Wie und warum feiern sich Reformuniversitäten? Die Universitäten Bremen und Kassel im Vergleich

Abstract

: Anniversary festschrifts are part of the traditional practice of celebrating a university jubilee. Also, they play an important role in the historiography of universities. Focusing the young universities of Bremen and Kassel (both founded in 1971), this article examines how and why institutions founded as models of reform and renewal use this canonized practice to create meaning. The ex-planations are guided by the thesis that the change of the institutions and their self-perception is reflected in the anniversary publications. They represent a specific self-image in regards to higher education policies and history in each case. Despite the many differences in the structural conditions of the institutions, the analysis of the commemorative publications from 1981, 1991, 1996 and 2011 shows a common path from self-assurance and a focus on reflecting the founding ideas to the programmatic reorientation as a research university and its confident role for the surrounding region.