GHDI logo
German History in Documents and Images
return to system

Procession of University Professors (c. 1960)
In 1948, the Free University of Berlin was founded in the neighborhood of Dahlem (part of the Western zone) to protest the Communist influence on teaching at Humboldt University (located in the Soviet sector). The Free University differed from other West German universities in that students were allowed greater participation in its self-administration. The university's independence was to be guaranteed by its autonomy and its status as an institution of public law. Still, traditional rituals persisted for quite some time. Shown here is a ceremonial procession of faculty members at the Free University. Photo by Will McBride.