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A warm welcome: Institute of Economics welcomes first semester students at TU Clausthal
On October 7, 2025, Prof. Dr. Christoph Schwindt welcomed the new students of the Institute of Economics (WIWI) at Clausthal University of Technology.
In his humorous yet informative speech, he took the first semester students on a short journey through the history and special features of Clausthal-Zellerfeld as a place to study - in keeping with the motto: "Where did I actually end up here?"
Clausthal, a small town with around 13,900 inhabitants, can look back on a long history. Its origins date back to the 12th century, when the "Cella" monastery was founded. Closely linked to this development is the mining tradition that still characterizes the region today.
Prof. Schwindt told an anecdote from earlier times, when Clausthal and Zellerfeld were still considered "rivals" before they grew together to form a joint mining and university town in 1924. He then recalled some important personalities associated with Clausthal:
The composer Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767), for example, spent several years of his youth in Clausthal. His mother had sent him here from Magdeburg in order to dissuade him from his passion for the violin - a plan that was a complete failure. Instead, his teacher recognized the boy's musical talent and encouraged him further, laying the foundations for an impressive career as an artist.
The inventor of the wire rope Julius Albert (1787-1846), the winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine Robert Koch (1843-1910), the physicist Arnold Sommerfeld (1868-1951), the economist Erich Gutenberg (1897-1984) and the musician Herbert Grönemeyer, who spent his early childhood in Clausthal, are also associated with the town.
Prof. Schwindt then explained the development of Clausthal University of Technology:
founded in 1775 as a "mathematical school for miners and carpenters", it was given the status of a mining academy in 1864 and is now a modern technical university with around 3,000 students, 80 professors, around 510 academic staff and around 490 employees in technology and administration. Its particular strengths lie in its clarity, interdisciplinarity, internationality and thematic focus on the circular economy.
One highlight of the event was the "big Clausthal quiz". It ended with the guessing question:
"What is the depth of the Kaiser Wilhelm shaft next to the Mining Institute in the Erzstraße?"
The correct answer: 1,023 meters (source: Oberharzer Bergwerksmuseum)
The winner received a TU Clausthal sweatshirt from the university store.
Finally, several professors from the individual disciplines introduced themselves and gave the students a tour of the Institute of Economics and the Economics Library.
The Institute of Economics wishes all first-year students a successful start to their studies, lots of new insights, inspiring encounters and all the best for this new stage in their lives!
