New Board for the Siebold Collegium
09/30/2025On 9 October 2025, the new directorate of the Siebold-Collegium (SCIAS) will be inaugurated. The inauguration is embedded in the event "Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Science and Art at SCIAS".
The Siebold-Collegium, Institute for Advanced Studies (SCIAS) at the University of Würzburg was founded in 2016 to provide accommodation and academic connections for international visiting professors. The name SCIAS is derived from the Latin scire = to know and means "you may know". With the aim of promoting internationality and interdisciplinarity at the highest level, up to 20 guests from all over the world find a temporary home here.
Since its foundation, SCIAS has been managed by a three-member board of directors made up of retired professors: Michael Erler (Classics), Ulrike Holzgrabe (Pharmacy) and Eva-Bettina Bröcker (Medicine).
Now there will be a handover to a younger directorate: Professors Cordula Matthies (Medicine), Stephanie Catani (German Studies) and Holger Braunschweig (Chemistry) will take over the management. The ceremonial handover will take place on 9 October 2025 in the Welz-Haus, embedded in the event "Mendelssohn Bartholdy - Science and Art at SCIAS".
An Evening about Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy
At the centre of the evening is a tribute to a Würzburg professor of law who, despite - or perhaps because of - his name, is hardly known: Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy. He worked at the University of Würzburg as a law and peace researcher. His student Magdalene Schoch, Germany's first habilitated lawyer and the namesake of a street at Hubland, is much better known.
The event will be opened by law professor Eva-Maria Kieninger, who will present Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy's academic work as a pioneer of comparative private law. Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy also enriched the city artistically during his time in Würzburg (1905-1920). One of his "discoverers", Dr Hans Steidle, will report on this in his lecture. Karl Schmitt from the Schmitts Kinder winery will tell the story of the Mendelssohn vineyard in Randersacker. In addition, the two musicians Silke Evers (soprano) and Michaela Schlotter (piano) will perform song compositions by grandfather Felix and grandson Albrecht Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
Time and Place
The event will take place on Thursday, 9 October 2025, starting at 18:00. The venue is the Welz-Haus, Klinikstraße 6, in Würzburg. The event is open to the public and admission is free. Registration is required at scias-office@uni-wuerzburg.de.
