50 years of Studierendenwerk Kassel: Cake for all

Christa Ambrosius, Managing Director of the Student Union, welcomed University President Prof. Dr. Ute Clement, Dr. Oliver Fromm, Chancellor of the University, and Tobias Schnoor, Chairman of the General Student Committee (AStA), to the cake-cutting ceremony. On behalf of the Hessian state government, Science Minister Angela Dorn offered her congratulations via video message. Dorn emphasized, "Today, everyday study is no longer conceivable without Studierendenwerk." Even during the pandemic, she said, the staff had done a great job and were more than ever important contacts for students.

In view of the anniversary, Studierendenwerk Managing Director Ambrosius is looking forward to the future: "In the past 50 years, Studierendenwerk Kassel has grown together with the university and has proven itself to be an important support for students. We have always stood by students and ensured that they can concentrate fully on their studies. So it's all the nicer that students are returning to campus for the winter semester and that we can once again be there for them personally," Ambrosius said.

The centerpiece of the anniversary activities is the anniversary streetcar, which has been traveling through Kassel since the beginning of October. Its design shows what the Studierendenwerk means not only as a service provider for the university, but also as an employer in the region. In the coming weeks, a specially designed street food truck, the Mensa-Hopper, will also go on tour and visit the various university locations. The Mensa-Hopper will be accompanied by a traveling exhibition that brings the history of the Studierendenwerk to the dining halls.

The most important topics from five decades of the Studierendenwerk Kassel are also presented in a construction fence exhibition in front of the central cafeteria on the Holländischer Platz campus in Kassel and in front of the cafeteria in Witzenhausen, where they can be viewed until mid-November.

The Studierendenwerk Kassel, then known as the Studentenwerk Kassel, began its work in the fall of 1971. The central tasks have hardly changed since then: In addition to the daily supply in refectories and cafeterias, the provision and arrangement of affordable housing, the processing of BAföG applications and the clarification of questions around the topic of financing are still of great importance. Today, Studierendenwerk Kassel operates 26 dormitories, seven dining halls, eight cafeterias and two daycare centers, and conducts thousands of counseling and therapy sessions each year.

Note: At the start of the winter semester, a whole series of cafeterias and refectories have reopened. You can find an overview here: https://www.studierendenwerk-kassel.de/essenundtrinken/