Berlin, 8 June 2018 – Claus Offe, Professor Emeritus of Political Sociology, is donating his library of around 3,500 volumes to the Hertie School. In addition to social science classics, the collection contains international research literature that Offe has collected over the course of his academic career since the beginning of the 1970s. The collection offers a documentation of important academic developments in certain specific areas, including democratic theory, comparative welfare state research and political economy.
President Helmut K. Anheier will announce the donation at the Hertie School’s annual graduation ceremony, which takes place today (8 June) at the Konzerthaus Berlin: "Since joining the faculty in 2005, Claus Offe has had a formative influence on the research profile and the overall development of the Hertie School. By transferring his valuable library to us, he enriches the university and makes his collection usable for subsequent generations of students and researchers. We are very grateful to him."
A student of the German sociologist and philosopher Jürgen Habermas, Claus Offe is one of the most influential social scientists in Germany. After many years working at the Max Planck Institute, at the Universities of Bielefeld and Bremen as well as the Humboldt University in Berlin, he joined the newly founded Hertie School in 2005. Emeritus since 2012, he continues to work at the public policy school.
The Hertie School is a private university based in Berlin, Germany, accredited by the state and the German Science Council. It prepares exceptional students for leadership positions in government, business, and civil society. Interdisciplinary and practice-oriented teaching, first-class research and an extensive international network set the Hertie School apart and position it as an ambassador of good governance, characterised by public debate and engagement. The school was founded at the end of 2003 as a project of the Hertie Foundation, which remains its major partner. www.hertie-school.org