Documenting Corona at the University Archive 

The COVID 19 pandemic poses unparalleled challenges for government, society, business, and science. In a televised address on 18 März 2020, German Chancellor Angela Merkel described the pandemic as Germany's greatest challenge since the Second World War. And Prof. Dr. Jan-Otmar Hesse, Chair of Economic and Social History at the University of Bayreuth, classifies the coronavirus crisis as ”historically unique“ in its cause and nature.

For the University of Bayreuth, at any rate, the current situation is without doubt a historically unique one, if only because of its comparatively young history. Whether teaching and studies, research, general administration, or even campus life - the University of Bayreuth has been forced to adapt to the pandemic conditions. The central and departmental libraries were temporarily closed, as were the outdoor facilities of University Sports, e-learning replaced face-to-face teaching as the mainstay of the University's "core business", and teleworking became the new reality for many employees.

Against the backdrop of this exceptional situation, which is challenging in several respects, the University Archives started their own coronavirus documentation in the summer semester of 2020. Documents and other materials illustrating the impact of coronavirus on the University of Bayreuth and its handling of the dynamic pandemic will be collected to provide future generations with a solid foundation for historical research. Whether circulars, minutes of meetings, press releases, photos, posters, mail newsletters or face masks - all of these are powerful testimonies to a time of upheaval.

But the University is so much more than teaching and administration - it is a living biotope of interpersonal encounters and cooperation, which even coronavirus and social distancing cannot change. In order to not only represent the chorus of the University family as a whole, but also to highlight individual voices, University Archives is therefore concerned to supplement the official records with unofficial and private testimonies from individuals and institutions connected with the University. Whether teachers, students, employees, University-related associations, or others - everyone is invited to contribute to this eventful chapter of the University of Bayreuth’s history!

Materials - both analogue and digital - are welcome to the University Archives team (see below for contact) - be it letters or E-mails, drawings, poems, diary entries or calendars, photos, audio and video recordings, or even personal accounts. Even the submission of instant messenger chats (especially WhatsApp) is possible under certain circumstances. The prerequisite is that you own copyright to the material offered, and that no third-party rights are violated.

COVID-19 is probably far from over. But with your support, we are already making history out of it.

On top of this page: Creative through the crisis - drawing by Sophie Goeser, assistant archivist at the University (motif: front façade of the university archive in Leuschnerstrasse).