Flaming fishes

University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology

Closure of FIT Hermannsburg


Dear Sir or Madam,
Dear Alumni,

The University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology Hermannsburg (FIT), founded in 2012, ceased operations in September 2025. Prior to this, the last students still enrolled at that time, who successfully completed their bachelor's degree in the summer semester of 2025, graduated in a festive ceremony.

In December 2025, the Mission Board of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission in Lower Saxony (ELM) and the Mission Committee (the ELM's governing body) formally decided to permanently close the Hermannsburg University of Applied Sciences for Intercultural Theology (FIT). As a result, the legal existence of the FIT ended on December 18, 2025.

We would like to thank everyone who supported us in our efforts to establish intercultural theology in church and society, but above all the FIT Alumni for the journey we have taken together.

The university bids farewell

  • with JOY for what has been achieved,
  • with SADNESS for the parting
  • and in the HOPE
    that our 13 years of work through the FIT alumni will continue to bear fruit both in Germany and in many other places around the world.

Let us remain IN EXCHANGE WITH GOD AND THE WORLD !

 

What happens after FIT closes?

Despite the closure of FIT, the churches supporting ELM consider intercultural theology to be ‘indispensable’ in a globalized world and in a society that is becoming increasingly culturally diverse as a result of migration. They will therefore continue to provide financial support for degree programs focusing on intercultural theology, which, however, will only be offered at the Faculty of Theology at the University of Göttingen from October 2025 onwards.

The English-language Master's program in Intercultural Theology, which was previously run by the Faculty of Theology in Göttingen in cooperation with the Hermannsburg University of Applied Sciences, will be offered exclusively in Göttingen from the 2025/26 winter semester onwards.

At the same time, the first cohort of the new English-language BA Intercultural Theology program has started in Göttingen. According to the Faculty of Theology, it imparts knowledge about Christianity in various cultural and religious contexts worldwide. The faculty emphasizes that it is an academic theology program with a special focus on intercultural perspectives.

Teaching on this English-language academic BA program will be carried out by professors and staff from the Faculty of Theology. In addition, an endowed professorship will be established at the faculty, which will be co-financed by the above-mentioned supporting churches via the ELM for 10 years and will be used in both programs, i.e., the BA and MA programs.

Further information from the Faculty of Theology in Göttingen on the courses offered there can be found here:

 

Library of former FIT

Information on the operation of the FIT library can be found here: 

Library