Jutta Heidemann was honored with the Thuringian Order of Merit

In the festive atmosphere of Erfurt's Kaisersaal, Mrs. Jutta Heidemann received the Thuringian Order of Merit on May 24, 2023, for her extraordinary commitment to building and monument culture in Erfurt and for her decades of personal commitment as a private investor in the context of promoting science in Thuringia.

Jutta Heidemann, born on February 17, 1939, has been active in many ways in Erfurt after the fall of the Berlin Wall, in particular through the elaborate and loving restoration of important historic, listed buildings in Erfurt's old town. In addition, she was also committed to the future of the Free State of Thuringia and, to this end, established the Jutta Heidemann Foundation, which is particularly dedicated to supporting doctoral students at universities in Thuringia.

In particular, the Max-Weber-Kolleg at the University of Erfurt has been actively supported by the Jutta Heidemann Foundation since its establishment in 1998 - especially by awarding scholarships and travel grants. A wide range of topics has been supported: From examining the role of churches in East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, to looking at small and medium-sized businesses under the pressure of globalized financial markets, to analyzing the interpretation of war in American films after World War II.

Some time ago, Ms. Heidemann used her private assets to further increase the foundation's assets and expanded the purpose of the foundation, which was initially only related to the newly established University of Erfurt, to include support for all universities in Thuringia. Since then, additional doctoral students have been funded, for example at the TU Ilmenau or at the Bauhaus University Weimar, and the range of topics has been significantly expanded, for example into the field of materials science studies of prostheses or the analysis of physical properties of nanoparticles.

Thanks to the financial and non-material support of the Jutta Heidemann Foundation, this can point to a particularly high success rate. Of the 29 doctoral students funded so far, 21 have already completed their doctorates. Some scholarship holders are still working on their dissertations or are still being funded. Many of the first funded doctoral students are now working successfully all over the world, for example in academia as a professor in Montreal, a professor in Budapest or professor at the Duale Hochschule Gera-Eisenach. But graduates are also working successfully outside academia, for example as director of the Catholic Academy in Magdeburg or as managing director of the Volkshochschulen Südliche Weinstraße, to name just a few.

"We are very pleased about this great honor and wish Ms. Heidemann continued success with the projects of her foundation," says Prof. Dr. Hartmut Rosa, Director of the Max-Weber-Kolleg.