On October 23, the Ukrainian Free University in Munich marked the 80th anniversary of its postwar presence in Bavaria with ceremonial celebrations at Munich’s Old Town Hall (Altes Rathaus). The jubilee coincided with the University’s annual Dies Academicus and was held under the honorary patronage of Munich Lord Mayor Dieter Reiter, signaling the institution’s deep integration into the civic life of the Bavarian capital.
The anniversary honored eight decades of sustained commitment to Ukrainian scholarship, culture, and national consciousness beyond the borders of Ukraine.
The University received official greetings from representatives of Bavarian and Ukrainian public life, including Munich City Councillor Prof. Dr. Jörg Hoffmann, former Bavarian Minister and Chairman of the Committee on Science and the Arts of the Bavarian State Parliament Prof. Dr. Michael Piazolo, Ministerial Director Dr. Michael Migatsch of the Bavarian Ministry of Science and the Arts, and Consul General of Ukraine in Munich Yurii Nykytiuk.
The evening program featured a series of musical performances, including Prayer for Ukraine by Mykola Lysenko and Oleksandr Konyskyi, performed by Honored Artist of Ukraine and Ukrainian Free University doctoral candidate Oksana Stebelska. The Sonata in C Major by Maksym Berezovsky was performed by doctoral candidate Nataliia Pavliv on sopilka with harpsichord accompaniment by Andrii Slota. A solo violin performance of Fantasy “Dialogue” by Eugène Ysaÿe and Zoltan Almashi was presented by Nataliia Reitel, a collaborator of the University’s Vadym Kipa Chair of Art History.
Guests also had the opportunity to explore the history and contemporary work of the Ukrainian Free University through a video presentation and a traveling exhibition.
In her address, Rector Prof. Dr. Larysa Didkovska highlighted the University’s current academic achievements and expressed gratitude to its faculty and academic leadership. A special greeting was delivered by Prof. Dr. Viktor Andrushchenko, Rector of the Mykhailo Drahomanov Ukrainian State University, who traveled to Munich from Kyiv for the celebrations.
A central moment of the Dies Academicus was the traditional conferral of honorary doctorates (honoris causa). This year’s recipients were His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of Kyiv-Halych and Head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church; and German parliamentarian Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, Chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence. The laudation for Archbishop Shevchuk was delivered by Prof. Dr. Oleh Turiĭ of the Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. The laudation for Dr. Strack-Zimmermann was delivered by historian Dr. Franziska Davies of the Leibniz Center for Contemporary History.
The closing address was delivered by Dr. Wolfgang Heubisch, former Vice President of the Bavarian State Parliament and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Free University. The ceremony concluded with the traditional academic hymn Gaudeamus igitur.
As part of the anniversary program, the University also opened a public historical exhibition titled “1945–2025: 80 Years of the Ukrainian Free University in Bavaria,” prepared in cooperation with the Bavarian Main State Archives. Curated by Dr. Roman Tiutenko and Ivan Zarytskyi, the exhibition documents the University’s relocation to Bavaria after World War II, its early postwar establishment in Munich, and its eight decades of academic activity in Bavaria. Many of the archival materials are being presented to the public for the first time.
Founded in Vienna in 1921, the Ukrainian Free University now enters its 105th year of uninterrupted academic work.
Press Service, Ukrainian Free University
