Born on 18 June 1941 in Hardheim in the Odenwald region, Gert Kaiser studied German Philology, History and Romance Studies in Munich and Heidelberg. He also completed his doctorate in Heidelberg in 1964 with his work about the songs of the minstrel Rubin (“Beiträge zu den Liedern des Minnesängers Rubin”). His habilitation in German Philology, also at Heidelberg University, followed in 1970 and he subsequently took up a professorship there in 1973. He then accepted an appointment as professor at the Chair of Medieval German Literature and Language at the University of Düsseldorf four years later.
In the 20 years he was President – at the time, Professor Kaiser was the longest-serving President of a German university – he defined the future course for his University. Notable milestones include the renaming to “Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf” in 1988 – a moment, which he had worked tenaciously towards in the face of great resistance for many years and was a matter of great importance to him. On the occasion of the renaming, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia established the Heinrich Heine Guest Professorship as a gift to the University. In the years since, the Professorship has brought many important cultural, political and intellectual figures to the campus.
Kaiser oversaw the establishment of two faculties – the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, and the Faculty of Law – expanding the University of Düsseldorf, which started out as the specialist Medical Academy, into a comprehensive university. Numerous international partnerships were also concluded, for example with universities in China, England, Italy, Japan, Czechia and the USA. The partnership with Israel was particularly important to him.
His impact reached far beyond the campus. He succeeded in anchoring Heinrich Heine University in the hearts of the citizens of Düsseldorf, motivating many of them to get involved and see HHU as “their university”. After stepping down from the role of President, he continued this aspect of his work as President of the Society of Friends and Sponsors of HHU from 2004 to 2013 and was subsequently appointed Honorary President of the Society.
“North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany and Europe have lost one of their most important and perhaps even their first scientific manager. His death is a great loss at many levels,” emphasises President Steinbeck. He was not only a sought-after advisor across the political arena, but also held a range of important executive positions: For example, Professor Kaiser was Vice-President of the West German Rectors’ Conference (1987 – 1989) and President of the North Rhine-Westphalian Science Centre (Wissenschaftszentrum NRW) from its inception in 1988 until 2008.
His area of expertise was German medieval studies. His numerous publications include the book about medieval death dances (“Der tanzende Tod, mittelalterliche Totentänze“) published in 1996, for which he was able to draw on the extensive “Man and Death” (“Mensch und Tod”) graphic art collection at HHU. He also published many books and essays on scientific and academic policy topics, and was in great demand as a current affairs commentator, as well as a columnist for the Rheinische Post newspaper.
Gert Kaiser received many honours for his work: In addition to honorary doctorates from the University of Reading and the Faculty of Law at Heinrich Heine University, the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya declared him an “Honorary Fellow”. He was twice awarded national medals by France and received further similar honours from Italy and Japan. In 2001, he was awarded the Josef Neuberger Medal by the Jewish Community in Düsseldorf for his services to that community, which was a significant moment for him. Among other honours, Germany awarded him the Federal Cross of Merit (1st class) in 2004 while, in the same year, the state capital of Düsseldorf presented him with the Jan Wellem Ring of Honour.
Heinrich Heine University will honour the memory of one of its most distinguished figures with deep gratitude.