Farewell and a new beginning
The evening kicked off with Forschologicum all-star Christian Bode, who celebrated his farewell as head of the ensemble and presenter in a humorous production as Doctor Faust. His “famulus” Prof. Dr. Andreas Archut led him off the stage with a fitting Faust allusion together with “Gretchen” Nina Lemmens. In future, Archut and Lemmens will present the Forschologicum together.
With a view to the upcoming federal elections in Germany, humor was a major topic despite the serious political and world situation. Stephan Eisel drew parallels between previous and current elections with his contribution “Wer die Wahl hat...” He drew parallels between previous and current election campaigns - accompanied by well-known classics. As self-proclaimed party leaders of a Rhineland people's party, Andreas Archut and Georg Scholl dreamed of taking over the government in their sketch “Alternative for the Rhineland” - including the solution to all earthly problems the Rhineland way.
Rector Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Hoch shone in a new parade role as an office-weary minister who, together with Managing Director Dr. Martina Krechel-Engert, Jonas Fehres and Niklas Almasi, provided deep insights into the mechanisms of politics in the stage performance “Der Minister und das Ampel-Aus: Wie es wirklich war”. The Chairman of the University Council, Dr. Georg Schütte, once again slipped into the role of guest researcher Luigi Pericoloso and took aim at the latest political events from a forensic perspective - a humorous and astute reckoning with the break-up of the traffic light coalition.
Musical and dance highlights
The hip-hop group from the University of Bonn's University sports, under the interim direction of Josephin “Joe” Beer, provided movement and rhythm with hot beats and energetic dancing. Paul Hombach showed with his improvisational cabaret that music, carnival and science can form a perfect symbiosis - from Beethoven to Bob Marley, he fused carnival and science musically at the highest level to create an irresistible mixture.
Bureaucracy, aliens and the Poppelsdorf triumvirate
Another highlight was the sketch “BufBüA-WissO - die zweite” by Annette Julius and Roman Luckscheiter, Secretary General of the Studienstiftung and the German UNESCO Commission. They introduced the audience to the absurd world of bureaucracy and showed what happens when bureaucrats are supposed to organize the reduction of bureaucracy. For the first time, a delegation from the newly renamed Faculty of Agricultural, Nutritional, and Engineering Sciences entered the Springmaus therater as the "Poppelsdorf triumvirate". Dr. Birgit Hoegen as Prince, Jutta Wolter-Sadlers as Farmer and former Dean Prof. Dr. Peter Stehle as Maid Demetra I presented the not always smooth trinity of the former Faculty of Agriculture. An intergalactic finale was provided by the duo Gesine Born and Andreas Archut with “Unheimliche Begegnung der jecken Art”. As aliens analyzing a carnival session, they came up with new interpretations for the behaviour of Rhinelanders.
At the end of the entertaining evening, all the actors reunited on stage to bring the 20th Forschologicum to a fitting close with the joint song "Superjeile Zick". But one thing is for sure: this Forschologicum will have consequences! It will be interesting to see who dares to step onto Bonn's science stage next year, and with what contributions!
