This year's ceremonial start of the semester took place on 10 October 2025. The new cohorts in the MA War and Conflict Studies and MA International War Studies programmes were welcomed.
The students from the 2023/24 cohort were bid farewell. As every year, the International War Studies class of 2024/25 joined in the tradition of embarking on the second trip of their studies, the academic year in Dublin.
Last year's graduates were also honoured. The graduates were delighted to receive their certificates, an honour they richly deserved after working hard on successful Master's theses in various subject areas.

This year, graduates Paul Behne and Raphael Nicolai from the MA War Studies programme received a special honour with the Best Prize, which is awarded each year to recognise the outstanding achievements of students. The Best Prize includes an honorary ring and prize money of €500, both of which are donated by the Friends of the Chair of Military History. 
It is also thanks to the generosity of the Friends' Association that two students from the International War and Conflict Studies cohort were each awarded €9,000 this year.
This scholarship is intended to help finance the second year of study in Dublin. Anton Fuchs and Moritz Hohmann received this special honour this time, which will hopefully give them a good start in Dublin. We look forward to seeing them graduate next year.

After the award ceremony, the event came to a close in a relaxed atmosphere on the beautiful historic terrace of the university building overlooking the New Palace. Over a glass of wine or apple spritzer, the new students had the opportunity to talk to each other and make their first contacts. Of course, the exchange with graduates from previous years and other invited guests is also particularly valuable for the new cohort.

This year's semester kick-off was thus a successful start to the new winter semester 25/26.

You can find Paul Behne's Bestprize speech here.