Friedensau was founded in 1899 and will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2024. Founded in 1899 as a missionary and industrial school, Friedensau Adventist University today continues the tradition as an Adventist educational institution as a state-recognized university under the auspices of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Ten B.A. and M.A. degree courses can be taken in the Schools of Social Sciences and Theology.
A number of special anniversary events will be held in Friedensau throughout the year to mark the occasion. The opening event of the celebrations took place on Sunday, January 14, 2024, in the university library. The best expert on the history of Friedensau, Dr. Johannes Hartlapp, church historian at Friedensau Adventist University and who has been involved with the history of Friedensau for many years, read some sequences from the Friedensau Chronicle, which is currently being written.
Next event will take place on Sunday, February 11, 2024, 4 p.m., the university library will open its doors to visitors to the "125 Years of Friedensau" exhibition. Large display walls, divided into decades, will show the growth and changes in Friedensau from its foundation to the present day.
History of Friedensau
Friedensau has been a place of education since 1899. On November 19, 1899, the institute that preceded the university, the “Industry and Mission School”, commenced operations with just seven pupils in very basic conditions. The school was housed in an old mill on the Ihle river, mentioned for the first time in 1306.
The next ten years saw the construction of an ensemble of large teaching and residential buildings which still define the look of the campus today. A sanatorium, workshops and a food factory were also built, in line with the school’s holistic pedagogical model. These facilities provided both a practical teaching opportunity as well as a way to earn money. Before World War I up to 250 people per year made use of the training opportunities offered.
During World War I the War Ministry set up a military hospital in the buildings. It was not until 1919 that training could be resumed, and expanded in subsequent years with new courses (home economics school, preparatory school for nursing, secondary-level courses in science and technology, business and childcare courses). In 1923 the name of the institution was changed to the “Friedensau Mission Seminary”. In 1930 the seminary received state accreditation from the administrative district officer of Magdeburg for its home economics and business courses.
The Nazi period brought many restrictions, culminating in the closing of the seminary in the Second World War. Again the teaching buildings were used for the care of sick and injured soldiers, first from the Wehrmacht, and from 1945 by the Soviet army.
Through the intercession of the Minister President of Saxony-Anhalt, Erhard Hübener, the Soviet military administration allowed the school to reopen in 1947. This made the Friedensau Seminary the first and only church training facility to be allowed to resume its teaching operations in the Soviet occupation zone.
During the GDR period, the SED (communist party) government allowed training of church employees only. In addition to training for pastors, there were one-year courses for deacons. In 1981 the high standards and quality of the training led to the new name, “Friedensau Theological Seminary”. Two years later the General Conference of the Seventh-Day Church accredited the seminary as a Senior College. Starting in the 1980s, students from other socialist states of Eastern Europe and Africa could be trained as pastors in Friedensau.
On September 15, 1990, the Theological Seminary became a state-accredited university following a decision by the Council of Ministers of the GDR. Later a School of Social Sciences was established alongside the School of Theology, which has offered Diploma and Master’s courses in theology since 1992.
Today the Friedensau Adventist University, as an academically-oriented, church-run university, awards university qualifications. Friedensau is an established place of scholarship and has research collaborations linking it with institutions in several continents.
