Dear readers,

When the town of Celle was asked in the early 1930s whether a university or a penitentiary should be built within its walls to improve its infrastructure, the decision was clear: the penitentiary. The citizens of Celle feared that the founding of a university would not only jeopardise the innocence of their daughters due to the ill-reputed students, but also cause all kinds of unrest that could disrupt their peaceful everyday lives. So Celle was given a penitentiary and the university was founded in what was then a rather run-down town, which today is said to be less of a town and more of a university: Göttingen.

After the Second World War, the people of Oldenburg did not share the fear of the citizens of Celle. When the city council voted in favour of a university in Oldenburg in 1959, triggering the first plans, it did so with high hopes for the economic and cultural development of the region. It was to take another 15 years before the dream child was born in 1974 - 25 years ago. However, the newborn did not turn out the way many Oldenburg residents had imagined.

The mostly young academics at the university - often with experience from the year of unrest in 1968 - wanted a different university to the traditional alma mater - one that was open to all, one that did not confine itself to the ivory tower, made equal opportunities its programme, dismantled hierarchies and openly stood up for social change, free from gowns and mustiness. They propagated project studies, favoured more interdisciplinarity and not only wanted to make teacher training more practice-oriented. These were goals that nobody questions today. At the time, however, many people were put off by them - not least because some associated them with a fundamental, but also incomprehensible, social criticism.

So there was a "Celle problem" in Oldenburg after all: the university was not exactly welcomed with open arms in its early years. It had acceptance problems that have largely been resolved today, but the offshoots of which can still be felt at times. And yet the young history of the university is a success story. With a good 12,000 students and 1,700 academics and staff in the service sector, it is not only the largest institution in the region, but also its intellectual and cultural centre. And it is a beacon of hope for innovative developments in a time of profound upheaval.

In doing so, it can draw on experience that is one of its hallmarks: its own willingness to reform, its readiness for renewal.

Your

Gerhard Harms