Ladies and gentlemen, “Where is our chaotic world headed?” Professor Volker Mosbrugger opens his endowed professorship and lecture series with a question that could not be more timely.

Where is our world heading in this state of disorder? This question captures a sense of life—indeed, a concern for life—in our time. Many people feel that the world has fallen apart; that it is more chaotic, contradictory, and confusing than in previous decades.

Global crises, wars, the consequences of climate change, economic uncertainties, and rapid technological change are overwhelming people’s ability to find their bearings.

This is precisely where the role of science and public debate begins: first, to describe the chaos in all its complexity, to make it tangible, to reveal its connections—and to provide answers, or at least forecasts, for society.

It is with great pride and joy that I present to you today a distinguished figure who embodies this very connection between science and social responsibility: Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Volker Mosbrugger.

With the holder of the 26th Johannes Gutenberg Endowed Chair, we honor today a renowned Earth system scientist, geologist, and biologist, highly esteemed and recognized—both nationally and internationally. Welcome to Mainz!

You, dear Professor Mosbrugger, dedicate yourself to the study of our world in disarray through “Total History”—
a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to the history of the Earth, life, and humanity.

You no longer divide history into separate chapters—such as Earth’s history, human history, economic history, or natural history—but instead conceive of them all within a single, coherent narrative.

A narrative in which a volcanic eruption millions of years ago, the evolution of a leaf, the industrialization of Europe, and the global crises of our present day are not separate stories—but chapters of one and the same book.

What makes your work special is your consistent focus on connections. You don’t just ask: What is happening? But: Why is it happening? And above all: How is it connected to everything else?

At its core, the “total history” perspective holds an almost poetic truth: Everything is connected!

This insight is by no means new. Thinkers such as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Alexander von Humboldt had already articulated it. Yet in today’s highly specialized world, it has been lost.

All too often, we think in terms of disciplines, sectors, and departments. We act within our areas of responsibility. And we analyze problems in isolation. So how can we better understand our world in its complexity? And can we develop a system in which human capital, produced capital, and natural capital can flourish together?

We are all very eager to hear your answers in your lecture series, dear Endowed Professor Mosbrugger. And I am very glad—if I have read your announcements correctly—that you do not intend to prepare us for an apocalyptic scenario, but rather bring a sense of quiet optimism.

In doing so, you are drawing on a dictum by Max Frisch. It goes like this: “Crisis is a productive state. One must simply strip it of its aftertaste of catastrophe.”
This is an invitation to shift our perspective—an invitation we accept with gratitude and great anticipation.

Ladies and gentlemen, a glance at Prof. Mosbrugger’s academic career quickly makes it clear: here is someone who has never been satisfied with simple answers. From his studies in biology, chemistry, marine biology, and earth sciences in Freiburg and Montpellier, through professorships in Tübingen and Frankfurt, to his long-standing leadership of the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research: this career is marked by a consistent pursuit of scientific excellence and interdisciplinary research.

Professor Mosbrugger has led institutions, co-founded research centers, initiated international programs, and built scientific networks that are renowned worldwide.

Science communication has always been of great importance to you, dear Professor Mosbrugger—and remains so today.

Whether in your work for the Polytechnic Society, at the Königstein Forum, or in numerous research initiatives—you view science not as an end in itself, but as a social mission.

You bring insights into the public discourse. You promote dialogue rather than division. And you demonstrate that science aims to and can provide guidance.

I am convinced that this endowed professorship will have an impact far beyond the ten lectures. It will spark discussions. It will shift perspectives. And it will help us understand our “world in disarray” a little better.

Dear Prof. Mosbrugger, the appointment to the endowed professorship is an honor. It is awarded to individuals who distinguish themselves through the significance of their work for science and society. And who, with great dedication, bring scientific insights into society. In both respects, you are among the outstanding researchers of our time.

The Johannes Gutenberg Endowed Professorship is thus a unique institution and a great blessing for us, the people of Mainz. For every year anew, it brings together the ambassadors of science and the citizens. In a world built on science, where new insights constantly expand our lives and our understanding of the world, this is indispensable. The Endowed Chair is a flagship of our university city. It is a flagship of science for the citizens. And it was born out of civic engagement.

I would therefore like to express my heartfelt thanks, dear Mr. Rittgen, to the “Friends of the University” for gifting us this endowed professorship, which each year selects a theme that offers us insights into the diversity of science and knowledge.

And I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks, Professor Krausch, to Johannes Gutenberg University and, of course, to the foundation itself. Without all of your dedication to the benefit of the university, the city, and the region, such a high-caliber visiting professorship with a reach extending beyond our city would be unthinkable.

A look at the lineage of the endowed professorship, which is now yours as well, Professor Mosbrugger, reveals the prestige the professorship has enjoyed from the very beginning. Last year, it was primatologist and cognitive scientist Prof. Julia Fischer who took us on a journey into monkey society—a journey to the origins and development of relationships, interaction, intelligence, and language.

Before that, medical ethicist Bettina Schöne-Seifert confronted us with questions about the limits of what is medically and technologically feasible—and the limits of what is desirable for society and the individual.

Church historian Hubert Wolf, who opened the doors to the Vatican’s secret archives for us, marine scientist Antje Boetius, Joachim Gauck, AI researcher Wolfgang Wahlster, neuroscientist Angela Friederici, and Hans Dietrich Genscher also feature in this distinguished lineup. This small selection illustrates the significance and thematic breadth of the endowed professorship.

This summer semester, we are now looking forward to your lecture series, in which you will explore and discuss with your audience the question of where our “world in disarray” is heading.

Dear Professor Mosbrugger, before I ask you to sign the Golden Book of our city of Mainz, allow me to make a small remark with a wink.

If you are examining the world in disarray in your lectures, then it is fitting that you do so from Mainz—with a view out to the world beyond. For as mayor, I am proud to say: The world here with us is not quite so disordered after all.

Mainz is a city over 2,000 years old with a formative history of which we are very proud: a city with roots and a future, with dynamism, a thriving economy, renowned scholarship, and refined culture, with international flair and a strong sense of community. A city that embraces its diversity—and that knows that cohesion does not arise on its own, but is shaped every day.

Or to put it another way: The world may be in a state of turbulent upheaval and disorder in many places—but here in Mainz, we manage quite well to hold it together in our everyday lives. What helps us is that special “Mainz feeling.” I cordially invite you to explore this phenomenon more closely during your time as an endowed professor in the city.

A warm welcome to Mainz, Professor Mosbrugger!