Out on September 1, for international understanding and against their wars!

27 August 2025

We, the Student Council of the University of Hamburg, call on students to participate in Anti-War Day and say loudly: Students, take to the streets on September 1! Because wars around the world are being fueled by German weapons that bring only death and destruction. While our university is being ruined by austerity measures, billions are being poured into armaments. The 5% cuts that are now coming and will hit us students hard show how little money is left for us. While semester fees have been raised again, cafeteria meals are becoming more and more expensive, entire professorships or tutorials are gradually being eliminated, and we are left alone with the course material, the federal government is spending more and more money on armament. This shows the priorities of politics. Increasing militarization does not stop at school classrooms or university lecture halls and research facilities, and so we see the civil clause being increasingly attacked or even circumvented. But we bear the consequences of this armament: we are the ones who can hardly afford to live, we are the ones who are supposed to do research for the military and armament, and we are the ones who will be sent to the front in case of doubt. But we have nothing to gain there!

It is no coincidence that the NATO war exercise “Red Storm Bravo” is now taking place in our city from September 25 to 29 in the city center and port area. Under the guise of “civil defense,” we are to be made fit for war and accustomed to the presence of the German Armed Forces. Funds that are deliberately being cut from social services are to be invested in the expansion of military infrastructure, and Hamburg is to become the hub of NATO's eastern flank. While nationalism and racism are being stirred up to divide us, our social situation is being deliberately exploited to lure us into the Bundeswehr with “financial security” and “opportunities for advancement.” But because there are not enough young people who want to participate in their wars, the Military Service Act is now to be passed and we are to be made liable for military service.

We do not want to be forced into the Bundeswehr, but want to live our lives self-determinedly and oppose the introduction of conscription and the attacks on the civil clause! Armament is not in our interest. We want to be able to live well and study for society, not for wars. Anti-War Day is a day that should remind us that war must never happen again, even today. Therefore:

Come out on September 1 for international understanding and against their wars!