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The history of the FU can be divided in three epochs: (i) Its foundation and evolution towards one of the premier academic centres of post war Germany; (ii) the controversial years when the school became one of the centres of 68’ student protests and the trajectory it took from this experience; (iii) and the recent epoch after the German reunification; an epoch of diminishing funds and continuous struggle [i]. Today the end of the reduction seems to be finally in reach and a new vision is forming.
3.2.2.1. Foundation and growth
When WWII ended, there was only one sizeable university – the Berlin University - and after some internal institutional unrest, the Russians moved the university’s administration into their sector. Not long after it reopened, some students opposed the explicitly communist influences and began agitating for free speech and scientific autonomy. Over the following months, the Soviets tightened their grip on their sector of the university and in 1948 three student activists were banned from re-matriculation. In the following weeks, the small interest group that had already formed around students began to intensify their lobbying for the foundation of a propaganda-free and politically-independent university in the western sectors. After weeks of fomenting, the American commander in chief officially approved such a foundation and on the 4th of December 1948 [ii] the Freie Universität (FU) was founded. In its first semester the FU accepted 2140 students (out of 5500 applicants) who were taught by 128 professors. The student body doubled in just one year (1949: 4, 946) but luckily many renowned professors returned from exile. The growth was continuously high and by 1960 a full-fledged university had emerged with 12,548 students enrolled. While Germany’s post-war reconstruction (Wirtschaftswunder) enabled funding for most of the university, the FU would not have developed as it did without the generous donation of more than 100 million US dollars. The political situation in Berlin became more and more tense during the 1950’s, escalating in the separation of West-Berlin from East-Berlin and the surrounding hinterland. For the FU, the result was the increased politicization of its student body. Over the following years the atmosphere on the campus became more and more radicalized, anti-traditionalist, and vanguard.
3.2.2.2. Critical Student Protest and Massification
The generation of students that began to populate the FU in the 1960’s was born during the last years of the war or just after, thus they were the first generation that was not involved with mature experience of the Nazi regime. Instead, they perceived their elders as conservative and concealing of their histories. Inspired and spurred by similar movements in France and the USA, an atmosphere of critical and existentialist philosophy developed. A significant group of left-wing students engaging in political activities and applying psychoanalysis meant to (a) bring transparency and overcome Nazi remains in the German society, and (b) to reform the traditional (in their view) ‘imperialist’ practices regarding the exploitation of the third world, the working class and women.
In 1966 the first German student sit-in occurred at the FU; 3000 students debated for eight hours over (university) politics. The movement pursued a holistic societal critique and the formation of a counter-culture, but education is recognized as a key aspect of this process. Defining and applying the “correct” educational practices to secure such an atmosphere was a hotly debated discussion. On the positive side, critical reviews of lectures were published by students, conversely, students boycotted lectures and lashed out against professors who allegedly nurtured nazi propensities.
For this research the most relevant outcome of the student movement was the creation of the ‘Critical University’ on the 1st of November of 1967. Based on the critical philosophy of the Frankfurt School [iii], the Critical University was a student driven initiative to create scientific working groups on such themes as “Imperialism and development problems”, “sexuality and dominance”, or “psychosomatic medicine”. The students organized more than 70 seminars over a period of two semesters (AStA web), but the ‘critical-university’ was not sustainable [iv], probably (at least partially) because there was no assessment and certification process to add matriculated legitimacy.
Similarly the socio-political movement slowly ebbed away after its climax in 1967, when, after the assassination of a demonstrating FU student, the multitude of splinter parties agreed to unify their demands and coordinate their activities in the APO (Outer-Parliamentarian-Opposition.) The rebellious students then either dropped out of university or re-assimilated into the fold. By the late 1970’s the FU returned to ‘practice as usual’.
The other significant development during this phase was the continuous growth of the institution. Attracted by the ‘happening atmosphere’ and special conditions [v], as well as the increasingly good reputation of the FU, more and more students enrolled, leading to the massification of the educational experience. Enrolment rose from twelve thousand in 1960 to 50.298 in 1983. It continued to rise until the fall of the Berlin Wall with an enormous student body of 60 000 [vi] and was for a time Germany’s second biggest university.
3.2.2.3. Solidarity and Recess after the German Reunification
Caused by the costs of the reconstruction of East-Germany and the East-Berlin university – now Humboldt University – in particular, the FU was ordered to reduce its student base by 10,000 in 1992, and further cut-back orders followed incessantly. In these years a very high turnover of senators responsible for education (FU, 2001, p7) increased the university leadership’s understanding that they had to fight for political autonomy for their political benchmarks. In 1993, all three Berlin universities setup a joint structural planning committee to negotiate and coordinate the reductions prescribed by the local government as a result of Berlin’s state bankruptcy. These structure plans largely dictated the changes to the individual departments, partially guaranteeing a certain planning reliability for the university as a whole [vii].
The aggravating monetary situation for the university led to several student protest movements [viii] but protests remained rather unproductive as few constructive solutions were proposed and the treasury was (and still is) factually empty.
After the scrutinizing the practices and contributions of each department and individual for over a decade, and having dealt with the rough diet prescribed by the politicians, the FU has successfully adapted to the new structural realities [ix].
In recent years the university has even regained some inspiration, especially through the Excellence Initiative of the German Research Foundation (see special section 3.2.10.5 in unique strange attractors)
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[i] Unless state differently the information in this section is drawn from (FU APO archive web, FU Zukunft von Anfang an, FU Kleine Chronik) as well as (Rabehl & Müller-Enbergs, 1988).
[ii] Right in the very early days (Dez, 1948) the „Aussenkommission“ (Commission for the external affairs) was founded and given the mandate to engage in close contact to foreign universities, and scientific institutions in West Germany and other nations. Mr. Hartwich – one of the founding students - develops this aspect very successfully from the FU’s foundation till 1989. Today the FU has extensive international contacts and organizes an international summer university to allow students from around the world to encounter Germany and Berlin for an educational stay.
[iii] Named after the critical method advanced by the philosophical Frankfurt school (Foremost Horckheimer and Adorno (Welsch, 1998)). The philosophers Habermas and Marcuse (1967) (the latter not directly related to the Frankfurt School but very close) have had discourses at the FU in these years.
[iv] After the institutional changes conducted in 1969 FU president Mr. Kreibich continued as advocate for a new concept of the ‘team university’ (Gruppenuniversitaet), which incorporated several aspects of the critical university.
[v] Boys with residence in Berlin did not have to enter in the obligatory one year military service. This was particularly attractive to leftists and hence augmented this group.
[vi] Enrolment peaked shortly after the re-unification (1992) when many eastern Berlin students transferred to the FU. Following the re-unification, the FU had to take continuous cut backs and started to shrink, as outlined in the following section.
[vii] Before the political orders changed and worsened continuously.
[viii] Also the FU president authors several public letters criticizing and explaining the intricate situation of the FU.
[ix] In 2000 the FU creates, together with eight Berlin universities, a spin-off company for the marketing of e-learning (multimedia) products (web). In 2003 the FU receives the “entrepreneurial think tank” award of the business plan competition, because of the original and good performance of the participating students.
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