Matriculation Ceremony 2022 - Speeches

Welcome | Prof. Dr. Jutta Emes, President (interim) Bauhaus-Universität Weimar

Dear first-semester students — this celebration today is for you:

Welcome to the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, welcome to your studies, welcome to Weimar, welcome to the Audimax.
I also wish to extend a warm welcome to our returning students here today, as well as many dear colleagues and university staff members!
A warm welcome to Mr. Kleine. We are delighted that you have joined us for this ceremony and we look forward to your speech later on.
Dear media representatives, dear guests,

My name is Jutta Emes and I am the interim President of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar.

Our »Immafeier« has become quite the tradition. After having to rely on digital formats for the last two years, we are especially pleased to welcome you this semester together here in this room.

The pandemic has made us appreciate in-person formats even more. The Bauhaus-Universität Weimar is a face-to-face university. This includes our artistic and design programmes just as much as all of our other programmes. This is because our university thrives on engaging in dialogue and exchange with one another. This is reflected in formats such as our Weimar project-based programmes. Whenever possible during the pandemic, there was a relatively high proportion of classes that took place in-person; our small class sizes worked to our benefit. Nevertheless, we also offer comprehensive digital resources to support studies and teaching, in addition to the library, which provides support for research and the arts.

I do, however, wish to emphasise the importance of physical presence at this significant ceremony. I assure you that we, your Presidium, will do everything we can to ensure that the entire semester can take place in-person on campus. Universities have been designated as protected areas by the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency); the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs and the State of Thuringia also support this. We are well prepared for the upcoming semester.

It’s so wonderful to have you all here. We congratulate you on starting your studies and on making the Bauhaus-Universität your university. We congratulate you on your enrolment — you are now a part of our university. Your studies mark the beginning of a new stage in your lives, and I can say with confidence that you may be just about to begin one of the best phases of your lives.
You have decided on a subject of your own choosing. You will have enormous amount of freedom in your studies, as well as opportunities, choices, invitations and offers. Take advantage of this time and make the most of it!

Have you thought about incorporating a semester abroad into your studies? Internships and studies abroad may be eligible for funding through the Erasmus programme. We have more than 250 partner universities worldwide that you can choose from. You can also take courses from other departments in the form of a Bauhaus.Module. You can even offer the latter yourself in the future.

Bauhaus.Modules are interdisciplinary courses designed for students who want to think a little further outside the box and who want to experience new perspectives. The idea behind them is that anyone who has studied, taught or worked at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has been confronted with pivotal topics of social responsibility, sustainability and digitality. They have also acquired digital skills as well as other key skills (including data literacy, diversity training and intercultural communication). I urge you to take advantage of these offers and to contribute your own ideas.

At this university, we rely strongly on students’ personal responsibility and independence. You are now able to organise your everyday life independently and register for exams. Look closely at the study and examination regulations. Should you need any help, you can contact Academic Advising Services or one of the many other advising services listed on the university website.

Our StudyGuides, a support initiative that begin in September 2021 for mindful social exchanges between students, are also here to help you. The project is based in the Office of Student and Academic Affairs Information and Advising Services. As soon as the project was announced, there were immediately 20 StudyGuides signed up, 5 per faculty. They organise various events for and with students, providing you with the opportunity to interact with and get to know your fellow students.

You are encouraged to participate and get in touch!

A brief digression on our historical roots: In 1919, over 100 years ago right here in our Main Building, Walter Gropius and his colleagues and students founded the Bauhaus, one of the most influential schools of art, design and architecture. The combination of art and craft was new. The developments they made continue to have an impact today. We also have a strong connection to the origins of the Bauhaus and its spirit can still be felt here today. We continue to build upon it.

Open-mindedness, tolerance, internationality and diversity are values that characterise us, just as much as creativity, joy in experimentation, practical relevance and interdisciplinary cooperation.

With this Matriculation Ceremony, we welcome you as new students in Weimar: Welcome to this new phase in your lives. Become part of the Bauhaus family! Meet your fellow students, create new networks and build friendships that will last a lifetime. Get involved.

I am delighted that our Mayor Peter Kleine, as well as the StuKo (Student Government), are here to give a welcome address.

There will also be a student dance performance, choreographed under the direction of Eva Girzalsky, Master student of MediaArchitecture, which will provide the cultural framework for the event.

We wish to express our thanks for this as well!

Afterwards, we invite you to a champagne reception in the University Library foyer starting at around 6:15 pm.

On behalf of my colleagues in the Presidium and the entire university, we wish you a successful, inspiring and enriching university experience, and not only in terms of knowledge and skills!

Welcome Speech | Peter Kleine, Mayor of the City of Weimar

Dear Professor Emes,
Dear deans, professors, lecturers and students,
And most importantly: Dear first-year students,

Welcome to Weimar. Welcome to the Bauhaus-Universität!

A former Weimar student once told me that Weimar is an excellent place to pursue you studies. What I initially understood as a benevolent assessment of the study conditions and the city itself turned out to be subliminal criticism. What the student meant was: »There’s nothing going on in Weimar.«

This myth is something I have run into time and time again over the years. And nevertheless, it is just that: a myth. Of course, Weimar probably can’t compete with Berlin, Munich, Dresden and the other major cities — at least when it comes to the nightlife scene. But Weimar’s calendar is full to bursting with events throughout the year. Sometimes, there’s so much going on that it’s hard to choose between events! And then there are the parties organised by the students themselves, which, I’ve been told, are not to be underestimated. So, in my opinion, you will be well taken care of in this respect. I look forward to hearing your verdict when you graduate.

But should I really be giving a speech on the party scene in Weimar before you’ve even started your studies?

Apart from the fact that I’m 50 years old and likely only able to provide limited insight on this topic, it’s probably not particularly exemplary of me either. So let’s get back to the essentials: Your upcoming academic years in Weimar. It makes me so happy to look up into the ranks! It’s a beautiful sight to look at so many young people from all over the world and I am delighted that you have chosen Weimar as your place to study. As mayor, I wish to extend a particularly warm welcome to all of you who are new to Weimar. I also wish to extend my warmest greetings to those of you from Weimar who are sitting here. I am delighted that you have decided to study in your hometown.

This city is one of the cultural hot spots of German culture and history. Goethe, Schiller, Bach, Liszt, Nietzsche and the Bauhaus geniuses associated with Walter Gropius: They all worked and lived here — some stayed for their whole lives. All of them drew inspiration from the genius loci of this city. Because of the Bauhaus-Universität, the Bauhaus tradition is especially present.

Weimar is also a home of democratic history: In 1919, the National Assembly met here. The first democratic constitution for the whole of Germany was drafted here, and the values entrenched in it — equality, abolition of the death penalty, rule of law and so on — are still applicable today. But the name Buchenwald is also closely associated with the city. More than 56,000 people were killed in the concentration camp located on the nearby Ettersberg. Weimar is thus also a place that should be understood in a cohesive way. High culture and barbarism lie hand in hand, and one cannot be examined without the other.

This history was experienced by the Weimar Bauhäusler first hand. From the very beginning, not everyone was a fan of the eccentric students in the urban society who were concerned not only with painting, design and architecture, but who also looked at the big picture. The students were concerned with a lifestyle and answering the question, »How do we want to live?« The solutions were a snub to the Weimar bourgeoisie. Wild costume parties? Men with long hair? Or skinny dipping in the Ilm? Outrageous! The outrage was manageable. Perhaps even desired. But that Weimar’s Bauhaus would come to such an unfortunate end and be driven out of the city by the Nazis was a shock. But the Bauhäusler’s revolutionary avant-garde ideas prevailed. Their designs are renowned and have been exported all around the world, as relevant today as they were 100 years ago.

And now you, as new Bauhaus students, are also a part of this tradition. For this reason, I ask you to be active in Weimar’s city life, get involved, stay political, stay critical and mindful. Both with yourself and with those around you.

The question asked back then, »How do we want to live?« is still valid. Revolutionary ideas, innovative approaches and feasible solutions are necessary to deal with the numerous challenges we are currently facing, such as energy supply and climate change. As future urban planners, architects and product designers, you will play a key role. As the driving force behind the »Bauhaus-Universität« think tank, which unites numerous disciplines, you will help solve current and future issues.

But I would like to take a little of this pressure off you and assure you that you are not alone. The City of Weimar is a reliable partner to the Bauhaus-Uni and its students. We work closely together, implement projects together, think ahead and hammer out solutions together.

I would of course be especially pleased if you chose to stay in Weimar after your studies in order to experience the fruits of your labour in the city in the future. To help make this decision a little easier, I would like to say one last thing: The City of Weimar grants students a €300 education bonus if they choose to live in Weimar for a longer period. We are working together on this with Studierendenwerk. More information on this is available at the INFOtake.

That was a lot of information. Parties, a history lesson, financial tips. There’s a lot to take in. And now there’s just one last thing for me to say to you, and I’d like to do so using the words from an earlier conversation: I wish you success in this »excellent place to pursue you studies«, and, most importantly, I hope you have a marvellous experience in Weimar!

Thank you!