Supporting Research on Freiburg and South Baden

They help students to go abroad and to conduct research, they support researchers with their projects, and give teachers the opportunity to turn new ideas into reality in their seminars and lectures. The University of Freiburg's 51 foundations each have the unmistakeable character of their founders. In this series, Sarah Schwarzkopf outlines the work of some of those foundations.

Photo: Thomas Kunz

"Bearing in mind the friendly relations the city and the Breisgau region have always maintained with the university," reads the deed of donation of the Anniversary Foundation of the City of Freiburg, presented to the university in 1958. The then mayor Dr. Josef Brandel donated 10,000 DM to the university to mark the 500th anniversary of its founding in 1457. The aim of the donation, made in the name of the City of Freiburg, was to support research and the training of young academics.

Festivities in the Stadthalle during the university's 500-year anniversary celebration in 1957: The City of Freiburg established a foundation on the occasion of this anniversary to support research and the training of young academics.
Photo: University of Freiburg Archive

Rising Enrollment in the 1950s

"The spectacular rise in enrollment at the university in the 1950s also caused the City of Freiburg to grow. The city was therefore involved in many negotiations concerning modernization processes and expansion plans at the university," explains the historian Christa Klein from the University of Freiburg's Department of Early Modern and Modern History. She received an Anniversary Foundation scholarship herself in 2016 for a research project focusing on the expansion and self-assertion of Freiburg's Faculty of Humanities between 1945 and 1967. "This period of university history ties in with an important element of town history," she recounts: "In our project 'University, Research, and the Public Sphere,' we also examined the aspect of cooperation with the city in the course of the university's anniversary celebration and its public relations efforts. I was therefore already familiar with the Anniversary Foundation."

Support for Individual Research Projects

To receive funding from the Anniversary Foundation, a research project needs to have a connection with the City of Freiburg or the region of South Baden. The funding is intended for students of the university conducting individual research projects. Possible forms of funding include scholarships or allowances to cover printing costs, as well as grants for study trips or research stays. "For me, the Anniversary Foundation of the City of Freiburg is an important institution – for supporting research on the history of the university, the city, and the region on the one hand and academic career paths at the University of Freiburg on the other," believes Klein. She has now completed her project and submitted her dissertation in early April 2017. The Anniversary Foundation was a big help for her, she says: "I used the funds provided to me by the foundation to purchase the necessary hard- and software to analyze my sources digitally. That greatly sped up the process of analysis and helped me to complete the work quickly."

Applications via the Municipal Archives

The foundation is managed by the Rector in consultation with the Mayor of the City of Freiburg. Students may submit their applications to the foundation administration via the Municipal Archives. The Freiburg Municipal Archives makes a recommendation on funding each year by September. The Anniversary Foundation of the City of Freiburg is part of the University of Freiburg's endowment fund. In the year 2017 it awarded €1065.88 in funding.

Foundations at the University of Freiburg

Some of the 51 foundations at the University of Freiburg have their origins in the late Middle Ages. The 17 older ones make up the Vereinigte Studienstiftungen-Verwaltung; all but three of the more recent ones are part of the endowment fund. The university receives the starting capital as goods or money and invests it. Each year it pays out two-thirds of the yield of each foundation and reserves the other third as a hedge against inflation. The founders give clear instructions as to who can apply for the funds. Generally, need takes priority over performance. The articles of endowment also specific the individual purpose of each foundation.

The foundations at a glance