Dear students and staff,

The unique 2020 digital summer semester is now behind us and the exam phase of the semester has come to an end. You all helped to make sure that this semester and also in-person exams were carried out safely and successfully and for this I want to personally my personal thanks.

Our end-of-the-year summaery was also and in a new way incredibly successful and was met with an extremely positive response. We were delighted by the number of projects that gave vivid insight into the diversity of our university. A big thank you to the instructors, students, and organization team -- together you made this happen!

Many of you are now (hopefully) enjoying your holidays, and some of you may even be ready to return! We are all aware of the difficulties posed by the current situation, and that adjusting to a »new normal« is itself a challenge. This means that careful steps are necessary in order for us to meet at the university safely and without putting our health at risk. The unfortunate resurgence of cases -- also here in Weimar -- has made it clear that the situation is still very unstable. If you decide to go on holiday or are travelling abroad, be sure to check www.rki.de for which regions have been designated as risk areas and which testing and quarantining rules apply to you. By doing this, you are keeping both yourself and others safe. 

Current information on working and studying during the winter semester can be found on our coronavirus page: www.uni-weimar.de/coronavirus/en. This site is updated regularly by the University Communications. Our goal is to allow for in-person on-site teaching as much as possible during the winter semester while complying with safety regulations and taking risks into careful consideration. Consider whether you wish to use the Corona-App -- something we consider a useful tool in our joint efforts: https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-de/themen/corona-warn-app.

But now we wish everyone a healthy and enjoyable break from lectures, a relaxing recovery from an exhausting semester, and new energy for the coming months. These are the most important factors for continuing to shape a successful path together, strengthened by the valuable new experiences of this unique summer semester. With your help, the Board of Governancy, and the governing university’s committees will do everything we can to achieve this.

We thank you for your solidarity during these challenging times and for your exceptional commitment and cooperation, without which this semester would not have been possible. It was an immense pleasure for us to experience the constructive cooperation and energy that make up our university. We can all be proud of what we have achieved!

Sincerely,

Prof. Dr. Winfried Speitkamp

for the entire Board of Governance