Ten Years Later, AYF Alumni Return to the City They Love: Freiburg im Breisgau

By Erica Cameron, AYF 2006-07

Our Academic Year in Freiburg (“AYF”) reunion from October 6th – 9th, 2016, kicked off at Haus Zur Lieben Hand with a Welcome Reception featuring Professor Ursula Schaefer, an esteemed Professor of English and Linguistics, who shared reflections about her time as a student in Freiburg. Joseph Marshment-Howell, Chair of “AYF Alumni & Friends e.V” and Ulrich Struve, AYF Program Director, also made remarks at the reception, where alumni had a special opportunity to meet with current AYFers and other alumni. After the reception, the group relived their days as students with dinner at the Mensa (university cafeteria), followed by a night of reminiscing over Naturtrüb (unfiltered beer) at the Feierling Brauerei.

On the second day of the reunion, the group met at the Uniseum where we learned about the history of Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, which dates back to the 15^th century. Some interesting findings from the historical tour included that Freiburg was the first university in Germany where women were allowed to study and that there was a university prison, Karzer, where students were incarcerated for bad behavior. Needless to say, we were thankful that the Karzer did not exist while we were studying there ten years ago!

When we weren’t visiting our former Wohngemeinschaften (student housing, similar to college dorms) or hanging out in our old neighborhoods like Stusie and Vauban, we would gather together for fantastic group dinners to enjoy some of the dishes from the Badische Küche (cuisine of Baden) we had missed over the years. Did someone say Flammkuchen?

One of the highlights of the trip was the group wine tasting and dinner at the rustic Weingut Sonnenbrunnen. Mr. Jörg Scheel, an expert vintner and owner of the Weingut (vineyard), led an intriguing wine tasting where he educated us (entirely in German!) about local wine made from organically grown grapes.

Reflecting on our year spent in Freiburg, one of the main takeaways was the strength of the friendships that were built that year. Even though it has been a decade, we came together just like we used to: with on the one hand deep conversations about culture, politics and of course, all things German; and on the other hand, plenty of laughter.  I believe that the experience also gave us a sense of confidence in approaching new situations and the unknown. The time we spent in Germany, for that year, or for many years as was the case for some alumni, transformed us and opened up new opportunities. Seeing where we all are now, ten years later, each of us has maintained a special connection with Germany, whether personally, professionally or both.

Overall, the entire reunion was so enjoyable that we would like to hold another AYF reunion in Freiburg in five years (2021), and this time try to have others join who were not able to make it this year!