Photo gallery: Thuringia’s Minister of Science Tischner Visits the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
Since the beginning of the year, Christian Tischner has led the Thuringian Ministry of »Bildung, Wissenschaft und Kultur«. He is currently on a tour engaging in discussions with numerous educational and cultural sites, including: kindergartens, schools and universities, institutes, foundations, cultural organisations, and other associations. The tour brought him to the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar on Friday, 6 June 2025, which was also his first visit to the university. For nearly two hours, the Minister met with the Presidential Board, who has assembled an ambitious and comprehensive programme that presented the university as an institution that is working on important topics for the future beyond its core subject areas.
A campus tour was included in the concept, including all faculties as well as selected individual flagship projects. Immersive 3D environments, sustainable materials in construction, architecture, and design, innovative transport system planning, experimental robots, new digital teaching formats in hybrid learning spaces, the new Imaginamics Cluster of Excellence, and the theme of social cohesion. Minister Tischner was even able to try out digital technology for himself: Outfitted with VR glasses, he experienced how urban planning is made more tangible for citizens through the BMBF-funded interdisciplinary »Bauhaus Participation Lab« project, encouraging active participation in the planning process. Using virtual reality, the group was able to walk around the site at Weimar’s main train station together and get an idea of what the future mobility hub behind the building could look like.
Christian Tischner was impressed that the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar carries out such highly relevant research and has achieved so much in the field of AI. He suggested networking and combining these elements with the Ministry's other areas or responsibility, especially those related to social cohesion, such as computer science research and media studies, along with democracy and media education or general school education.
The guided tour continued on to the Gropius Room, the Digital Bauhaus Lab, the renovated Faculty of Media building in B11, the Hybrid Learning Lab, and the Design Lab. It concluded in the Haus der Studierenden »M18«, where Minister Tischner met with instructors from the Fine Art Education programme and gladly participated in a discussion with students. The conversation turned to the delays in processing and paying out Bafög, which is currently keeping many students very busy and affecting the livelihoods of some. Minister Tischner emphasised that he was taking the issue seriously and would be doing everything in his power to resolve it quickly: »It’s good that they raised the issue.«
Our photo gallery with photos by Thomas Müller provides a recap of the visit:
Programme of Events:
Reception by the Presidential Board
Tour of the Gropius Room with Prof. Dr. Daniela Spiegel, Professorship of Conservation and History of Architecture
Digital Bauhaus Lab
Insights and demonstrations in the Bauhaus Participation Lab with Dr. Sven Schneider, Professorship of Computer Science in Architecture and Urbanism, and Karoline Brehm, Professorship of Virtual Reality and Visualisation
Presentation of the Imaginamics DFG Cluster of Excellence with Prof. Dr. Henning Schmidgen, Professorship of »Medientheorie und Wissenschaftsgeschichte«
Hybrid Learning Lab
Presentation of the Hybrid Learning Lab with Dr. Simon Frisch, Vice President of Student and Academic Affairs
Presentation of the eTeach-Netzwerk Thüringen with Uwe Cämmerer-Seibel, University Strategic Development Office
Alexandra Hunger, Professorship of Transport System Planning, spoke about the European Digital Innovation Hub on behalf of Prof. Plank-Wiedenbeck
Prof. Dr. Horst-Michael Ludwig joined the event online and spoke about the »Bundesforschungszentrum für nachhaltiges und ressourcenschonendes Bauen«
Dr. Ulrike Kuch, Vice President for Social Transformation, introduced the »Weltoffenes Thüringen« and »Demokratie stärken« initiatives with the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s associated activities
Design Lab
Presentation of artistic works on the topic of »Experimental/Creative Robotics« by Prof. Dr. Jan Willmann, Professorship of Theory and History of Design
M18| Haus der Studierenden
Closing discussion with Prof. Dr. Andrea Dreyer, Professorship of Art and Its Didactics, Vice-Dean of Strategic Development in the Faculty of Art and Design, Bastian Schwerer, Fine Art Education student, and PD Dr. Andreas Jakoby, Algorithm Engineering Lecturer and Dean of Student Affairs in the Faculty of Art and Design, on teacher training degree programmes at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
The Presidential Board thanks all those involved at the university for organising the inaugural visit so quickly and so well.