Special RWTH Anniversary Show
On October 10, 1870, the first lecture was held in Aachen. To commemorate this historic day, RWTH had originally planned a big show and ceremony in C.A.R.L. lecture hall complex – now, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the University is instead presenting an online show at 8:15pm on its birthday featuring Ralph Caspers and Shary Reeves.
When teaching first began at RWTH Aachen University, it was still known as "Königliche Rheinisch-Westphälische Polytechnische Schule." In his inaugural speech, founding director August von Kaven promised to aim for "rapid, wonderful progress in the application of science." 150 years later, RWTH Aachen University is ready to show the world what it stands for today through the medium of film.
"The Show” at the C.A.R.L. was supposed to have been the highlight of a series of celebrations – however, in light of the pandemic, these events, unfortunately, had to be canceled. Instead, RWTH now invites you to join us for a prime-time anniversary show, which can be experienced together and yet spatially separated. It will be broadcast on October 10, 2020 at 8:15pm via the video platform YouTube.
Ralph Caspers – known from the popular German TV shows “Wissen macht Ah!,” “Quarks,” and “Sendung mit der Maus” and Shary Reeves, also active in “Wissen macht Ah!,” – visited various RWTH departments for the taping of the show. They will provide illuminating insights into current research activities while particularly highlighting the topic of sustainability in a tangible way. Science journalist Mai-Thi Nguyen-Kim will hold the keynote address, and RWTH graduate Renzo Vitale will lead the Collegium Musicum orchestra in performing his specially composed RWTH symphony “Place To Remember.”
“Even though we have now rescheduled the anniversary celebrations to take place in 2021, we still wanted to mark the day of the first lecture. We want to celebrate with our employees, lecturers, students, alumni, friends and sponsors, and all those who are close to us or curious about us, and experience an exciting, entertaining and even surprising event”, explains RWTH Rector Ulrich Rüdiger.
The postponed anniversary events have been rescheduled now. The Science Evening “The New Fiction of Good Science – in Need of a Paradigm Shift?!” will take place in Berlin on May 6, 2021, “The Festival” and “Alumni Day” are scheduled for June 12, 2021. The joint exhibition with the City of Aachen at the Centre Charlemagne will run from October 30, 2021 to February 13, 2022.