Events

Summer Festival for the Deutschlandstipendium in Hamburg

Our annual summer festival for the Deutschlandstipendium at Hamburg universities took place on Thursday, 27 June. Around 250 guests—students, sponsors, and university representatives—gathered on the Elbe terrace at HafenCity University. The event encouraged networking among Hamburg’s academic institutions, offered students a chance to engage in interdisciplinary discussions, and aimed to attract new sponsors for the Deutschlandstipendium in Hamburg.

Participating institutions included the University of Hamburg, Hamburg University of Technology, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, HafenCity University, Hamburg University of Music and Drama, Bucerius Law School, Hamburger Fern-Hochschule, and Kühne Logistics University.

A Visit to the Historic Sailing Ship PEKING

After 34 voyages around Cape Horn, 2 world wars, and several transformations—first as a boarding school ship and later as a museum in New York—the PEKING returned to its home port in Hamburg in 2017. Following extensive restoration work, this historic 4-masted barque is now open to visitors. Several smaller groups of Deutschlandstipendium scholarship holders and sponsors took advantage of the opportunity to learn fascinating details about the ship’s history and engineering from an experienced sailor. 

Introduction to German Sign Language

Around 200,000 people in Germany use German Sign Language; about 80,000 of them are deaf (source: Bundesfachstelle Barrierefreiheit). Britta Harms and Alexander Eisenzimmer, both research associates and certified sign language interpreters at the University of Hamburg, led a workshop where scholarship recipients practiced basic sign language and got a feel for nonverbal communication. Due to strong interest, another introductory sign language course will be offered in Winter Semester 2024/25.  

At the ceremony on 14 February 2024, 280 scholarship holders celebrated together, many of them proudly received their certificates. This was made possible by the generous support of 93 sponsors, whose contributions enabled the scholarship fund to exceed € 1 million for the first time this year. 

The event, held on campus under the motto “aufWACHSEN—Chancen weitergeben” (Growing up—passing on opportunities) was opened with a welcome address by University President Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren. Musical entertainment was provided by the award-winning accordion duo con:trust, themselves former Deutschlandstipendium recipients. During the reception afterwards, sponsors and funding recipients had time to talk to each other. All visitors to the event were also invited to contribute to a pop-up exhibition featuring photos from key milestones in their educational journey, whether it was the proud pose on the first day of elementary school or the joyous moment of receiving a doctoral diploma. These moments formed a colorful “timeline of growth.”

Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, president of the University of Hamburg: “The development of the Deutschlandstipendium at the University of Hamburg is impressive, and it is more than just a scholarship: it is an instrument of social commitment and contributes to forging links between us as a flagship university and the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. Opening to the general public is a central goal, and the scholarship contributes significantly to the sustainability of our society by supporting talented young people and, thus, educating the specialists of tomorrow. Many thanks to all sponsors: they have helped the program reach the impressive milestone of € 1 million per annum.”