An Evening Full of Excellent Entertainment
The Spring-Gala on April 30, 2016 was part of the celebration of the TU’s 180th Anniversary
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More than 300 guests accepted the invitation to attend the TU’s second Spring-Gala, among them 60 participants of the AC21 International Forum. Photo: Rico Welzel -
The TU Bigband set the mood for the gala evening. Photo: Jacob Müller -
The vocal ensemble HarmoNOVUS opened the program with songs of the Comedian Harmonists. Photo: Steve Conrad -
Moderator for the evening David Laux greets guests from Chemnitz, Saxony and Germany, as well as from the USA, Australia and New Zealand, from Japan, China, Thailand, Indonesia, France, the Czech Republic and Poland. Photo: Jacob Müller -
The Acting Rector of the TU Chemnitz, Prof. Dr. Andreas Schubert, delivered a welcoming address. He gave guests a preview of the evening’s program, which combined a perfect balance of information and entertainment. Photo: Steve Conrad -
Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, Saxon State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts as well as patron of the event: “In the end, a university is made up of people, it lives based on the achievements and commitment of its employees as well as its supporters and partners. You all ensure the success of such an institution. Therefore, all members and supporters of the Technische Universität Chemnitz as well as its many partners and sponsors receive my personal thanks for your multifaceted dedication!” Photo: Rico Welzel -
Dr. Sabine Wolfram, Director of the State Museum for Archaeology in Chemnitz, spoke as host. She highlighted the long tradition of cooperation between the youngest museum in Saxony and the university, which takes the form of lecture series, the Chemnitz Museum Night and the study program Reception Cultures of the Premodern. She emphasized, “I look forward to continued cooperation with the TU Chemnitz.” Photo: Rico Welzel -
The University Choir sang under the direction of Prof. Conrad Seibt. Photo: Rico Welzel -
Prof. Dr. Yoshihito Watanabe, Vice-President of Research and International Planning at Nagoya University as well as Director of the AC21 General Secretariat also delivered a welcome address to the guests. He emphasized the longstanding partnership between Nagoya University and the TU Chemnitz, realized for example within the framework of the AC21 Network. Photo: Steve Conrad -
To open the TU Chemnitz Anniversary Exhibition in the State Museum for Archaeology in Chemnitz, Prof. Dr Heinrich Lang, Vice-Rector for Research and Promotion of Young Scientists, and Stephan Luther, Director of the University Archive, cut the red ribbon. Photo: Steve Conrad -
Archivist Stephan Luther (l.) was available to offer his knowledge of the TU’s history to guests of the exhibit, as well as State Minister Dr. Eva-Maria Stange and Rector Prof. Dr. Andreas Schubert, who viewed exhibits such as the thermal vessel developed by Adolf Ferdinand Weinhold. This is set in a Paleolithic glacier landscape within the archaeology museum. Photo: Jacob Müller -
Gymnast Andreas Bretschneider gave a sample of his abilities. In just 97 days from the night of the Spring-Gala, he will compete for a medal in the Olympic Games in Brazil. Photo: Jacob Müller -
The Federal Cluster of Excellence “Merge Technologies for Multifunctional Lightweight Structures” also presented to the crowd. Dr. Jürgen Tröltzsch (r.) and Henning Rabe (m.) represented the team of more than 100 scientists and showed that MERGE is musical as well as athletic. Photo: Steve Conrad -
Marco Thomä showed his skills on his Trial Bike, with which he has won 17 medals in the last two decades, including two world championship titles. Photo: Jacob Müller -
The “Duo Linteum” with Anika Cyrnik and Niklas Heynert rounded out the evening’s cultural program. Photo: Steve Conrad -
The buffet was coordinated by Chemnitz restaurateur André Donath. Photo: Jacob Müller -
To close the evening, guests had the opportunity to dance – DJ Falko Rock provided the perfect music for the occasion. Photo: Steve Conrad
The Technische Universität Chemnitz’s 2016 Spring-Gala took place in an award-winning location: the State Museum for Archaeology in Chemnitz (smac) received three international prizes in the last year for its suspended model of Saxony. The TU Chemnitz also shows that Saxony is award-winning at the international as well as national level – at the Gala on April 30, presentations were made by not only officials of the university, but presenters also represented numerous awards won by TU members in the past year – the 180th since the institution’s founding. More than 300 guests accepted the invitation to attend the TU’s Spring-Gala. Among the guests were 60 international participants of the “International Forum” of the “Academic Consortium for the 21st Century” (AC21) university network, which is hosted by the TU Chemnitz until May 3.
Acting Rector of the TU Chemnitz, Prof. Dr. Andreas Schubert, greeted the visitors. He was pleased that many guests from academia, the economic sector, politics and society, guests and friends of the TU attended the Spring-Gala and therefore also helped celebrate the 180th anniversary of the TU Chemnitz. Additionally, he pointed out that the TU Chemnitz should be proud of what it had achieved in the past, and that this would not have been possible without the support of partners and networks. In 2016, the Technische Universität is celebrating three anniversaries. Along with the 180th anniversary of the entire institution’s founding, the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Institute for Machine Tools will be in October of this year. Moreover, 2016 marks the 100th year of women studying in Chemnitz.
The patron of the event, Dr. Eva-Maria Stange, Saxon State Minister for Higher Education, Research and the Arts, greeted the guests in her address. The minister told the crowd: Not young anymore but also not yet ancient, the Technische Universität Chemnitz has a permanent place in the higher education landscape in the Free State of Saxony. She went on to say that the university faces the challenges of a modern education and research institution with abundant energy and vision, and pointed out that the university has refined its profile with new and interconnected specialized disciplines while maintaining its main focus on the traditional and original technical orientation. “Its strong networks within the region and with external partners establishes the TU Chemnitz as a central driver of innovation,” explained State Minister Stange.
Dr. Sabine Wolfram, Director of the State Museum for Archaeology in Chemnitz and member of the Technische Universität Chemnitz University Council, supported the organization of the Spring-Gala with the rest of her team. This year marked the first time that the Gala was held in smac. As an archaeologist, she put the 180th Anniversary of the TU in a larger context: “What are 180 years of TU Chemnitz? Measured against the 300,000 years of human and cultural history that are presented here in this building – it’s just the blink of an eye,” she said with a wink. She emphasized that the TU and smac – which predates the uni by just two years – has always maintained a close cooperation that often extends beyond the divisions between disciplines.
Prof. Dr. Yoshihito Watanabe, Vice President of Research and International Planning at Nagoya University and Director of the General Secretariat, presented the “Academic Consortium for the 21st Century” international university network in his welcome address. The TU Chemnitz is not only a founding member, but also one of the most active universities in the network, highlighted Prof. Watanabe.
A high point of the evening was the opening of the TU Chemnitz’s Anniversary Exhibition. Under the title “A Short Trip through Uni History”, visitors of the archaeology museum have the opportunity through May 22 to discover the newest research works as well as the interconnectedness of many scientific domains and the inventions that arose out of this networking. 16 exhibits and media have been placed in smac in their historical contexts.
Two musical ensembles were also a part of the cultural program’s arrangement: the TU Bigband and the University Choir. The vocal ensemble HarmoNOVUS presented songs of the Comedian Harmonists. First tenor and moderator of the ensemble, Frederik Haarik, is a doctoral candidate at the TU Chemnitz. Guests were also entertained by an athletic performance by gymnast Andreas Bretschneider, who studies economics at the TU Chemnitz. With the support of the TU through the “Official Partner University of Elite Sports” program, he is even able to combine his studies with participation in the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The cultural contribution from the Federal Cluster of Excellence “Merge Technologies for Multifunctional Lightweight Structures” gave the audience a glimpse at the excellent research and high degree of practical application at the TU. Bike-trial athlete Marco Thomä, research associate in the Professorship of Composite Materials, presented his extraordinary skills on the bike, with which he has already won many titles in the past. And a musical performance from the “Duo Linteum” with Anika Cyrnik, who studies education at the TU, on the accordion and Niklas Heynerk on the saxophone showed that the university also has excellent musical talent among its ranks – the Duo recently won first place at the international “Georgie Galabov” competition in Sofia.
The TU Chemnitz would like to express its gratitude to AUDI AG, premium sponsor of the Festival Week and the “AC 21 International Forum” as well as all other supporters.
More information about the Festival Week 180 Years of TU Chemnitz: www.mytuc.org/thyk
(Translation: Sarah Wilson)
Katharina Thehos
01.05.2016
