Helmut Schmidt University

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Helmut Schmidt University


Established:	1973
President:	Hans Christoph Zeidler
Faculty:	An unknown number of teachers in 4 faculties/departments
Students:	2144
Location:	Hamburg, Germany
Website:	www.hsu-hh.de

The Helmut Schmidt University (originally known as the University of the German Federal Armed Forces Hamburg), located in Hamburg, Germany, is an educational establishment that was founded in the year 1973.^[1] The university is exclusively for officers and candidate officers of the Bundeswehr (German Federal Armed Forces), hence its original name. However, despite the university's strict enforcement of this exclusiveness, a very small number of civilian students have been allowed enrollment to the school in previous years. Both habilitation and an academic degree are achievable at the Helmut Schmidt University.^[2]

1 History
2 Campus and faculties
3 See also
4 References
- 4.1 Notes
- 4.2 Additional sources
5 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Chronology of establishment

June 11, 1970: the Federal Minister of Defense at the time, Helmut Schmidt (for whom the university was later named and who later would become chancellor of Germany) publishes a decree that a university be established for the purpose of schooling certain members of the German Federal Armed Forces.^[3]
17 May 1971: the decree passed a year earlier by Schmidt is appraised.^[3]
29 June 1972: the German Federal Armed Forces agrees to collaborate with Schmidt's ideas for the university.
3 October 1972: the agreement is finalised and legally concluded.
1 October 1973: the first classes of students begin schooling.
30 September 1976: the first graduate leaves the university.

[edit] Presidents

Since the beginning of the university in 1973, there have been seven presidents of the institution, including the current president, Professor Hans Christoph Zeidler,^[4] who has been in office since 2004.

**Table of Presidents^[5]**
Name	Beginning of Term of Office:	End of Term of Office:
Prof. Ellwein	1974	1976
Prof. Wässerling	1977	1977
Prof. Sanmann	1977	1984
Prof. Homuth	1984	1991
Prof. Strunk	1991	1998
Prof. Gerstein	1998	2004
Prof. Zeidler	2004	present

Logo of the university before the renaming.

[edit] Renaming

It was in the December of 2003 that the University of the German Federal Armed Forces Hamburg was renamed and rechristened as the Helmut Schmidt University to honour the man who passed the decree for the university's establishment and who was the brainchild for the idea of a university for the German Federal Armed Forces. Schmidt had been present at the ceremony and had been awarded an honorary degree. Though he didn't miss the opportunity to give the audience a high dose of his famous "Schmidt Schnauze"

[edit] Campus and faculties

[edit] Faculties

There are only four faculties available at the Helmut Schmidt University: Electro-technology, social sciences and spirit (religious studies), mechanical engineering and economics/social sciences.^[6]

Electro-technology studies prepare students for an engineering graduate of electro-technology, but also dabbles in another areas including those of industrial engineering and sciences at the university.^[7] The studies for electro-technology usually take a maximum of four years.^[7]

The social sciences faculty offers studies related to society and spiritual/religion based subjects.^[8] Currently, Professor Nikolaus Katzer is the head professor of this faculty.^[8]

Eighteen professors in total teach the subject of mechanical engineering at the university.^[9] Like electro-technology, the course takes approximately four years to complete.^[9] At the beginning of the third year of study, students must choose one of the following as a study emphasis or basis:

Applied mechanics
Automatic control engineering
Energy, procedure and environmental technology
Construction, production and materials engineering (including military technology)
Traffic systems (including ship mechanical engineering)^[9]

[edit] Financing of the students

While studying at the university, the students receive both a certain sum of money which they are entitled to upon entry to the university, plus a possible extra amount of money from their family, or from another source. This scheme differs somewhat to others experienced by students at other universities, even considering the laws placed by the student financial assistance scheme that applies to all of Germany. As Officers, none of the students is allowed to have an external job where they can earn more money.

[edit] Accommodation

Despite the considerable benefits to which the students are entitled, they do not have to pay for the hotel which they are provided with. However, many students opt for external accommodation.

[edit] Conditions of enrollment

There are several conditions of enrollment which are strictly observed at the university. Any student that enrolls at the university is expected to serve at least 12 years in the service of the German Federal Armed Forces. Before a student is enrolled, there is a three-day-long selection process which occurs before the beginning of the classes in October the next year, after 15 months of army education. This selection process is unorthodox in the fact that, rather than testing a student's intelligence and mental capabilities, it assesses the student's ability to work in the military and in a team, while also training them in troop units. It is after this assessment that the students who are selected are shifted to the Helmut Schmidt University. They mustn't begin their studies if they haven't passed a Military English Course and the Officer's Course at one of the 3 German Officer's Schools. Even if selected, standard university access authorisation is required to school at the university. Also, students may not be allowed to take their elected course of study if they do not pass a related test that precedes the beginning of their studies.^[10]