Welcome to the campus – a place of diversity, tolerance and respect!

"As an internationally effective university, we are naturally open to the world and to the diversity of our students and teaching staff and of all people in the city and society. In view of bizarre developments worldwide and the increasing danger of extremism on the part of right-wing and left-wing political fringes, we are taking a crystal-clear stance on the free and democratic basic order of our Basic Law and, as a university, in particular on the elementary science-related provisions contained therein.

As the German Rectors' Conference (HRK) recently made clear in its regulations, these include in particular the freedom of science, research and teaching, the freedom of Arts, the principle of equal treatment and the principles of social diversity and cooperation within the framework of a European and international peace order. As a place of research and teaching, the University of Erfurt is expressly committed to respecting human dignity, the rule of law and non-violence and is clearly opposed to all forms of marginalisation and discrimination and all forms of group-based misanthropy.

I share the concerns of many with regard to local, national and global developments that threaten democracy in broad areas of society and politics and, in this context, welcome the democratic commitment of our teaching staff, students and employees of all status groups to an open and solidary society. Accordingly, the Senate of the University of Erfurt expressly committed itself to these goals at its recent May meeting. Similarly, as a university, we see it as our task to penetrate social and political developments with scientific methodology within the framework of our specialist expertise and we see ourselves as an open space for discourse, with the aim of incorporating scientific findings into political and social decision-making processes. It is about exploring, enabling and shaping a good future worth living. Overall, the University of Erfurt's new banner advertising affirms that it stands for an open, pluralistic and forward-looking society."