On their own initiative and organisation, 26 graduates of the former "Hochschule für Verkehrswesen" (HfV) met in Dresden in September 2021 to award the "Gold Diploma". The meetings take place regularly. They wanted to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation in Dresden and also paid a visit to the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences. A report on this meeting was also written, which we are happy to publish here:

"On 25.09.2021 we had our big day. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of our successful graduation from the School of Transportation in 1971, 26 graduates from 4 former seminar groups met in Dresden.

Traditionally, we have been meeting annually for 50 years in different places of the country, with Dresden being the venue every 5 years. Although we are unfortunately a little less nimble on our feet from year to year, everyone is happy to see the changes in the city. For several years now, our meetings have been held with spouses.

After everyone arrived in Dresden, we celebrated our reunion on the evening of 9/24 at a restaurant on the Altmarkt, everyone was very expectant.

On 9/25 10:00 am we met in front of Hettnerstr. 1, where the staff of the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences was already waiting for us. After the usual corona registration we went to our old familiar AUDIMAX and memories came back to many.

Dr. Michael Krieg, Managing Director of the Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, welcomed us and informed us about the faculty today and visions for the future. In a pleasant round of talks he gave us an insight into the upcoming tasks in the faculty, the problems in attracting enough students and the adaptation of teaching and research to the rapidly changing external conditions. We learned that especially the adaptation of the curricula needs a lot of time, which is actually not available. After answering all the questions, Dr. Krieg ceremoniously handed over the Golden Diplomas.

We had decided in advance to visit the railroad operating field, since many of us were still very familiar with it from the former School of Transportation. The employees accompanied us in two groups and demonstrated the old technology and of course also the modern part, which did not exist in our times. A staff member captured all the important moments photographically including the obligatory group photo on the front steps.

All in all, it was a successful event, as our spouses were also able to take part.

At this point we would like to thank all involved staff members of the "Friedrich List" Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, Dr. Krieg and especially Ms. Richter-Baxendale, who helped us a lot with the organization in advance. (...) the overall organization was excellent.

In the evening, we had a fitting end to the day at the Augustiner at the Frauenkirche. Our next meeting will traditionally take place on the last weekend in September 2022 in Berlin and hopefully in 5 years again in Dresden."

Authors: The organizers from Dresden