Active break on the university orchard

03/24/2026

From 24 March, the "Lebendiger Campus" initiative invites all members of the university to an active lunch break. Every fortnight, various activities will take place on the orchard meadow at Hubland.

The "Fruit tree care" course organised by the Living Campus initiative was quickly fully booked. (Image: Johanna Ott)

Tending the rejuvenated orchard at Hubland together, exercising in the fresh air and supporting biodiversity on campus: All of this is possible during the active lunch break, which the University of Würzburg's "Lebendiger Campus" initiative is now organising.

It starts on Tuesday, 24 March. The group will then get to work regularly every fortnight (except during the Bavarian school holidays) at the Hubland South Campus from 12 noon to 1 pm. The meeting point is the "Streuobstwiese" site on the biodiversity trail behind the Biocentre. The offer is aimed at all members of the university, registration is not necessary. The current focus is on maintaining the orchard meadow; later in the year, participants can prove themselves as "harvest helpers".

All dates and other activities can be found on the Living Campus website.

The Living Campus initiative

The Living Campus initiative brings together students, scientists and representatives of the student ecology department - together and in partnership with the University of Würzburg. The aim is to systematically record biodiversity on the Hubland campus and to sustainably (re)organise the grassland areas in order to protect rare animal and plant species and unique biotopes in the long term.

This is not just about the campus itself. The initiative also aims to build a bridge to the global biodiversity crisis, one of the most pressing problems of our time, which, despite its dramatic extent, has not yet been sufficiently recognised by the public.

Planting campaign and fruit tree care

One example of what the initiative offers is the "Fruit tree care" course, which took place at the end of February. 20 students and employees of the university came to the orchard for the course.

Under the guidance of course leader Krischan Cords (Main-Streuobst-Bienen eG), they first learnt the theoretical basics of fruit tree care before really getting down to business. A total of ten trees were planted - six old apple varieties, three plums and a Reneklode. In addition, some of the existing trees were pruned together. In this way, the group made a concrete contribution to biodiversity in the species-rich orchard meadow, which is in need of care.