The cinematic journey into Freie Universität's past begins with slightly blurred black-and-white shots from the air; while the sequences are filmed from an airplane above the Dahlem campus, a narrator begins to comment on the images: "An invisible university town. A university in a villa suburb, in the countryside."

The film "F.U. 1963" by director Wolfgang Kiepenheuer introduces its viewers to the reality of the still very young university - just 15 years old at the time. The work, which is just under eleven minutes long and exists in its original form as a 16mm black-and-white film, has now been restored and digitized with funds from the Ernst Reuter Society on behalf of the University Archive.

Scenes from the founding and construction phase of the university can be seen. The Henry Ford Building with its large window facades is built - they will play a role in the course of the film. The first refectory is built, the foundation stone for the student village Schlachtensee is laid. Everyday life in the "Klinikum Steglitz" (which was built in 1959 and was renamed "Universitätsklinikum Benjamin Franklin" in 1994 and is now called "Charité Campus Benjamin Franklin") is documented, as is student life, including the so-called "Brother-Sister-Program", in which Berlin students each took care of a foreign student guest. Also on display: the work of the academic committees with a student voice - including the Board of Trustees chaired by Willy Brandt. In addition to the then Governing Mayor of Berlin, another prominent politician makes an appearance: the film ends with impressive images of the speech given by U.S. President John F. Kennedy on June 26, 1963, in front of some 20,000 visitors to the Henry Ford Building.

The production of the film "F.U. 1963" was commissioned by the university's rectorate. "The whole thing was intended to serve as an image film," says Dr. Birgit Rehse. As head of the university archive, the historian and scientific archivist oversaw the indexing and digitization. "The film was clearly about showing in the direction of the U.S. that with Freie Universität an institution had been founded that works democratically and holds the freedom of science particularly high," says Rehse, and continues, "but which also really needs a lot of money to do so." Money that also came from the USA.

For Rehse, the anecdote about the window cleaners is interesting for another reason: "With the large glass facades of the Henry Ford Building, Freie Universität corresponded to a modernist architecture that was already widespread in the U.S. and stood for transparency and democracy, but initially took some getting used to for many in Berlin."

Thus, the film is also to be understood as a plea not to discontinue financial aid for Freie Universität - at the same time, it shows what has already been created with the donations made so far. This progress becomes particularly clear when compared with the film Eine freie Universität, which was also made by director Kiepenheuer in 1949, one year after Freie Universität was founded, and was released with great success. "Many set pieces from the first film were integrated into "F.U. 1963" so that this film could also reflect the history of the university's founding, which had been the main theme of the first film," Rehse emphasizes. The archivist has seen the film dozens of times; the question remains, does she have a favorite scene? "The visit of John F. Kennedy and the view of this incredible crowd of people standing there in front of the Henry Ford Building is already extraordinary and a real goosebump moment for me," she says.

Those interested can see for themselves by contacting the University Archives team (archiv@fu-berlin.de). Due to unresolved rights issues, the film was not available online for a long time, but it will be shown at events at Freie Universität at the latest as part of the 75th anniversary celebrations.