German universities of music stand for diversity, openness and internationality. They are places of respect, democratic coexistence and cosmopolitanism. In the face of increasingly anti-democratic tendencies and inhuman discrimination, we are firmly committed to the unshakable values of liberal democracy and the rule of law in our society.
we therefore strongly support the declaration issued by the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz - HRK) on 23 January:
Against the backdrop of increasingly blatant anti-democratic efforts and the associated contempt for humanity, we emphasise clearly and unequivocally that liberal democracy and the rule of law are the immovable pillars of our country and its institutions. They are also essential prerequisites for the existence of a competitive and internationally compatible German higher education system.
The comprehensive legal protection of academic freedom, as enshrined in our Basic Law, is the basis for the success of our higher education system. Academics must be able to freely choose and work on research topics. Research and teaching must not be used for political purposes. Only in this way can science fully realise its potential for the economy and society.
The legal protection against discrimination in any form, as enshrined in the German Basic Law, is also a pillar of our academic performance. The diversity of international perspectives and backgrounds makes our academia strong and contributes significantly to its progress. We are proud of the fact that people from all over the world and from a wide variety of backgrounds study and work at our universities, and we expressly support this. The member universities of the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz - HRK) have declared and reaffirmed this on many occasions in their long-standing campaign "Universities Open to the World": Only a university that thinks and acts internationally is sustainable and competitive. An open and international campus and the international mobility of teaching staff and students are essential prerequisites for high-quality teaching, learning and research.
The increasing tendency in the public and political arena to change the content and tone of social discourse in order to normalise hostility towards science, restrictions on academic freedom, racism, intolerance and ideas, and enemy stereotypes based on exclusion, to disintegrate social cohesion and to undermine trust in liberal democracy is extremely alarming. As the Executive Board of the HRK, we unequivocally reject this. Every single member of our higher education institutions is called upon to stand up for the fundamental values of our constitution.
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