"Die Brücke" - A home far away from home

If there is one place where international flair at Münster University can be felt and lived, then that place is "Die Brücke" ("The Bridge"). With its Café Couleur, and the many readings, national evenings and musical events it organizes, it stands, like no other organization, for an open-minded and warm-hearted atmosphere between German and foreign students. Bernadette Winter discussed with Joachim Sommer (67), the former Director of "Die Brücke" for many years, and with its current Director Dana Jacob (35), how internationality at Münster University has developed over the years. " Die Brücke" has had an eventful history. Mr Sommer, you were its Director for over  30 years. What was it like when you took over there? - Joachim Sommer: "Die Brücke" was very well-known in Münster. While we were still at school we borrowed English-language books here. Also, the first jazz groups gave concerts that had been banned during the war. Up to the mid-1960s "Die Brücke" had more of a social function, with students organizing singing groups and film evenings. All that changed completely when the Shah of Persia visited Germany in 1967 and with the student protests of 1968. Foreign students became really political, and for them it was important to have a place where they could come to terms with the situation in their home countries. For German students "Die Brücke" was also always a place where they could experience internationality without going abroad themselves - which at that time was nowhere near as normal as it is today. The major German groupings all had their meeting place here. What do you remember most fondly?