The first impressions were impressive. So we took our seats and waited eagerly for the lecturer. The only information we had beforehand was that it was going to be an introduction to British studies. Prof. Klaus Stolz greeted us warmly and started with an adapted lecture that gave us, as guest listeners, a brief overview of what had been and what would happen next. The topic of the lecture was "Thatcherism".
The students were amazed to discover that the techniques we learn and practise at school also play a role at university. Prof. Stolz introduced the topic of the lecture with a caricature. During the course of the lecture, we also came across the aforementioned TINA. The lecturer explained to us that TINA stands for a style of government coined by Margaret Thatcher: There Is No Alternative. Of course, the politically interested listener immediately noticed that there were parallels to recent German politics; Angela Merkel formulated the sentence: "There is no alternative to this policy." The students present should have drawn this comparison and discussed it at the end, where there was room for questions. We thanked Prof. Stolz after the lecture and moved on.
This was followed by a guided tour of the Chemnitz State Archives. Here we were warmly welcomed by Dr. Stephan Ridder. With great dedication, he introduced us to the structures of the archive organization and the archive holdings. But the presentation was not all. We were also allowed to take a closer look at two archives relating to our school building. We were then given a tour of the "hallowed halls" and were able to see both the open workstations and the hidden treasures behind closed doors. Some pupils were interested in family research and asked specific questions about this.
After these two events, the students were released into their free time, which they used to stroll around the city in fantastic weather.
Many thanks to Ms. Geuthel, Prof. Klaus Stolz and Dr. Stephan Ridder for their excellent support and time.
TU Chemnitz - we will see you soon.
Mr. Kowitz - Class leader class 9g
