Celebrating 99 talents: Award ceremony of the Germany Scholarship 2025/26
The HfMDK Frankfurt honored this year's 99 scholarship holders and the great commitment of their funding partners with a festive award ceremony on November 26, 2025. Artistic excellence, social commitment and personal encounters came together in the university's Small Hall - an evening that highlighted the quality of the studies and the diverse impact of the funding.
Celebrating passion and commitment: with words, dance and sound
The dancers Giorgia Sassone, Aziliz Routier, Veronika Petrenko, Sofia Bonilla Pérez and Lorenzo Spagnolo opened the evening with their performance "Body in Motion" to the music of Nirvana. With a strong presence and a keen sense of ensemble work, they turned the entire hall into a resonating body and gave an insight into contemporary dance performance art at the university.
HfMDK Vice President Prof. Carsten Wiebusch welcomed the sponsors, students and guests on behalf of President Prof. Elmar Fulda and emphasized the special importance of the Deutschlandstipendium for an artistic education that requires time, concentration and freedom. Each of these scholarships stands for a story, for courage, dedication, passion - and for the conviction that art, music, theater and dance can change our world.
In the musical program, the students spanned an arc from the Baroque to the Romantic period: Pavlos Ramos (Bachelor Chamber Music Transverse Flute) interpreted the 7th Fantasy for Transverse Flute in D major by Georg Philipp Telemann, demonstrating great stylistic sensitivity. With "Widmung" op. 25 No. 1 by Robert Schumann, Sion Han (Master Music Theater) led the audience into the romantic sound world of the Lied repertoire. Finally, the Kalliope Quartet - Nadja Uhl and Clara Josephine Stelter (violins), Maj Bommas (viola) and Katharina Graf (cello) - performed the first movement of Mendelssohn's String Quartet op. 44/2 in E minor, highlighting the HfMDK's top chamber music promotion.
State Secretary for Science Christoph Degen was a guest from the state government. He congratulated the 99 new Deutschlandstipendiat*innen in his welcoming address.
» The Deutschlandstipendium is an important building block for the university's profile. It promotes networking in the region, emphasizes artistic excellence and strengthens the competition for talented students. Especially at an art academy like the HfMDK, it sends out important signals to talented young people and shapes their educational biographies. I would like to congratulate you on your scholarships. «State Secretary for Science Christoph Degen
Hannah Kettemann (majoring in choral conducting) provided a student impulse by describing the role that financial security and non-material support play in everyday student life at an arts university from a student perspective. Hannah Kettemann motivated her fellow scholarship holders to look ahead and be proud of their own success despite difficult times (in terms of higher education).
» Many of you are dependent on additional paid work alongside your studies - despite parental support, for example. And despite this stressful situation, you, dear fellow scholarship holders, have stood out because you are doing such a great job. I would like to use this platform to say to you: You can be proud of yourselves and your path! Celebrate yourselves! «Hannah Kettemann, Germany Scholarship Holder
This was followed by the ceremonial congratulations and presentation of certificates to the new Deutschlandstipendiat*innen: State Secretary Christoph Degen, Silke Wintels, Chairwoman of the Society of Friends and Sponsors of the HfMDK e.V. (GFF), and Prof. Ernst August Klötzke, who this year chaired the selection meeting of the award committee, presented the certificates and paid tribute to the students' achievements. In his speech, Prof. Klötzke emphasized how important the interplay of public funding, private commitment and the support of the GFF is in order to be able to award a high number of scholarships at the HfMDK once again.
At a get-together in the foyer with a bar and buffet afterwards, funding partners and scholarship holders were able to talk, make contacts and build networks.
The Germany Scholarship at the HfMDK: once again a record-breaker
The HfMDK has been awarding the Germany Scholarship since the 2016/17 winter semester. With almost one hundred scholarships, it is now the university's largest and most successful funding program. As in the previous year, a total of 99 scholarships were awarded to students at the university in 2025/26.
The Society of Friends and Patrons (GFF) is once again supporting the successful scholarship program this year: in addition to the 78 Germany Scholarships that the HfMDK receives through the federal program, the GFF is very generously doubling the matching for a further 21 scholarships.
