Founded by students – out of necessity and solidarity

On Thursday, September 21, 1950, three students in Mainz, together with the university president, several professors, and a representative of the university administration, founded the association “Studentenwerk der Universität Mainz e. V.” The university itself had reopened just a few years earlier, on Wednesday, May 15, 1946; by the 1950/51 winter semester, nearly 5,000 people were already studying in Mainz.

The Studierendenwerk Mainz was founded for one simple reason: studying was virtually impossible without basic social services. Students lacked housing, meals, and financial support. Mainz was scarred by the war; housing options were scarce, living conditions were cramped and makeshift, and for many students, the situation was stressful. As a result, the Mensa (student cafeteria), housing, and financial aid were not “extras,” but rather basic necessities that made studying possible in the first place.

The early years were difficult. Anyone walking across campus today often has no idea of the conditions under which students began their studies back then. In the early postwar period, students in Mainz were required to perform compulsory work duties to make ends meet. There were reports of 150 hours of work per semester that had to be completed on campus. Behind the barracks stood fields where vegetables and potatoes were grown to feed the students — and students themselves helped out there as well. Food was scarce, rationing was still in place, and food stamps were not abolished until 1950. Meals were prepared in makeshift facilities and often consisted of endless variations of stew.

That is exactly where the true story of the Studierendenwerk Mainz lies:
It was not founded because someone wanted to create a new administrative unit.
It was founded because students needed to eat. Because they needed a place to live. Because they needed support. Because without these things, studying simply was not possible.

 That is why the services students needed most were urgently established early on in Mainz: Mensa and dormitories, as well as an initial form of student financial aid through the “Notgemeinschaft Studiendank,” founded as early as 1949. Even before the association was officially founded, the Mensa and dormitories in Mainz had been organized independently. When the Studierendenwerk effectively began its work on Sunday, April 1, 1951, it took over the Mensa, three dormitories with about 450 beds, and the job and housing placement services. At that time, the Mensa at the University of Mainz was already one of the larger student dining facilities in Rhineland-Pfalz.

Mainz is a part of a larger story

What happened in Mainz in 1950 was not an isolated incident. The Studierendenwerks in Germany grew out of a student self-help movement. As early as 1919 and 1920, students, together with faculty members and supporters, founded the first support organizations at several universities across Germany because, after World War I, many students had no idea how to finance their studies, where to live, or how to afford a hot meal on a regular basis. People came together to fill precisely these gaps: with student dining halls, housing assistance, loans, health care, and other forms of support.

The basic idea behind this was remarkably modern from the very beginning: self-help instead of handouts. Solidarity instead of chance. The so-called “Erlangen Program” of 1921 explicitly emphasized helping people help themselves, thereby shaping the fledgling Studierendenwerks in Germany. Many of these institutions were initially organized as associations. So it was not government agencies that took the first steps, but people from the universities themselves — above all, students who did not want their chances of success to depend on circumstance.

In this sense, Mainz is very much part of this German tradition. Here, too, the Studierendenwerk emerged from a concrete need: the need to make learning, living, and survival compatible with one another. Mainz experienced this history somewhat later and under the specific conditions of the postwar period — but the essence is the same as in other university towns in Germany: students created support systems because they needed them.

What has changed — and what has stayed the same

Of course, the Studierendenwerk Mainz is no longer the small association it was in its early years. It was later transformed into a public institution under German law and is now responsible for the students of three universities: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Hochschule Mainz, and Technische Hochschule Bingen. Its legal mandate is enshrined in the Rhineland-Pfalz Higher Education Act: Studierendenwerks are to provide social support to students and promote their economic well-being and cultural participation. This explicitly includes support for international students, promoting the compatibility of studies and family life, and providing assistance in special life situations. 

And yet, the essentials have remained the same.

The Studierendenwerk Mainz is still dedicated to providing what students truly need alongside and for their studies: affordable meals, affordable housing, financial support in times of hardship, help balancing studies and family life, opportunities to connect with others, and a sense of stability in everyday life. Today, in addition to dining halls, dormitories, and financial aid, this includes on-campus daycare centers as well as recreational and social activities. But all these services are guided by the same principle that gave rise to the Studierendenwerk Mainz in the first place: studying should not be derailed by everyday life.

This is also reflected in the fact that the Studierendenwerk has maintained its roots in student participation. Students were involved from the very beginning. And even today, Verwaltungsrat serves as a body where students have a voice and their perspectives remain a significant part of decision-making. This is particularly fitting for the history of the Studierendenwerk Mainz: It has never been merely an institution for students, but always an institution shaped by the interests and needs of students.

Common good over profit

The Studierendenwerk Mainz was not founded to make money, but to enable students to pursue their studies. That has not changed to this day. We must operate efficiently — but not to generate profits, rather to keep our services affordable and reliable. We do not treat revenue as an end in itself; rather, it is used to fund dining facilities, residence halls, support services, and assistance with day-to-day student life. Our early membership in the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband demonstrates how closely the Studierendenwerk Mainz has been aligned with the ideals of social responsibility and commitment for the common good from the very beginning.

Why this story still matters today

Perhaps that is the most beautiful and, at the same time, most important message of this story:
When you eat in the Mensa today, apply for a dorm room, apply for financial aid, or seek support as a student parent, you are not just taking advantage of just any service. You are becoming part of something that past students helped initiate, build, and fight for.

So the Studierendenwerk Mainz is not just “in charge.”
It’s part of a long-standing tradition of student solidarity.

And that is exactly why it is worth keeping this thought in mind:
The Studierendenwerk Mainz was founded by students because students needed it.
And it’s still here today because students continue to need that kind of support.

Today, the Studierendenwerk Mainz supports around 39,000 students in Mainz and Bingen with dining halls and cafés, dormitories, financial aid, on-campus daycare centers, counseling, and recreational and social activities. Much of it has become more professional, larger, and more diverse than it was in 1950.