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Students sit on the steps of the Bayreuth Canal downtown.

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.

Bayreuth City Talks: Upcoming events

07. May 2025 6 p.m.: Remembering the war against the background of the war:
Contemporary historical perspectives on the end of the Second World War in 1945

Speakers: 
Prof. Dr. Christiane Kuller (University of Erfurt) on the regional experience of National Socialism and the end of the war in Bavaria

Prof. Dr. Jörg Skriebeleit (Flossenbürg Memorial and University of Regensburg) on the practice of commemoration and remembrance of the end of the war in memorial sites

Dr. Jörg Osterloh (Fritz Bauer Institute, Frankfurt a.M.) on prisoners of war in the Second World War and Nazi cultural policy

Has the return of war to Europe also changed the memory of the Second World War? How do Russian imperialism and the withdrawal of the USA from the European security architecture affect the traditions of remembrance of National Socialism, the Second World War and the end of the war? What influence do discussions about rearmament and compulsory military service have on our memory?
What do the electoral successes of the AfD and the general rise of right-wing populism in Europe mean for war remembrance and war commemoration? Are internationally comparative, differentiated research and interpretations coming under pressure from nationalistic black and white painting, are old victim myths being revived? How is our view of extermination policy, the Holocaust and the liberation of Germans from National Socialism shifting in the face of targeted provocations from the right?
We are taking the 80th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe in 1945 as an opportunity to focus on these questions in a panel discussion as part of the Bayreuth City Talks. Contemporary historians will discuss their research with us with a view to current challenges for the culture of remembrance and practical memorial work, international research discussions and the influence of daily political debates on the memory of the Second World War.

The event will be moderated by PD Dr. Julia Eichenberg, Institute for Franconian Regional History, and Prof. Dr. Isabel Heinemann, Chair of Modern History.

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 at the University of Bayreuth

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