Joint University Day. Freie Universität invited researchers and students at Humboldt-Universität to visit the university in Dahlem. Members of the AStA student association as well as supporters of the autonomous scene in Kreuzberg disrupted the event with protests. In their eyes the event was an “imperialist takeover” of Humboldt-Universität by Freie Universität. Numerous invited guests left the assembly hall. However, the planned meetings between guests from Humboldt-Universität and their counterparts at Freie Universität were able to take place in the academic departments in the afternoon.

According to the Berlin Senate’s university structure plan, Berlin’s universities were required to save one billion German marks within ten years. For Freie Universität this meant that it would have to greatly reduce the number of enrolled students: from 62,000 in the 1991/1992 winter semester to 43,000 in the 2001/2002 winter semester. There were many demonstrations against the Senate’s austerity policy. In the picture: University President Professor Johann Gerlach at a demonstration in December 1997.

The Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin (BGBM) became a central facility at Freie Universität. The Botanic Garden was founded in 1679 by Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg. One of the three most important botanical gardens in the world, it contains unique collections with original documents from Alexander von Humboldt. The large Tropical Conservatory is the largest self-supporting greenhouse in the world.

Death of Margherita von Brentano, a professor of philosophy and from 1970 to 1972 vice president of Freie Universität Berlin, the first woman to hold this office. Since 1995 the Margherita von Brentano Prize has been awarded in honor of her. Worth 15,000 euros, it is awarded biennially by the Margherita von Brentano Center (until 2015 the Center for the Promotion of Women’s and Gender Studies) to support innovative projects and initiatives in the area of gender equality and women’s and gender studies.

The International Club was founded. A student group, it hosts more than 80 events a year to promote friendship between German and international students, faculty, and friends of Freie Universität through various activities, field trips, and parties. Today the International Club has more than 300 members from all the continents. It is an established international forum at Freie Universität.

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Freie Universität, the United States Ambassador to Germany, John C. Kornblum (center) called for the establishment of “a very open and democratic society in all of Europe.” In his speech he said, “There is an increasing openness in research and intellectual exchange. This university is predestined as the location in Europe for such openness to be anchored.” Also pictured are the Governing Mayor of Berlin Eberhard Diepgen (at left) and the Berlin Senator for Culture Peter Radunski (at right).

The system of academic departments and libraries at Freie Universität was reorganized. The previous 18 academic departments were consolidated into 12: two departments for languages, literatures, and cultural studies; four for law, economics and business administration, and social sciences; and four for the natural sciences. In addition, there are the departments of human medicine and veterinary medicine as well as three central institutes for different area studies: the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies, the Latin America Institute, and the East European Institute. The library system was also reorganized with the aim of merging small and very small libraries into high-performance departmental libraries.