After the fall of the Iron Curtain
Professor Reimar Lüst - President of the Humboldt Foundation from 1989 to 1999 - on political changes in Eastern Europe in the nineties and the consequences for the AvH
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Reimar Lüst (Foto: Humboldt-Stiftung).
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Kosmos: Professor Lüst, you were President of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation from 1989 to 1999. In your opinion, which events left a special mark on the Foundation during this period?
Lüst: Well, the turnaround in Eastern and Central Europe, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and reunification. These events had significant consequences for the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
Kosmos: Could you outline more precisely what concrete changes came about for the Humboldt Foundation after the Wall came down?
Lüst: There were a number of important changes. First: Until the turnaround almost no-one in the Soviet Union had been able to apply for a Humboldt Fellowship. Afterwards, the applications from the former Soviet Union soared rapidly. As most of them were very well qualified the fellows from the Soviet Union soon headed the figures- table. Second: While the AvH's relations to Poland and Hungary had been largely unproblematic even before the turnaround, afterwards it became much easier to adopt relations with Humboldtians in countries like the Czech Republic and Rumania. Third: Humboldtians took on important tasks in rebuilding the democratic states in Eastern and Central Europe. Both the Polish and Rumanian Foreign Ministers were Humboldtians and also the President of the Hungarian State Court, to name but a few. Fourth: In order to help young scientists and scholars from Eastern Germany catch up on developments in academia, so-called Integration Fellowships were established. They allowed academics from East German universities to spend six months at an institute in West Germany.
Kosmos: It is often emphasized that the concept of a "Humboldt family", more often referred to as a "Humboldt network" nowadays, is more than just an empty phrase.
Lüst: I prefer to call it the "Humboldt family" because there is a very strong feeling of belonging-together both amongst Humboldtians themselves and with their hosts in Germany. I was reminded of the reality of the "Humboldt family" every time I went abroad. I was always met at the airport wherever it was by at least one Humboldtian.
A visit to Hungary has stuck in my memory particularly. On 2 October 1995 I gave a dinner at the Foundation as a belated celebration of Professor Frühwald's birthday. He was Vice-President of the AvH at the time and the then Foreign Minister, Klaus Kinkel, was present, too. Towards the end of the evening, it was past 10 o'clock, he told me that he was flying to Budapest at 9 o'clock the next morning to thank the Hungarian government for bringing down the Wall in 1989. He asked me whether I could go with him. The next day was a public holiday so I immediately agreed. I told our Foreign Minister he would have to wear the "Humboldt Tie" I had given him at the beginning of the dinner the entire day and I would also need a clean white shirt in Budapest. The German Ambassador in Budapest was informed immediately and he really did make sure a white shirt was waiting for me in Budapest.
At the airport we were greeted by the Hungarian Foreign Minister and other dignitaries. At the end of the line was the Secretary of the Hungarian Humboldt Club, Janos Fischer, wearing a Humboldt Tie. The German Ambassador had contacted him at seven in the morning to tell him I was coming and he immediately decided to come and meet me at the airport.
At the reception at the German Embassy in the evening the President of the Hungarian State Court arrived accompanied by two judges; all three were wearing Humboldt Ties.
Kosmos: Mr. Pfeiffer had a formative influence on the Humboldt Foundation over a long period of time. Could you try to describe some of his specific functions?
Lüst: It's not for nothing that he is known as "Mr. Humboldt". He really did have a truly formative influence on the Foundation. It was pure luck that the first President of the AvH, Werner Heisenberg, appointed him Secretary General in 1956. He had a very close relationship to him and all the other presidents, too.
Heinrich Pfeiffer knew just about every Humboldtian personally; that was obvious at all the conferences with Humboldtians. He had an amazing memory for names and kept up to date by using the Humboldtians' picture index.
Heinrich Pfeiffer was on AvH-duty day and night. Every Humboldtian who came to Bonn, for example, was invited to his home. Follow-up support was his idea, as was the construction of guest houses in West Germany and, later, in East Germany. On the 25th anniversary of the Marshall Plan the Fellowship Programme was extended by creating the Award Winner Programme for American scientists, physicians, and engineers. He was responsible for eventually opening it up to other countries, too. And even the rebuilding of the headquarters in Bonn with its buildings and beautiful garden was his work.
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