On the weekend of May 30 - June 1, 2025, 18 students from Faculty 02 went on an excursion to Luxembourg with the Dean, Prof. Freudenberger-Lötz, for the InterFaith Weekend as part of the ING Night Marathon(www.interfaith.eu). They were accommodated in host families and helped to organize the interreligious and intercultural encounter weekend, which was held for the 17th time as part of the ING Night Marathon. In addition to the introduction to Tibetan Buddhism by a confidant of the Dalai Lama, this included the interfaith prayer for peace before the start of the marathon and participation in an interfaith marathon relay, the half marathon or the marathon. Of course, the pasta party with delicacies from different cultures was also a must.

The Kassel group was warmly welcomed and looked after by the host families, enjoyed the interfaith encounter and had unforgettable experiences during the night-time run. All the students and Ms Freudenberger-Lötz had prepared themselves carefully and arrived safely at the finish line. Ricarda Reith (Institute of German Studies) took first place in the women's half marathon, Mika Heckmann (Institute of Protestant Theology) took first place in the men's half marathon and Elias Jando (Institute of Philosophy) even ran the full 42.195 km and took second place in the men's marathon. All the other runners from our department ran impressive times in the relays and the half marathon and also took top places.

With somewhat heavy legs, but cheerful and with an invitation to London from the Sikh group, the Kassel group set off on their journey home. Of course, arrangements have already been made with the Luxembourg host families for the InterFaith weekend in 2026.

The excursion, in which students from the entire range of subjects in the department took part, was thankfully supported by decentralized QSL funds and the Institute of German Studies.