating,” declared President Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert at the start of the anniversary year just before hoisting the flag on the Palace dome. “We’re proud to start a very special year with a very special University today.”
For 200 years, the University of Hohenheim has viewed itself as a forge for innovation and ideas for the needs of society. “Its charge upon its founding was to radically counteract the devastating famines of the early 19th century. The innovative power, solidarity with the people around the world, and the spirit of offering not only basic research but also practical solutions have stayed with the University of Hohenheim until the present. Over two hundred years of successful research and teaching enable us to formulate regionally rooted and internationally networked, relevant solutions for the future,” according to the President.
In the anniversary year, the University wants to reflect on these strengths, give insights into its work, and celebrate the entire year with many guests and all University members. “With 180 events, we want to present the entire spectrum of university life and research to our guests. Topics like nutrition and health, climate, water, and ecosystems, but also bioeconomy play just as much of a role as the cultural aspects of campus life.”
Just in time for the anniversary year, the University of Hohenheim also completed a branding process in which it defined its brand essence and re-interpreted the University logo in a modern way. “We’ve treated ourselves to a new outfit for our birthday,” stated President Prof. Dr. Dabbert.
Student representatives hope for more successful years focused on the future
The student representatives who hoisted the flag together with the President were also in a festive mood.
“As students and their representatives (who have also been at the University for 200 years, even though our stays here are usually much shorter than that of the professors, doctoral candidates, administrative personnel, and other University members) currently enrolled at the University, we are excited to be part of this big anniversary year and enliven the upcoming events,” declared the AStA board members Andrea Bauer and Benedikt Schülen as well as Christoph Zerfowski, President of the Student Parliament, in a joint statement.
For the anniversary festival, the students would therefore like to offer their own contribution to all events and actions. “We are looking forward to productive cooperation with the other areas and status groups of the University and are grateful to all participants that we are celebrating together - after all, even though students only spend around 3 to 7 years of their life at the University, there’s one thing we can do very well: party. As representatives for the past 200 years and the upcoming 200 years, we’ll look forward to clinking glasses with you many times in the next year.”
The student representatives hope the anniversary year will bring “continued good cooperation, lasting memories, nice insights into the University’s history and, even with all the nostalgia, more successful years focused on the future with top-quality findings in research, an expansion of the University’s already very good reputation, and of course for us students: excellent teaching!”
Festive kick-off event until the evening / 180 program points in the following months
Since 2 p.m. the University members have gathered for the kick-off event in the full Otto Rettenmaier Audimax. On the program are the presentation “From the University’s Big Bang to Its Future Visions” and the premiere of the anniversary play.
At 5 p.m., a light show will use the Hohenheim Palace facade as a screen for a journey through the University’s history. The audience will warm up with 120 liters of mulled wine and other hot beverages.
The following months will bring 180 individual events for University members and the public. This includes unusual series of events such as the six-part “On-Site Research” series in labs and experimental areas, “Museum Plus” with 7 afternoon events at the museums and collections, or Café Scientifique, which will serve up science in the Stuttgart Café Felix at the Bosch site eight times. Topics like nutrition and health, climate, water, and ecosystems, but also bioeconomy play just as much of a role as the cultural aspects of campus life.
BACKGROUND: 200 Years University of Hohenheim
On 10 April 1815, the volcano Tambora in Indonesia erupted with the estimated explosive power of 170,000 Hiroshima bombs. Tons of ash and dust particles darkened the sky worldwide – there was so much of it that there was no summer in 1816, harvests withered and famine was rampant. As a key to survival, King William of Württemberg and Queen Catherine invested in education and research: On 20 November 1818, they founded the “Agricultural Teaching, Experimental, and Model Institution” - the precursor for the University of Hohenheim.
200 years later, the University of Hohenheim still follows its founding mission of providing contributions to solving global challenges with research and teaching. In the anniversary year 2018, it will celebrate this with around 180 events. The program and information can be found at www.uni-hohenheim.de/en/anniversary-2018 and #hohenheim200 on Facebook, Instagram, und Twitter
Schloss Hohenheim im Jubiläumsjahr.
Bildquelle: Universität Hohenheim/Wolfram Scheible
Text: Klebs
