Ceremonial opening of the academic year
for university members, UGO members and invited guests from politics, science, business and culture
Thursday, 9 October 2025
Auditorium Centre A14, Audimax
The University and the Oldenburg University Society (UGO) are jointly organising a special event to celebrate the opening of the academic year 2025/26. The keynote speech will be given by journalist and author Prof Manuel Hartung.
Programme
from 5.30 p.m. Admission to the lecture hall centre
18.00 hrs Champagne reception
18.45 Ceremony in the Audimax
Message of greeting from the Lower Saxony Minister of Science
Falko Mohrs
Greeting from the Lord Mayor
Jürgen Krogmann
Address by the University President
Prof Dr Ralph Bruder
Keynote speech
Prof Manuel Hartung
"The controversial university: Why universities must contribute to defending the freedoms of our society"
Award ceremony by the Chair of the UGO
Wiebke Schneidewind
Reception in the foyer
Snacks and drinks
(self-paying alcoholic beverages)
Moderation: Nils Prior
Musical organisation of the evening: Institute of Music
Prof Manuel Hartung
Manuel Hartung is Chairman of the Board of the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS. He previously headed the WISSEN department of the weekly newspaper DIE ZEIT and was editor of the magazines ZEIT CAMPUS, ZEIT GERMANY and ZEIT SPEZIAL.
Manuel Hartung has been associated with DIE ZEIT with interruptions for more than 20 years - including as Editor-in-Chief of ZEIT CAMPUS, as Managing Director of TEMPUS CORPORATE, a subsidiary of ZEIT-Verlag, and as Head of the education department CHANCEN.
Manuel Hartung attended the Henri Nannen School of Journalism in Hamburg and studied history in Bonn and New York as well as public administration at Harvard. He taught at the Universities of St. Gallen and Göttingen. He currently teaches at the Institute of Music and Theatre at the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg. Here he was appointed professor (according to §17 HmbHG) in 2021.
The journalist and author is Chair of the Supervisory Board of Bucerius Law School and the Board of Trustees of the Bucerius Kunst Forum as well as a member of the Futurium Programme Council. In 2025, he was elected to the Advisory Board of the Association of German Foundations and to the Central Committee of German Catholics (ZdK). Previously, he was a member of the University Council of Coburg University of Applied Sciences, the Advisory Board of Common Purpose Germany and the Board of the Values Commission.