03/24/2025
80 Years of the Ukrainian Free University in Munich: Continuity of the Free Academy Tradition
In 2025, the Ukrainian Free University (UFU) celebrates 80 years of its activity in Munich. These 80 years have been marked by outstanding events and remarkable figures—professors, rectors—who shaped a center for free education and science in Bavaria while fulfilling the university’s credo: "to be a leading European center of Ukrainian erudition."
In the distant, war year of 1945, the more than 20-year-long Prague period in UFU’s history came to an end. During the 1920s and 1930s, UFU in Prague became a scientific center for the Ukrainian diaspora in Czechoslovakia. The active engagement of philologists, economists, historians, and other intellectuals—such as Ivan Horbachevskyi, Stepan Dnistryanskyi, Oleksandr Kolessa, Dmytro Antonovych, Stepan Smal-Stotskyi—enabled UFU to gain prominence beyond Prague and Czechoslovakia. This era came to an abrupt close in the spring of 1945 when the Soviet army approached Prague: UFU was evacuated, and the remaining professors, including Rector Avgustyn Voloshyn, were arrested and later executed.
A group of professors, amidst their evacuation, found themselves in Bavaria in June 1945. Undeterred by their personal hardships, they decided to reestablish UFU amidst the ruins of postwar Munich. Thus began a new chapter in the university’s history—the Munich period.
The key initiators of UFU’s revival in Munich were Prof. Vadym Shcherbakivskyi, Prof. Ivan Mirchuk, Prof. Natalia Polonska-Vasylenko, and Prof. Stepan Tomashivskyi. On August 20, 1945, the UFU Senate officially reinstated the university’s activity abroad. Vadym Shcherbakivskyi was elected rector, Ivan Mirchuk became the dean of the Faculty of Philosophy, and Lev Okinshevych was appointed dean of the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences.
At first, administrative meetings and lectures were held in the professors’ private residences. Simultaneously, UFU’s leadership sought legal recognition for the institution. The Bavarian authorities and the American administration supported the initiative and granted the necessary permissions for UFU to operate legally.
A full-fledged academic semester began in 1946 with an inaugural ceremony welcoming students from Displaced Persons (DP) camps, including those in Munich-Laim, Munich-Freimann, Feldmoching, Schleissheim, Augsburg, Regensburg, Ingolstadt, and other locations. The Bavarian Ministry of Education and Culture allocated premises for UFU in a school building at Versaillerstraße 4 (now Ernst-Reuter-Straße 4), marking the university’s first official home in Munich. At that time, there were already 200 students with 38 faculty members.
The university’s revival was supported by the Catholic Church in Bavaria, represented by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber, Munich’s mayor Karl Scharnagl, and various American and Ukrainian aid organizations, including UNRRA, IRO, and CEPUEN (Сentral representative office of Ukrainian emigration).
In 1947, a new UFU Statute was adopted, replacing the previous Czech-based statute modeled after Charles University. By 1950, UFU achieved full recognition from Bavaria. A decree issued by the Bavarian Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs on September 16, 1950, granted UFU official status as a private university with academic rights.
During its Munich period, UFU continued to uphold its mission, as reflected in its name, embodying the essence of freedom. This freedom manifests in its academic endeavors, openness to diverse discourse, adherence to European democratic ideals, values, and commitment to tolerance. This is what makes UFU a kind of "territory of freedom."
UFU in Munich envisions itself as a space for mutual understanding, trust, and cultural and informational dialogue between Germany, Europe, and Ukraine. It also serves as a forum for discussions on Ukraine’s past, present, and future role in Europe.
To commemorate the 80th anniversary of UFU’s presence in Munich, the university is planning a series of celebratory events. In particular, UFU is launching a campaign to collect photographs documenting its history.
UFU invites alumni, former students, professors, and all those connected to the university to contribute photographs, images, and documents from the 1940s-1950s, as well as materials highlighting significant events from the 1960s-1980s.
All photographs and documents will be gratefully accepted into UFU’s archives and preserved in a commemorative collection, with selected materials featured in an upcoming exhibition.
Please send your contributions via email to [email protected] or by mail to UFU’s official address
Ukrainische Freie Universität
Barellistr. 9A
D-80638 München
Dr. Roman Tiutenko (UFU, Munich)
