TU Dortmund University Celebrates 50th Anniversary with a Festive Ceremony in the Dortmund Concert Hall

 Official welcome by the President (in German)
Ceremonial lecture in full text 
Excerpt from the lecture in video

On the occasion of the anniversary, Anja Karliczek, Federal Minister of Education and Research, Armin Laschet, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, and Ullrich Sierau, Mayor of Dortmund, also congratulated the university at the event. On behalf of the Association of Friends of TU Dortmund University, Guido Baranowski donated funding for a new university guest house for international guest scientists. The musical accompaniment to the ceremony was provided by the Dortmund Student Orchestra and the Dortmund University Choir.

On 16 December 1968, the then University of Dortmund was opened with a ceremony in Dortmund's opera house. Twenty-five students began their first semester the following April. Since then, TU Dortmund University has been steadily growing decade by decade. Today it has around 34,500 students and 6,300 employees, including around 300 professors. In the early days, a large number of buildings were quickly built in the west of Dortmund. Today, the North and South Campuses are home to 16 faculties of natural sciences, engineering, social sciences and culture studies.

In the tradition of European universities and values

“If we take a look into the future, we have every reason to believe that many more anniversaries will follow for our university,” said Gather. TU Dortmund University stands in the more than nine-centuries-old tradition of the institution “University”, which emanated from Europe to places throughout the world. Universitas, freedom, truth, diversity – these are the values that guided universities back then as well as today. “These values also shape us at TU Dortmund University in our actions, in research, teaching and learning, in our thinking and in our everyday university life. They have guided us in the right direction over the past 50 years and will continue to guide us in the future,” said the President. By awarding Donald Tusk an honorary doctorate, TU Dortmund University has once again underscored its commitment to European values in its anniversary year.

In his stirring lecture, Donald Tusk recalled the special significance that the date of 16 December has not only for TU Dortmund University, but also for him personally: 40 years ago, as a teenager, he experienced how the army shot protesting workers in his home town of Gdańsk – a founding myth of the Polish trade union Solidarność, which played a decisive role in the political transformation in 1989. He appealed to the political leaders of our time to fulfil their roles not only with technocratic skill and the ability to stay in power, but also to use the potential of emotions to defend our common fundamental values. “Europe is the best place on Earth. And the European Union is the best political invention in our history – as long as we stand by these principles. That's what my heart and mind tell me, my knowledge and my faith. And being with you here today, I know that I am not alone,” Tusk said.

Congratulations on the occasion of the 50th anniversary

Anja Karliczek, Federal Minister of Education and Research, visited the city already in September on the occasion of the “Highlights of Physics”. She congratulated TU Dortmund University on behalf of the Federal Government on its 50th anniversary and said: “It is important to me that people can recognise that research and innovation help them in their lives. Then trust will grow in the opportunities created by new technologies. This is particularly important for topics such as artificial intelligence. At TU Dortmund University there are numerous good examples of successful communication and transfer from the past 50 years – for example in the research fields of data analysis and production technology, but also in school education and vocational training. My wish is that in the coming 50 years TU Dortmund University will continue to be so successful in providing encouragement for the future.”

Armin Laschet, Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, conveyed the congratulations of the state government and the state: “When TU Dortmund University was founded, coal and steel set the pace in the region. It was not education that was regarded as the decisive raw material at the time, but the 'black gold' underground. Today, TU Dortmund University is a key driver of science and innovation in North Rhine-Westphalia and impressively demonstrates that transformation has been successfully achieved here. TU Dortmund University can be proud of this.”

Ullrich Sierau, Mayor of the city of Dortmund and himself an alumnus of the university, also expressed his congratulations: “TU Dortmund University is a formative pillar of our city. It gives Dortmund a youthful and creative ambience, but also an international flair. In recent years, Dortmund has established itself as a city of science. Here academia, industry and civil society work hand in hand for the future of our city. This development would not have been possible without the very existence and at the same time the extraordinary commitment of the university.”

Association of Friends presents anniversary gift

It is not self-evident that there has been a university in Dortmund for 50 years now. A glimpse into the past shows with what patience and tenacity the sponsors once fought for Dortmund as a city of science: in 1958 – ten years before the university was opened – leaders from business and industry, science and politics from Dortmund and the region joined forces to form the Association of Friends (GdF) to work for the establishment of a technical university in Dortmund. In 1962, the state government announced that Dortmund should become a university location. In 1968, the university was finally opened.

 From the initial group of 50 people, a support association evolved which today has around 500 members. The GdF supports projects and activities of TU Dortmund University in a variety of ways. “The international orientation of the university is particularly close to our hearts. We want to continue to drive this development forward in the future,” said Guido Baranowski, Chairman of the GdF Executive Board. For this reason, the GdF gave TU Dortmund University a special birthday present: funding for a new guest house in which international guest researchers can live close to the campus. The GdF thus continues its commitment: Already back in 1979, the Association of Friends decided to build the first guest house, which is now to be replaced by a modern new building.

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