Poster for the Bayreuth City Talks

Bayreuther Stadtgespräche: City Talks

Bayreuther Stadtgespräche (Bayreuth City Talks) have been taking place regularly at Iwalewahaus since July 2014. On the first Wednesday of each month from 6 to about 7.30 p.m., changing speakers offer insights into exciting and current topics. The lectures are open to all interested parties without registration – admission is free.

The basic idea of Bayreuther Stadtgespräche is to strengthen the connection between the City and the University. That is why the series of events is aimed at all Bayreuth citizens.

The venue is the Iwalewahaus (Wölfelstraße) in the heart of Bayreuth – right next to the Margravial Opera House. The speakers come from the University of Bayreuth, other universities or research institutes, or from (university) politics. (Higher education) policy issues are taken up and questions are discussed that are currently of concern to academia or citizens. This is done in an understandable way for people who are not familiar with the subject, and for non-academics.

The lectures are organised by the University of Bayreuth together with Universitätsverein Bayreuth e. V. and with the support of Universitäts-Forum Bayreuth – Kollegium Bayreuther Univ.-Professoren i. R.

Upcoming events

7. June 2023: The sandstone houses in the Bayreuth region - outstanding but little-noticed cultural heritage.

© Herbert Popp

Speaker: Prof. em Dr. Herbert Popp (former Chair of Urban Geography and Rural Geography, University of Bayreuth)

 


The area around Bayreuth is geologically characterized by the so-called "Obermainische Bruchschollenland", i.e. by the deposition of numerous layers of the Earth Middle Ages, especially layers of sandstone. On the basis of these geological conditions, strengthened by manorial regulations of the margraves, an area of urban as well as rural settlements has developed, which are characterized by the building material "sandstone". These sandstone houses of the Bayreuth region are the subject of a recently completed scientific and regional study, which will be presented at the Stadtgespräch. On the basis of numerous examples from the region, the following aspects are considered:

  • the geological preconditions for building houses with sandstone ashlars
  • the historical development towards the dominance of sandstone buildings since the 18th century, which was largely driven by the margraves.

The stock of sandstone buildings is characterized as a material region and as a historical cultural heritage that must be preserved.

5. July 2023: Colonial Bayreuth - why it still affects us today

© Florian Unterburger

Speakers: Dr. Cassandra Mark-Thiesen (Africa and Global Historian, University of Bayreuth), Prof. Dr. Stefan Ouma (Economic Geographer, University of Bayreuth), Mr. Florian André Unterburger (Historian B.A. and initiator of the Förderverein Industriemuseum Bayreuth (IMB)).

 


Bayreuth's industrial prosperity is based to a particular extent on colonial value creation - without cotton, sugar cane or tobacco, industrialization would have been
would have taken a completely different course. But instead of following the traces of these raw materials and critically examining the circumstances of their production, racist and colonial racist and colonial language and images persist in public space. Through and devaluation of black people, the colonial legacy of the city remains until the colonial legacy of the city remains powerful to this day. In the city talk Cassandra Mark-Thiesen, Stefan Ouma and Florian André Unterburger go on a joint search for and attempt an interdisciplinary exploration and reappraisal of colonial Bayreuth.

https://www.ias.uni-bayreuth.de/de/index.html

Since April 2020, most of the Bayreuth City Talks have been offered online! The current city talks take place exclusively in presence and are not recorded!

Past highlights of the event series (partly in German language)

For further information, please contact

Angela Danner

Angela Danner

Head of Press, Marketing & Communications Office
University of Bayreuth 

Phone: +49 (0) 921 / 55-5323
E-mail: angela.danner@uni-bayreuth.de