On October 30, the oldest Polish higher education institution hosted a visit from the Consul General of Germany to Kraków Holger Mahnicke, accompanied by his wife Kerstin Mahnicke. They were received in Collegium Novum building by the JU Rector Prof. Jacek Popiel and the JU Vice-Rector for International Relations Prof. Dorota Malec.
The meeting started with the presentation of the summary of long-time cooperation between the Jagiellonian University and German institutions of research and higher education, which includes a number of important initiatives, such as the School of German Law run by the JU Faculty of Law and Administration. As pointed out by Prof. Malec, it was with a German institution that the University signed its first international agreement after the Second World War. Today, scholars from Germany and the Jagiellonian University publish 400-500 joint research papers every year. The collaboration also includes active bilateral student and staff exchange, involving almost 250 people per year (about 100 Germans and 100-150 Poles).
The JU Rector pointed to the achievements of the JU School of German Law and the activities of Dioscuri Centres of Scientific Excellence (run at the University in collaboration with the Max Planck Society), earlier mentioned by Prof. Malec, as examples of very fruitful collaboration between the Jagiellonian University and its German partners.
Referring to the upcoming JU Remembrance Day, which commemorates the arrest and deportation of Kraków professors by Nazi Germans in 1939, Holger Mahnicke stressed that he takes special interest in what is known as the culture of remembrance and that difficult historical events must not be forgotten, but instead they should be treated as lessons for the future, which ought to be shaped by joint efforts. In this context, the Consul underlined the importance of bilateral student and staff exchange between academic institutions from Germany and Kraków and expressed his hope that Polish-German relations will be further strengthened in all possible areas.
