"Enjoy what you do": H-BRS bids farewell to its graduates

20261024 Absolvent_innenfeier Hütewerfen Foto Nathan Dreessen

The emotional highlight was the traditional hat-throwing ceremony: On Saturday, 24 October 2026, Hochschule Bonn-Rhein-Sieg (H-BRS) bid farewell to around 570 graduates from the past academic year at a central ceremony held at the Telekom Dome on Bonn’s Hardtberg. A total of around 2,800 guests attended this special event.

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A festive atmosphere at the Telekom Dome. Photo: Nathan Dreessen

"Today it is all about you," said University President Marion Halfmann in her ceremonial address to the graduates. "It’s about your academic degree, for which you have worked so hard – often more than a grade report or a certificate would suggest. You yourselves know best what this journey has demanded of you. On behalf of the university, I would like to offer you my warmest congratulations on your academic degree!"

Today we are celebrating your achievements, the President emphasised, but in the near future the graduates are likely to hear the question "So, what are you going to do now?" quite often. Acquiring an academic degree is not only a cause for joy, she noted, but very often also involves a great deal of uncertainty and perhaps a little trepidation about the next step. In a personal address, Halfmann shared three thoughts with the graduates to guide them on their professional journey. Not as a set of instructions, as she said, since no one in the hall could know what the world of work would look like in ten years’ time. But three things that had helped her on her own journey.

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University President Marion Halfmann shared three thoughts with the graduates as they set out on their new paths. Photo: Nathan Dreessen

President Halfmann shares three thoughts on graduation

Her first thought might even be a slight sense of relief, said the President: "You don’t need a long-term master plan." On the graduates’ future paths, people, opportunities and decisions would play a part that they could not yet foresee. "You can’t plan for all of that. Fortunately. The most interesting developments often arise quite by chance," said Halfmann.

Making a fresh start after graduation can be difficult, she continued, as there are many possibilities, plenty of advice and rarely a single, clearly correct path. "Sometimes you have to let go of a belief, revise a decision or change a plan. Changing course is not a failure," was her second point.

Halfmann’s third and final thought was: Stay confident and think critically. "You have learnt something from us that we urgently need right now: you can get to grips with complex issues, scrutinise claims and distinguish between knowledge and opinion. And you know that you can change your mind when the facts contradict it," she said.

So, when asked "And what are you going to do now?", the graduates wouldn’t have to pull a ready-made master plan out of their pockets. "For your future path, I wish you interesting challenges, good people by your side, the courage to make decisions and the freedom to change them from time to time. Take pleasure in what you do, and make the most of what you have learnt," said the university president.

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"You leave with a whole network of people," said Klara Ollesch, speaking as a graduate. Photo: Nathan Dreessen.

Graduate Klara Ollesch: You leave with a network of people

Graduate Klara Ollesch took to the stage on behalf of the students; having completed her Bachelor’s degree in Technical Journalism at H-BRS, she has now also successfully completed her Master’s in Digital Communication and Media Innovation. She spoke about the challenges of writing her final thesis and the sense of relief upon handing it in. "It is precisely this sense of relief that is the best proof that we should be celebrating this evening. You only feel relieved when you’ve had to deal with something really difficult beforehand," said Ollesch. She also spoke about personal commitment and the sense of community at the university. "This degree programme was more than just the sum of written examinations and term papers."

Ollesch herself played an active role as chairperson of the student council for the Department of Engineering and Communication and as chairperson of the General Students’ Committee. She wanted to help shape student life through her role in these positions. Others had run first-year tutorials, got involved in sports clubs, university societies and initiatives, or lent their notes to fellow students in the library. "It is these small, often unseen contributions that make a university more than just a building with lecture halls. It was never about the big moment in the spotlight. It was the shared experience of realising that you can not only attend this university, but also help shape it," she said.

Ollesch also spoke about the opportunity to make contacts for an internship or first job through seminars and lectures. "But if I’m honest, what ultimately stays with you the most isn’t the final thesis, nor the written examinations, nor even the job you take away from it. It’s the people.” It’s the friendships that were formed. "You come to a university to get a degree. But you leave with so much more than just a degree. You leave with a whole network of people who know what you’ve been through, because they’ve been through it too."

This is an image that many will remember: the traditional hat-throwing. Photo: Nathan Dreessen

The official part of the celebrations ends with the hat-throwing ceremony

Two students currently holding positions dedicated to representing the interests of all students are John Meyerhoff, Chair of the Student Parliament, and AStA chairperson Leon Jansen. They spoke about why it is worthwhile getting involved in the university community and offered the graduates their best wishes for the future. "Be true to yourselves, believe in your dreams," said Meyerhoff. "I’d like to say thank you for a wonderful time," emphasised Jansen.

The band BrassGazz created a great atmosphere during the official part of the event, which was hosted by Sebastian Tittelbach, with their mix of rap and brass sounds. Graphic recorder and alumna Eva Ewerhart captured the event live in drawings.

The official part of the graduation ceremony ended with an image that many will remember from this day: all the graduates in attendance gathered on stage and threw their bachelor’s and master’s caps into the air. Also visible in the picture are University President Marion Halfmann, Vice-Presidents Peter Muck and Johannes Steinhaus, Chancellor Angela Fischer, deans and professors.

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For the graduates, the hat-throwing ceremony was the emotional highlight. Photo: Nathan Dreesen

Deans wish the graduates all the best for the future

Before the graduates from the various departments took to the stage, the deans delivered their speeches. Professor Norbert Seeger and Professor Patrizia Ianiro-Dahm (both Management Sciences), Professor Richard Jäger (Applied Natural Sciences), Professor Sascha Alda (Computer Science), Professor Christian Rexrodt (Sustainability in Social Policy) and Professor Iris Groß (Department of Engineering and Communication) spoke about the graduates’ achievements, congratulated them on behalf of their respective departments and, above all, wished the graduates all the best for the future.

As a memento of their time at university, the graduates were then presented with a decorative certificate symbolising their degree, before heading onto the dance floor to the sounds of a DJ.

Fundraising campaign for partner university in Ukraine

During and after the ceremony, many guests also dug into their pockets to support the H-BRS’s current fundraising campaign in aid of its Ukrainian partner university in Chernihiv, entitled ‘Energy for Teaching’. Vice-President Professor Johannes Steinhaus promoted the fundraising campaign for the partner university, with which a very close friendship has now developed. The money is to be used to purchase battery storage systems. Due to Russia’s war of aggression, lectures and seminars in Chernihiv – which lies in the north of Ukraine, not far from the Russian border – are now only held online to protect the students. This requires a sufficient supply of electricity.

17 regional sponsors supported the 2026 graduation ceremony: Kreissparkasse Köln, Haribo, Wirtgen GmbH, ACP Group, Arbeiterwohlfahrt Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, Bechtle IT-Systemhaus Bonn, Carl Knauber Holding GmbH & Co. KG, CSE Seekamp Elektroausrüstungen, Dr Starck und Co., ELT Group, HiSolutions AG, IHK Bonn/Rhein-Sieg, Innovatec, Solidaris, Sparkasse KölnBonn, Spectral Service AG and WetterOnline.