Twelve guest contributions to get you in the mood for the festive season
Science on the Christmas tree
A heart muscle cell that looks like a star under the microscope adorned our first Christmas ornament nine years ago. Since then, it’s become a tradition to provide insights into current biomedical research with a small portion of "science on the Christmas tree". This year, our ornament shimmers in silver and gold. It shows nerve fibres in the brain of a mouse that have been visually rendered using magnetic resonance imaging. The beautiful images never cease to fascinate us. At the same time, they symbolise a serious undertaking. The researchers in our network use imaging techniques to investigate how organisms develop and remain in a healthy balance, but also what happens when they become ill. A tip for the new year: more images from our research will soon be on display in an exhibition at the Multiscale Imaging Centre. uni.ms/cells-in-motion
Doris Niederhoff and Nina Knubel, Science Communication at the Cells in Motion Interfaculty Centre
Mulled wine, biscuits and Christmas spirit
A popular tradition at our institute is drinking mulled wine after the final presentations as part of the first semester lecture "Introduction to Information Systems". Since the 2010s, the WI-Net (alumni network) has invited students and employees of the institute to end the presentation day with a cosy round of mulled wine and biscuits. This unconventional get-together creates opportunities for encounter and dialogue and promotes a sense of community. This Christmassy finale rounds off the stressful presentation day on a relaxed and sociable note. So when the last slide sets have been presented and the mulled wine is steaming, we know that Christmas can come - at least at the Department of Information Systems.
Dr Katrin Bergener, Department of Information Systems
Mistletoe and the scent of Christmas
Since 2018, we’ve been ringing in the Advent season at the Botanical Garden with the guided tour "Mistletoe and the scent of Christmas" which highlights the relationship between plants and many Christmas traditions. The tour focuses on the classic Christmas tree, but also on holly, mistletoe, spices, such as cinnamon and aniseed, and winter-flowering plants, such as poinsettias and Christmas roses. Fortunately, the participants are always dressed for the weather, because we’ve guided them through the garden at 12 degrees, in drizzling rain and snow. At the end, everyone gets a taste of the Christmas spices in the form of cake and non-alcoholic punch, thanks to the support of the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the University of Münster. In a cosy atmosphere, people talk about their family traditions - an experience full of Christmas spirit for all guests and employees, which is often fully booked months in advance.
Dr Mirja Hentschel, Botanical Garden
Swedish Christmas
We have been celebrating the Feast of St. Lucy at the Institute of Scandinavian Studies in December for many years. The Swedish tradition, which now also exists in other Scandinavian countries, was originally a festival of lights at the darkest time of the year. The celebration traditionally begins with Saint Lucy’s procession, in which Lucy enters the room with a crown of lights in her hair and is accompanied by a choir in white robes. Then everyone sings the Swedish song "Sankta Lucia". Our institute’s celebration also includes Scandinavian Christmas carols ("Musevisan"), a buffet with glögg and other Scandinavian specialities and a special reading of the Christmas story "Snekker Andersen" by our Norwegian lecturer. All our students and staff have grown fond of the Feast of St. Lucy, and it’s impossible to imagine life at our institute without it.
Hannah von Legat, student assistant at the Institute of Scandinavian Studies
Many people from Münster appreciate the special atmosphere of Christmas Vespers in the Protestant University Church. The service takes place every year on Christmas Eve at 6pm and centres around the traditional reading of the Christmas story, a sermon and the singing of Christmas hymns. The chancel is also festively decorated. This year, Reinhard Achenbach and University preacher Traugott Roser are going to conduct the Christmas Vespers. The musical accompaniment will be provided by University cantor Prof Ellen Beinert (organ), Jochen Schiel (trumpet) and Jochen Schüle (trombone). The term "Christmas Vespers" is derived from the Latin word "vesper" (evening) and refers to the traditional evening Liturgy of the Hours.
Gereon Terhorst, Department of Practical Theology and Religious Education, Faculty of Protestant Theology
"Shout for joy, shout for joy!"
Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christmas Oratorio (BWV 248) has been part of the established repertoire of musical rituals since the mid-20th century. Performed as a whole or in parts, it has held a firm place in student music-making practice in Münster for many years. The composition was first performed in Leipzig’s St Thomas Church in 1734. Formally, it is a series of six cantatas that make liturgical reference to different days of the Christmas cycle (e.g. Christmas, New Year, Epiphany). In this way, the texts from the Gospel of Luke, the Protestant hymnal and newly composed passages, overarched by Bach’s magnificent music, take on an exegetical function: the miracle of the birth of Christ is illuminated and interpreted from different and skilfully interwoven perspectives.
Jürgen Heidrich, Institute of Musicology
Hands-on experiments that glow and sparkle
It is a tradition at the Innovation Office (AFO) to ring in the Advent season with a cosy team meeting with fairy lights, biscuits and children’s punch. After work, it’s off to the Christmas market. It is well known that Q.UNI, the children’s and youth university affiliated with the AFO, awakens curiosity and a love of experimentation in children. To inspire colleagues too, we offer exclusive hands-on experiments that glow and sparkle: a creative combination of science and Christmas spirit. Last year, the team produced carbon dioxide by mixing vinegar and baking powder and used it to extinguish a tea light. They also made a chestnut branch lying in water glow under UV light. "It’s amazing what Q.UNI conjures up from the Christmas hat every year," says AFO Director Dr Thomas Bilda. Jessica Oertel, Q.UNI "
Simone Mäteling, Innovation Office (AFO)
Fundraising campaign for special projects
As an organisation of friends and sponsors of the University of Münster, the Universitätsgesellschaft Münster e.V. has supported cooperation between academia and professional practice and the charitable institutions created for students for more than 100 years. Traditionally, we collect money for a special In the past, for example, we’ve supported the renovation of the Landhaus Rothenberge, the Archaeological Museum and the Corona Emergency Fund. This year, we are supporting the University Sports programme with the purchase of mobile floodlights. This means that the pitches and playing fields can also be used in the late afternoon and evening hours during the darker months of the year, benefiting students and employees of the University in particular. We look forward to your donation! www.uni-muenster.de/Foerderer
Dr Barbara Kolany-Raiser, Head of the Association of Friends and Sponsors of the University of Münster
Six decades of the Inter-University Advent Tournament
On the occasion of the 50th Inter-University Advent Tournament in 2013, Hansjürgen Frowein summarised: "Nobody would have expected it to be this big." As a student and sports officer of AStA, he launched the Inter-University Advent Tournament in December 1963 - a truly long-standing tradition. This year marks the 59th edition of the largest popular sports event at German universities. Students from all corners of Germany come together to ring in the holiday season with sport. This also applies to the University Sports team. "We look forward to the tournament every year," says Jan Philipp Müller, Head of University Sports. "The big event around St Nicholas’ Day gets us in the mood for the upcoming Christmas season." With around 2,000 participants, the Inter-University Advent Tournament has been able to retain its character for almost 60 years. Sport and ambition are fine, and winning all the better, but not at any price and certainly not at the expense of having fun.
Paula Mertens, University Sports
Exhibition for young and old
Since 2019 the Bible Museum has staged a Christmas exhibition for young and old during Advent that combines the Christmas story with art and cultural artefacts. The exhibition explains how Christmas, as a preeminent holiday of the Christian faith, shapes our lives and traditions. Objects from different eras symbolise different customs. Visitors can discover what the festival means to them personally. Both children and staff look forward to the accompanying Advent handicraft workshop. In contrast to past years, instead of the Christmas exhibition, we’ll be showing the special exhibition "Body. Cult. Religion" by the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics" this year. The Advent handicraft workshop will still take place - children of all’ages are invited on 14 and 21 December.
Dr Jan Graefe, curator of the Bible Museum
Seasonal Celebration
Sabine Lange, Welcome Centre of the International Office
Christmas lecture
Solemn silence descends over the crowded, darkened lecture hall. In front, a knee-high cylinder is illuminated in violet light by a UV lamp. Blueish streaks "bleed" from a chestnut branch to the sound of celestial music. A swipe of the spatula later, a bright red cloud appears, forming tentacles that wind their way to the bottom of the vessel. Then neon yellow mist fills in the last dark gaps. Such scenes are typical of the public Christmas lecture organised by the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy - a tradition that has taken place every one or two years in December for more than 50 years. The exact presentation is as varied as the changing teams from the chemistry institutes who spend months preparing it. Whether it’s an informative show lecture or humorous Christmas stories, the Christmas lecture is a cherished tradition for students and staff.
Dr Hauke Engler, Dean’s Office of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy
This article is taken from the university newspaper wissen
