Goethe in progress 2022

Goethe in progress 2022 – Campus

Viele Orte,
eine Community

Goethe University Frankfurt’s around 43,300 students, roughly 3,700 academics and its 2,100 administrative and technical staff call four campuses in Bockenheim, Niederrad, Riedberg and Westend home. To enable everyone to teach, study, research, communicate, advise and administer in a contemporary and modern manner – irrespective of where they find themselves – requires attractive campuses and a state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, among others.

To that end, Goethe University launched a dedicated digital strategy in 2022. But of course there is nothing to match the backbone of university life: “real life” encounters, including in new buildings such as the one housing the Faculty for Linguistics, Cultures and Arts and its library on Westend Campus, as well as a new student residence and International House, both located on Riedberg Campus. Fostering our unique Goethe spirit across all locations are our spring and summer festivals, which bring together the many people who make up and shape our university to network not only among themselves, but also with Frankfurt citizens.  

Tailor-made

What does contemporary teaching, study, research, consulting and administration entail? How is digitalization changing a knowledge archive like the University Library? Goethe University Frankfurt is working on an overarching strategy to address all of this.

Out with the old, in with the new

The Faculty of Linguistics, Cultures and Arts moved into a new building.

Innovative living quarters

Thermally insulated and sustainable: The new student residence and International House on Riedberg Campus.

Campus festivals

Celebrations and festivals are back following a pandemic-related break: Here are some impressions from our spring and summer festivals.

Digital Strategy
New hub for Linguistics, Cultural Studies and Arts
New Student Residences
Campus festivals

(Photo: ra2studio / Shutterstock)

Tailor-made

Digitalization is changing the lives of each and every one of us, universities included. It takes an overarching digital strategy to meet the challenges it entails. What does contemporary teaching, study, research, consulting and administration require? How is digitalization changing a knowledge archive like the University Library? What role can and should artificial intelligence play?

Goethe University Frankfurt is working on an overarching digital strategy. Chief Information Officer (CIO) Ulrich Schielein, who began this work in May 2022, explains how. Unusual for a German university and a clear sign of Goethe University’s commitment to digitalization: The IT expert is also a full-time Vice President.

Continuous improvement, together: Students collaborate in a hackathon to relaunch the Goethe University App 2.0 (Photo: Jürgen Lecher)

  • Digital Strategy

Like building a house: Digitalization needs a target architecture

IT expert Ulrich Schielein has been Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Vice President of Goethe University Frankfurt since May 2022. He explains how he came to be at the university and what cross-university initiatives he and his team at the Chief Information Office have already initiated and developed.

Goethe in progress: Mr. Schielein, you joined the university last year as CIO and vice president, following many years of working as an international consultant. In how far is digitalization in a university context different from that in a company, for example? What, if anything, was initially unfamiliar to you?

Ulrich Schielein: Many good digitalization projects in research, teaching and administration predate my arrival at Goethe University, which had already set out on this path. I was able to benefit from this preliminary work – a very positive starting point. One of the things I was initially unaccustomed to is that because of public procedures, procurement processes, for example, take much longer. Or that discussions – about data protection, for instance – take more time, both because of the university’s strong culture of debate, and because there exist more co-determination rights than in the private sector.

Are there milestones in Goethe University’s ongoing digitalization process that you are particularly proud of?

I don’t like to think of it in terms of “pride”, but I am pleased about everything we have achieved so far, and that has been a lot. To name just one example: We have intensified the collaboration between the CI Office, the University Computing Center, the University Library, studiumdigitale and the Center for Scientific Computing – with all of us increasingly thinking outside of our own respective boxes. The digital fair we plan to organize in June will also help the various projects network and align more closely with each other. Beyond that, the event will raise awareness of how important IT security and cyber defense are for Goethe University Frankfurt – previously conducted penetration testing has clearly shown us where the weak spots are. In response, the Executive Board has decided to invest in additional security measures to enable a significant “upgrade”. That is also the reason why we initiated a comprehensive survey of all IT procedures, including a process to ensure that this database is kept permanently up to date.

What else have you initiated?

We just completed the release of the Goethe University App 2.0, for which we are planning a student hackathon, where participants can contribute improvements. We are also working intensively on a web relaunch – our goal is to provide a positive experience to visitors of Goethe University’s website and guide them to the information they need with just a few clicks. Another important step concerns our HISinOne campus management system, where we were recently able to go live with the EXA module for teacher training. All the examples I just mentioned are just a small selection of the digitalization topics and projects currently underway at Goethe University Frankfurt. Another great development in this respect is that, together with my fellow Executive Board colleague Christiane Thompson, we successfully acquired a peer-to-peer consultation on digitalization in studying and teaching at Hochschulforum Digitalisierung. To that end, four external experts will come to Goethe University Frankfurt in April to advise us. [Editor’s note: A nationwide think tank founded in 2014, Hochschulforum Digitalisierung brings together stakeholders from universities, politics, business and society, and focuses on digitalization in teaching and learning. It is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.]
(Chart: Feigenbaum)

Digitalization is a cross-sectional task. How do you approach this as CIO? How does your team work – also with regard to related actors like the University Computing Center, studiumdigitale or researchers from various faculties?

For us at the CI Office, it is essential to operate networks across all levels. As such, the collaboration between my colleagues and I on the Executive Board works very well, for example, and we are closely connected with various faculty heads. We have also already held several workshops with mixed teams made up of colleagues from administration, the CI Office and the faculties, with a view towards promoting even more and better exchange between users, faculties, central administration and the units involved in digitalization. One topic I myself feel strongly about is process and architecture management. After all, digitalization is much like building a house: It needs a target architecture. That means asking: which processes do we want to digitalize how? We are already discussing this topic with colleagues from our Strategic Organizational and Quality Development (SOQE) department, among others. However, we currently lack the resources to set up a concrete project.

I am also in touch with different scientists from the Faculty of Computer Science and Mathematics, and have already given a lecture in information systems on the topic of digital architecture management. I feel that the cooperation with the faculties is going very well, and can say I was truly welcomed with open arms. A new initiative we will be launching is the “Center for Critical Computational Studies” (C3S). We are currently in discussions with the founding board and my team and I are working on developing the necessary support structures for C3S and all other faculties.

Do you engage regularly with students or other digital natives?

I try to get in touch with our students in various ways. One upcoming event is our hackathon for the Goethe University app – thanks to the format, we can find out directly what students need and what they expect from an ideal university app. I'm also in close contact with the TechAcademy, a student initiative as part of which students teach fellow students digital skills on a voluntary basis. They are doing an excellent job. I also work with the Senate Commission on Digitalization, in which students are also involved. That being said I would like to find other ways of consolidating this exchange, including by offering lunch dates with the CIO in the future, for example. The idea is for me to invite around six students and employees to the canteen once a month, to provide input and feedback as part of a direct exchange.

What does digitalization mean to you personally?

A consistent end-to-end automation of processes, which results in a workload reduction for everyone involved, i.e. researchers and teaching staff should be able to focus more on their core tasks and benefit from improved methods. But it also means improving decisions through data-supported methods and processes.
Ulrich Schielein is Chief Information Officer (CIO) and full-time Vice President of Goethe University Frankfurt.

(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

The new Chief Information Officer and his team

Ulrich Schielein became Goethe University Frankfurt’s first Chief Information Officer (CIO) in May 2022. The 55-year-old graduate in public administration and business informatics has worked in computer-based education and training at Germany’s Federal Employment Agency and spent many years as an internationally active consultant in public and private sector companies working on the efficient and effective use of information technologies. As CIO and full-time vice president of Goethe University Frankfurt, Ulrich Schielein is responsible for the development and implementation of an overarching digital strategy and thus the strategic management of digitalization. Beyond that, he manages the university’s entire IT landscape as well as the further development of its IT infrastructure. He is also responsible for the University Computing Center, the University Library and studiumdigitale. studium digitale.

The Chief Information Officer (CIO) is supported by the Chief Information Office (CI Off), which in future will bundle all central issues relating to Goethe University’s digitalization and information infrastructure. Its tasks include the cross-project management of digitalization and information infrastructure projects (digital transformation) and information architectures (architecture management). Together with the CIO and the Executive Board, the CI Office staff develop strategic guidelines, including the digital strategy, the overall IT concept and the open science strategy.

Do you have a personal motto?

Yes, or rather two, one of which can be found in my signature: “Excellence in everything we do”. For me, this is a mission we should pursue every day, including with every email and every activity. If every one of us gets a little bit better every day, that will have a huge overall effect. My other motto is: “Just do it!” I often find that many employees are still stuck in another mode, summarized by: “That doesn’t work here”. My reply to that: Why not just give it a try! If it works – good. If it doesn't work, it was both an experience and a learning – but one should never give up beforehand.

Do you consciously take time to be offline?

I am aware that my smartphone is a permanent companion, from which I am never far away. That being said I do in fact consciously leave my phone at home from time to time – when I'm doing sports or in a restaurant with friends or when I go dancing with my wife. Dance is our shared hobby, during which we spend an hour and a half just focusing on our steps, giving the phone a welcome break.

Interview: Imke Folkerts

Want to find out more? Read the full-length interview with Ulrich Schielein: Auf dem Weg zu einer digitalen Wissenskultur: Interview mit Ulrich Schielein

(Photo: Black Jack / Shutterstock)

  • Digital Strategy

Accompanying the digital transformation

When it comes to the further development of its very own digital strategy in studies and teaching, Goethe University Frankfurt can count on special expertise: Hochschulforum Digitalisierung (HFD) has selected it and seven other universities for a tailor-made strategy consultation in 2022. [Editor’s note: Hochschulforum Digitalisierung is a Germany-wide think tank founded in 2014 that brings together stakeholders from universities, politics, business and society who are involved in the digitalization of teaching and learning. Funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, HFD is a joint initiative of the Stifterverband, the Centre for Higher Education and the German Rectors’ Conference.]

HFD offers “peer-to-peer” strategy consulting for universities, meaning experts work together with the respective university to develop a digital study and teaching concept specifically tailored to the university's profile. It is also within this framework that medium and long-term goals for key strategic action fields are set, good practice examples identified, and measures tailored specifically to the university determined. While this peer-to-peer strategy consultation is aimed at university management, it seeks to involve all internal university stakeholders in the process.

“We are delighted that our application was successful,” says Prof. Christiane Thompson, Goethe University’s Vice President Teaching, Study and Further Academic Education. “To ensure excellent teaching and qualified studies, it is important for digital learning and teaching to be offered wherever such services make sense. It has been greatly beneficial to receive such pinpointed advice on our digital concept.” Also welcoming the digital strategy advice is Ulrich Schielein, who – as Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) – has been responsible for developing and implementing an overarching digital strategy at Goethe University Frankfurt since May. “The fact that we are receiving individual and long-term support in shaping our university’s digital transformation will definitely accelerate the process.”

A total of eight universities were selected in 2022 for the peer-to-peer strategy consultation, which includes an individual deliberation process as well as workshops and conferences, which are held together with other universities and extend beyond the consultation period. In addition, all HFD-funded universities are part of an HFD alumni network, within which they exchange ideas and support each other in the long term.

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(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

  • Digital Strategy

It is vital that continuous development become part of our routine

How is digitalization changing libraries? In late fall 2021, Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library (UB) asked its employees: Where exactly do we stand, and where do we want to go? In late 2022, UB took its first steps in implementing a new vision, as director Daniela Poth explains.

Goethe in Progress: Ms. Poth, for you at the University Library digitalization is not a new catchword. Nevertheless, the technological developments of the last 40 years have radically changed the relatively old institution that is the library.

Daniela Poth: Digitalization is a huge challenge for all of society. The library introduced electronic data processing (EDP) at the end of the 1980s, which was later followed by the shift from print media to electronic media – which is by no means meant to say that printed media no longer exist today. These developments already served as an indication that libraries would become less important as places of scientific activity – especially in the natural and life sciences. It became possible to access media from anywhere, at any time. At more or less the same time, however, the Bologna Process-related structural changes to degree courses began to take effect. As a result, libraries became very significant (physical) places for students to learn. The greatest change has occurred in the last few years: The development of Open Science. With research data and results freely accessible, libraries are faced with the question of how important it will be in the future to continue building their stocks. Taking that thought further: How would such a change affect the role of a university library when it comes to supplying information? I am firmly convinced that the role of libraries will not change fundamentally: It continues to involve selecting, providing and contextualizing information to provide users with orientation. That is also enshrined in our mission statement: “We curate the information we offer for research, teaching and study, to meet the needs and the quality aspirations of science.”

Having adopted a mission statement, how do you plan to implement it?

The mission statement was the first step. It states where we are and where we want to be. On January 1, 2023, we restructured our organization to create the conditions necessary for realizing our mission. Three pillars form the basis of our activities: IT Services, the Acquisitions, Licenses and Metadata Department, and the Department of Information, Provision and Original Document Preservation. Apart from that, we still operate and perform tasks for the Hessian Library Information System (Hessische Bibliotheksinformationssystem, hebis) network headquarters [editor’s note: hebis is an information and service network of roughly 60 mostly scientific libraries in Hessen and parts of Rhineland-Palatinate]. We have two completely new units: One of them strengthens our position as a service facility for the university and focuses on places for learning and supporting scientific activity. The other is primarily dedicated to our historical stocks and special collections, focusing on supra-regional specialist communities. Together, as one University Library, we are now embarking on the path towards achieving our mission’s strategic objectives.

On the one hand, this process sounds never-ending, but there surely must be certain milestones.

This kind of process demands a lot of energy from everyone involved. That’s why it’s so important to make continuous development part of our routines. We’ve defined our mission for the next ten years – that’s a long time. But we want to realize its strategic objectives by 2026. If we can systematically implement them within the next three years, then will be a good time to check how close we’ve come to our vision and whether it remains relevant. The milestones include the implementation of an urgent recommendation to universities by the German Science and Humanities Council and the German Research Foundation: set up an “information budget”. The aim is to bundle all funding for Goethe University’s information provision and unify the management of all the different expenses. This includes both the acquisition and licensing of literature as well as the financing of Open Access publications and the securing of research data. We currently still have individual agreements with each faculty and operate over 50 cost centers. So, there is still a long way to go. And one final important point: In cooperation with our partners within the hebis network, we are right now replacing our library management system with an Open Source product. Although this shift is actually not directly linked to our strategic process, it does establish the framework for the future development of many workflows.
The project team (from left): Dr. Angela Hausinger, Dr. Mathias Jehn, Daniela Poth, Dr. Klaus Junkes-Kirchen, Dr. Thomas Risse (Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

The description of the process contains terms such as SWOT analysis. Should we think of the contemporary university library like a company, which has to constantly analyze itself?

In my opinion, every organization would do well to take a critical look at itself now and again. As a library, we find that we are constantly acquiring new tasks without the existing ones decreasing in equal measure, let alone disappearing. Despite the growth in digital media, we still have to hold print media, for instance. Faced with no increases in our staff budget – which stagnates at best – and demographic change, which also doesn’t make it any easier for us to recruit staff, it will become more and more important to prioritize and to focus. The key question is: How can we deploy our human and material resources to provide the necessary support for research, teaching and study? We need to have a clear picture of our users’ needs and remain in an intense dialog with them. These are all good reasons for deploying instruments companies use as a matter of course.

Some say libraries have reached the end of their useful lives. Do you encounter any resistance from policymakers, the university administration, or maybe even from academics?

I have not yet heard of anyone fundamentally questioning the library’s existence as an institution. However, the challenges we face are certainly different from those of public libraries, which are financed by the municipalities. I think the Corona pandemic in particular showed the importance of having a public, non-commercial and physical space where people can meet. No one questions our responsibility when it comes to providing literature. But the newer tasks, for which no best practices exist, include processes of negotiation. So, when I talk about research data management, for example, then we, as a library, have the necessary skills for these activities. However, we would not be able to carry out the associated tasks on our own – and we don’t even attempt to. That is why Goethe University’s research data is jointly managed with the University Computing Center and with specially designated contact persons in the faculties. It only works if everyone knows what they have to contribute and if everyone pulls together.

All the same, the rapid progress in technology also throws up questions about the skillsets required by the staff. Would it be wrong to say that the jobs at the library are becoming increasingly academic?

I really couldn’t say if we can speak of an increasing academization in our profession. Due to the wide variety of tasks, a large number of people with very different professional backgrounds work at the library – ranging from apprentices to those with bachelor’s degrees in library science, all the way to colleagues with doctorates who develop services and tools at the interface with scientists at eye level. Digitalization places increasing demands on all of us, which we have to tackle by working together. What’s more, some 40 percent of our library staff will retire over the next twelve years, generating a wide variety of challenges. One of them will be to ensure that the in-depth expertise of our departing colleagues is passed on to others, to ensure it doesn’t get lost. On the other hand, we will have to recruit new library staff with the right qualifications. Here we often find ourselves in competition with the private sector, in the field of IT for instance. That will remain a challenge not only for us, but for the entire public sector.

'Wir sind ein H(UB) für Menschen, Wissen, Services der Goethe- Universität'. Dieser Satz ist Teil unserer Vision im Zielbild

Your staff was closely involved in UB’s strategic process. Do you think the pressure to change is causing them worry or anxiety?

Changes always bring anxiety. The reactions here have ranged from, “libraries have always had to evolve – that’s not new to us,” to, “why does anything have to change – everything’s working just fine as it is.” We launched the process in 2021 by conducting employee interviews, to obtain an overview of where the staff saw a need for further development and what they wanted the process and the future of the library to look like. While strategies are geared at the outside world, we decided from the beginning that we also wanted to look within. For us it was clear from the outset that we can only evolve successfully if we establish a culture of change in the library that is supported by as many people as possible. As our strategy started to take shape, we therefore always included formats for open discussions with the staff on the interim results and incorporated their feedback.

The next question is about UB’s identity and role: In its “Mission 2032”, UB states that its own mission fits into Goethe University Frankfurt’s strategy. Do closer ties with Goethe University constitute a challenge, given that Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library also performs library functions beyond the confines of the university?

The library’s roots go back a long way in the history of Frankfurt and are closely associated with the history of the foundation Dr. Senckenbergische Stiftung. That is manifested not only in our name, but also in our stocks. These special collections are valuable to research communities far beyond Goethe University. We want to continue living up to this responsibility. We align our own ongoing development very clearly to that of Goethe University, and as one of its central services, we of course feel obligated to our funders. At the same time, our history mandates that we make our special collections accessible for supra-regional research. We plan to arrange our activities in a manner that ensures that both benefit from the other.

Does the development as a place of learning – something affecting students most of all – also feed into the library’s orientation?

For us, it’s important to gain an even better understanding of the changing needs of our users in the future. Students are a very important target group, since they benefit both from the library’s infrastructure as well as from the physical space. That is why their needs are often intimately tied to the options for the targeted development of the premises, and also to new uses for them. Sometimes there is a mismatch. Some people want flexible spaces for collaboration, others a concentrated working atmosphere where they can study in silence. We want to engage in a more intensive dialog with the students in the future and implement whatever is feasible within our existing premises.

Libraries lost their monopoly on information a long time ago

These days there are many players in information society, including publishers for example, who also offer services that could be interesting to some users – against payment of course. Can academic libraries survive in the face of such competition?

Libraries lost their monopoly on information a long time ago. Alongside our portals and catalogs, scientists also often use Google or Google Scholar for their research. It depends on what you’re looking for. Print materials especially can hardly be found using Google and co. Major academic publishing houses today offer researchers excellent digital services specifically designed to support their research work all the way from the initial question to the publication of scientific findings. That is something no individual library can do, and it’s also difficult to achieve in cooperation with others. Our strength lies elsewhere: We do not pursue profit. That is important, especially when dealing with data. When large academic publishers offer an all-inclusive package, it’s often accompanied by a more or less uncontrolled use of the data. Data sovereignty is an important advantage to be purposefully applied.

The University Library should be a place of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange, a place that invites collaboration on developing solutions for the complex problems of our time

Daniela Poth is the director of Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library

(Photo: Jürgen Lecher)

As of the end of last year, after roughly 20 years of planning, we now have six subject-specific libraries on Goethe University’s campuses. But the last major component is still missing – the main library on Westend Campus. Planning the construction of such a large new building must naturally also take account of the developments in such a volatile field. What could, what should the new UB look like?

Answering that requires a multifaceted answer. The Central Library at Bockenheimer Warte currently holds nearly five million physical media items in its magazines (some of them underground), including many historical items with special requirements relating to security and air conditioning. They will continue to require suitable locations for housing and usage. But the Central Library is much more than that. It is the workplace of many of our experts: The majority of the work on our media as well as most administrative tasks are carried out here. Most importantly, however, the Central Library is a neutral place. Whereas all nine libraries at other sites cater to certain faculties, the Central Library stands for the University Library as a whole. “We are a (H)UB supporting people, knowledge and services at Goethe University.” This sentence is part of our vision, outlined in the mission statement. A new building that stands for the university’s entire library system offers an opportunity to bring this sentence to life in a special way. It should be a place of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary exchange, a place that invites collaboration on developing solutions for the complex problems of our time. And it should be open to everyone: Researchers, teaching staff, students, administrative staff and interested citizens. The extent to which it will reach the public outside the University will, however, depend on the site itself.

Needless to say, the accessibility and surroundings at Westend Campus are different than those at Bockenheim Campus.

At Bockenheimer Warte, we are located in the middle of the city – which is helpful for connecting with the general public. For the new location, we will have to think about how we can reestablish this connection, for example through exhibitions or discussions that are relevant to Frankfurt citizens. I studied architecture before I did my internship as a librarian. In architectural theory, we speak of the “genius loci” – referring to the desire to take account of a place’s spirit when creating its architectural design. Given today’s very dynamic developments, which we as a library also have to deal with, it would be great to have a permanent budget for ongoing development. Dreaming never hurt anyone… [laughs]. As far as aspects of sustainability are concerned, I have full confidence in the members of my previous profession, who have already realized outstanding sustainable architecture projects.

Questions: Dirk Frank

The interview appeared in a slightly different form in UniReport 1.23.

»WE ARE A (H)UB SUPPORTING PEOPLE, KNOWLEDGE AND SERVICES AT GOETHE UNIVERSITY.«

The first sentence of the University Library’s strategic mission is an expression of its future aspirations. That is, to become much more of a hub for interdisciplinary interaction and academic support, offering on-site digital and other services that are specifically tailored to the needs of Goethe University researchers, teaching staff and students, while at the same time supporting supra-regional research.

The library began the process of developing its strategy in late fall 2021 through a series of interviews with its employees. A representative cross-section of 41 of the approx. 350 staff members provided assessments of the status quo and of future possibilities, enabling an initial stocktaking. This internal view was subsequently supplemented with four analyses, as part of which a specially created strategy team examined external influencing factors, user perceptions, stakeholders, and the library’s core competencies. Together with top management, the team then carried out a SWOT analysis that produced a profile of strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O) and threats (T). On this basis, they then elaborated potential directions for the library’s development, and by the summer of 2022 had created a template for preparing the strategy. Important success factors in this process were repeatedly seeking feedback from library staff and managers, and bringing in external experts, users as well as Goethe University’s Executive Board, which approved UB’s strategic mission on August 2, 2022. The first step towards implementation was the structural reorganization carried out at the beginning of 2023.

You can read the entire mission statement (in German) on the University Library’s website.

Kurz & bündig: Campus-Kunst

The Association of Friends and Sponsors of Goethe University Frankfurt has donated the bronze sculpture “Invincible” by Frankfurt sculptor Wanda Pratschke to the university. The larger-than-life figure of a reclining female body now can be found on the lawn between Westend Campus’ main lecture hall building and the seminar building near Adorno’s workstation in the glass box.

Bronzeskulptur der Bildhauerin Wanda Pratschke auf dem Campus Westend eingeweiht

(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

Out with the old, in with the new

After four years of construction, the move took place in September: The last remaining humanities institutes and a number of service facilities moved from Bockenheim Campus to the new Linguistics, Cultures and Arts Building on Westend Campus. Feeling a mixture of anticipation and a little melancholy, 510 employees packed up their things – including 14.85 kilometers of books that will now be housed in a joint departmental library.

SKW – this is the abbreviation of the building for linguistics, arts and cultural studies, which seals off Westend Campus’ northeastern border. University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff, Hessian minister of finance Michael Boddenberg, and Ayse Asar, Hesse’s state secretary for the sciences, were present on September 28 when Thomas Platte, director of Landesbetrieb Bau und Immobilien Hessen, handed over the building keys.

The building represents an important milestone in Goethe University's journey from its founding campus to those on Westend and Riedberg. The complex, which has up to six floors, was designed by BLK2 Böge Lindner K2 Architekten and cost just shy of €120 million, including fittings. In terms of its dimensions, the new building is comparable to the Psychology and Educational Sciences Building, which opened in 2013. The SWK building was constructed by the state of Hesse for Goethe University Frankfurt; it exceeds the legally required energy-saving standards and will soon be equipped with a photovoltaic system.

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(Photos: Uwe Dettmar)

(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

  • New hub for Linguistics, Cultural Studies and Arts

Anticipation with a hint of melancholy

“Third expansion stage” – that’s a neutral and matter-of-fact way to put it, but the move was definitely also emotional. Some 510 employees and 3,000 students left Bockenheim and moved into the new premises on Westend Campus. We asked colleagues from the institutes, specialist libraries, GRADE and the Academy for Educational Research and Teacher Training [Akademie für Bildungsforschung und Lehrkräftebildung, ABL] what the mood was like before the move.

I'm looking forward to moving to the new building and am curious to see what effect working here and on Westend Campus will have. Of course, it will take some time to get adjusted to the new reality. A few weeks ago, I joined a tour of the institute's rooms that left me deeply impressed. I’m excited to see how the artistic work will take shape and develop, and am of course also looking forward to everyday work on Westend Campus and the resulting proximity to many colleagues, which makes it that much easier to meet, even by chance!

— Prof. Kerstin Gottschalk, managing director of the Institute for Art Education

(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

We are very much looking forward to the new Westend premises, the greater proximity to the students and the integration into Goethe University’s central units on Westend Campus. That being said, we are leaving Bockenheim with a heavy heart, and will certainly miss the large meeting rooms in the Juridicum, the weekly market at Bockenheimer Warte and the bustle of Leipziger Straße.

— Dr. Angela Gies, director of the ABL Academy for Educational Research and Teacher Training

There are some things we will definitely miss once we are no longer in Bockenheim: the neighborly atmosphere with the shops and cafés and of course the weekly market. Not to mention the very good subway connection, with Frankfurt main station just two stops away. So, yes, there is a certain sense of sadness at the thought of moving. On the other hand, we will have many advantages in the future. As such, Westend Campus is of course much more beautiful and we are looking forward to our new premises. Beyond that, it will also be good to be closer to the Executive Board and to the colleagues with whom we conduct scientific work.

— Dr. Sybille Küster, director GRADE (Goethe Research Academy for Early Career Researchers)
(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

I'm still relatively new here, so I am not really able to compare any before and after situation. Right now, it's quite a lot of work, also since I still have to familiarize myself with my part of the inventory. But all told, I think the move is a positive thing. Users will definitely see an improvement: the opening times will be regulated and access will be easier.

— Veronika Roth, Jewish Studies Library

I'm looking forward to the move – the new departmental library brings many libraries together, giving us a great opportunity to make links and connections clearer. We are currently preoccupied with the specifics of planning the move and determining the order in which the media should move into the new building. We also still need to clarify how the lending desk will work in the future and what basic knowledge those working at the information desk will need. As all colleagues will be providing lending and information services, we are training each other, giving short ten-minute presentations on the individual collections’ most important facts and special features.

— Charlotte Jakob, Sinology Library

Until now, everything in our music and theater collection was a bit like during days gone by: our media were still recorded in card catalogues, for example. To ensure that the books can be borrowed from the new departmental library, they are now all catalogued electronically and secured with barcodes. While these changes are of course necessary for the move, they also mean that some things will no longer be so easy in future: At the moment many teachers simply let me know when they are taking a book to their course and then return it later. In future, with the books now coded, everything will have to be ordered in advance.

— Anne Wibrow, Music and Theater Library

Editor: Imke Folkerts, GoetheSpektrum

(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

  • New hub for Linguistics, Cultural Studies and Arts

A library all to itself

The relocation of Linguistics and Cultural Studies to Westend Campus is also a big step for Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library: twelve departmental libraries, previously spread across Bockenheim Campus, are now under one roof.

The plan to combine all of the university's departmental libraries into six departmental libraries alongside the central library was forged 20 years ago. Now, the twelve departmental libraries for linguistics and cultural studies have been consolidated into one departmental library.

What challenges came with the move and what makes the new library so special? Until the appointment of the new library director, Africanist Dr. Aïsha Othman, in September 2022, Christiane Schaper was the acting director responsible for setting up the new Linguistics and Cultural Studies Library. Schaper also acts as director of the Humanities Library: “The goal was clear from the outset: to round out the humanities field by merging the departmental libraries; that is, to bring together all the humanities subjects that previously had not been housed in a divisional library into the available space, and to operate them as a joint library through Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library. This relocation goes hand in hand with greater accessibility and usability, for example through extended opening hours and a contemporary range of services for all usages, including group study rooms, a modern loan booking system, and registration in the University Library common catalog. Implementation required a lot of preparatory work – both in terms of the data that had to be recorded for the catalog, as well as organizationally. It was a challenge managing both at the same time: Preparing for a move – which took up a lot of our time in recent months – and simultaneously getting ready for library operations.”

(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

Outlining the new library’s concept, Dr. Angela Hausinger, deputy director of Johann Christian Senckenberg University Library, explains: “The departmental library concept is not new; it is used in all departmental libraries, and based on a lot of open-access holdings, few materials in storage, no additional room to grow. In essence, what we are talking about is a self-renewing library. This means when something comes in here, something else has to go or be handed over to the central library, which also has an archiving function. If you look around the BSKW, you can see that there are no meters of empty shelves. On the contrary, we’re already filled to the brim.”

In September 2022, African studies specialist Dr. Aïsha Othman took over the management of the new Linguistics and Cultural Studies Library. Othmann will remain the main contact person for African Studies at the University Library, which she has headed since 2017. What excites her most about her new role? “First and foremost, I am delighted to be close to the researchers, teachers and students of linguistics and cultural studies. The multilingualism and multiculturalism of the holdings often poses a challenge, but it’s what makes this library so appealing to me. Last but not least, the task of bringing the sub-libraries and the team together into a single unit is both interesting and varied.”

Editor: Imke Folkerts, GoetheSpektrum

 

(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

The Linguistics and Cultural Studies Library: Facts and Figures

Departmental libraries
The Linguistics and Cultural Studies Library comprises 12 departmental libraries of the Faculty of Linguistics, Cultures, and Arts:

  • African Studies • Empirical Linguistics • Islamic Studies • Japanese Studies • Jewish Studies • Korea Studies • Art Library/Städel Library • Art Education • Musicology • Phonetics • Sinology • Southeast Asian Studies

Workplaces for users
350 work places • 257 individual reading places • 6 reservable common work rooms

Inventory and Move
Room for 385,000 books, about 100,000 of them in storage • Equivalent to 14 consecutive kilometers of shelves, 10.8 km of which are open-access, and 3.2 km in storage • Moving period: August 22 to September 22, 2022 • all told, 14.85 km of inventory (incl. donations to the central library) were moved

Staff
Equivalent of 17 full-time library staff (most working part-time) • Supported by student assistants

Management

Dr. Aïsha Othman

Wooden panels on a concrete base: the student residence and International House houses a dance, yoga and music room as well as a sewing room, bicycle workshop and cinema. (Photo: Stefanie Wetzel)

Innovative living quarters

Thermally insulated, sustainable and featuring a range of themed activities: The new student residence and International House on Riedberg Campus opened just in time for the start of the winter semester.

“Have a room available? Then rent it out to a student!” Studierendenwerk regularly asks citizens of the Rhine-Main region for living space. In September, the student support association itself was able to offer young people almost 400 apartments: 359 apartments for students, six of them barrier-free, and 27 apartments for visiting academics in the International House – all located on Riedberg Campus. The rent for students is up to €350, while a two-room apartment costs up to €420. Visiting researchers pay from €550 onwards for either one of 16 single apartments, nine double apartments, as well as two family apartments.

Hesse's largest timber residential building was erected in three and a half years: energy-efficient, compact, highly insulated and sustainable. In a timber hybrid construction, all floor slabs and walls were built entirely in a cross-laminated timber (CLT) panel construction above a concrete base. The building is also equipped with a photovoltaic system that meets the entire house’s needs. About 100,000 kWh of electricity can be generated each year, of which 90-95 percent goes into captive use. All excess electricity is fed into the public grid.

Innovative and sustainable: Speaking at the building’s inauguration were (right) Ayse Asar (Hesse’s state secretary for the sciences), Goethe University Vice President Prof. Christiane Thompson (second from right), as well as Prof. Jürgen Bereiter-Hahn (Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation for the Promotion of Goethe University Frankfurt’s International Academic Relations), and (left) Dr. Enno Aufderheide (Secretary General of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation). Pictured in front: Moderator Sascha Zoske of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Photo: Studierendenwerk)

Beyond its sustainable construction, another distinguishing characteristic of the new accommodation for students and visiting scientists is the themed rooms and participatory activities, supervised by relevant instructors. A laundromat complete with a lounge area, a dance and yoga room, a music room, a fitness room, a sewing room, a home cinema room, two study rooms, a bicycle workshop, and a sunlit garden-courtyard all foster communal living.

The new building is a common project of Studierendenwerk Frankfurt and the Foundation for the Promotion of Goethe University Frankfurt’s International Academic Relations, who together form the building venture “Bauherrengemeinschaft IHCR”, which owns the living complex. The building was designed by Frankfurt architects Ferdinand Heide, who also drew up the master plan for Westend Campus and provided the designs for the canteen extension, lecture hall and seminar building.

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(Photo: Uwe Dettmar)

Campus festivals

Visitors of the sixth Goethe University Spring Festival on Riedberg Campus were welcomed with bright sunshine: some 1,500 guests flocked to the festival held on the university’s natural sciences campus on May 22, which was opened by University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff.

Following his welcoming words, the science garden’s scientific director Prof. Meike Piepenbring, and its technical director Robert Anton introduced their premises. Amid perfect spring weather, many guests went on a discovery tour through the garden’s open-air area. All told, the science garden covers around three hectares and is home to more than 100 medicinal plants as well as plants used for teaching purposes. Particularly curious visitors could join guided tours on topics such as the “Evolutionary Ecology of Plants” and the “Oak Forest of the Future”. Those who simply wanted to relax and soak up the sun could do so with a cool drink in one of the many deckchairs. Live music was also on hand: Carlos Vivas & Dana Barak kicked the festivities off with clarinet and guitar, followed later in the day by jazz from the band “Markierungen & Winkel”.

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(Photos: Uwe Dettmar)

  • Campus festivals

Summer – Campus – Party

Following a pandemic-related break of nearly three years, the summer party celebrations returned to Westend Campus.

“We couldn't have chosen a better day” – these were the words with which University President Prof. Enrico Schleiff opened the summer festival on July 18, 2022. The first campus festival since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic took place in bright sunshine and temperatures above 30 °C. Under the motto “Summer – Campus – Party”, students, staff and members of the public had the opportunity to experience Goethe University Frankfurt beyond its daily routine.

Before inviting everyone to celebrate, the university president thanked the Goethe community for its commitment and dedication over the past three years. Then the rich program began, offering plenty of variety for the visitors well into the evening hours.

One corner of Westend Campus was transformed into southern France: next to the AStA building, the boules area invited visitors to join in and watch. A few meters down, second-hand items changed hands at the “Drehscheibe” flea market.

The children's program at Goethe University's Museum Giersch was all about “absolute color”: children aged between four and twelve created colorful worlds using experimental elements of thread painting. Anyone wanting to try their hand at using textile paint and markers on fabric bags could do so and take their own summer accessory home with them.

...then it was time for Frankfurt band Urban Socks, who got the party started with their indie pop sound featuring jazz, soul and rock elements.

By 10 p.m. at the latest, Westend Campus became really packed, as Shantel and ATA DJ took to the stage for their performances. Shantel, himself a former student at Goethe University Frankfurt, last performed a concert on campus for the university's 100th birthday in 2014. Of course, his hit “Disko Partizani” also played at this year's summer party. The beats of the two DJs resounded across Westend Campus and beyond until late into the night.

Photos: Benjamin André and Uwe Dettmar

Text: (ih)

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