Beauty and the Beer participants enjoy the regal Heidelberg atmosphere 

Parties, travel, tours, new friends...and more parties.  Summer universities are a staple in the AEGEE world, and many of our local Heidelberg members have take advantage of the hospitalities of countless summer universities across Europe.  So when a proposal for a joint summer university in cooperation with AEGEE Aachen, Stuttgart, and Bamburg, we were happy to take the opportunity.

As you may know, that means inviting 30 strangers (or soon to be friends) from all across Europe to Heidelberg, where we give them places to sleep, things to eat, and organize activities for everyone for four days while they travel from Aachen, to Heidelberg, and on to Stuttgart and Bamberg.  

For their stop in Heidelberg, participants were given a guided tour of the old city by our very own history expert, Sigi!  Sigi is an expert on local history, and the perfect person to give fun facts and details about the history of the area, while showing everyone the most beautiful parts of the city. 

In the following days, the group also made similar tours of the Schwetzingen gardens, as well as bar crawls in Unterstr.

AEGEE Heidelberg was lucky enough to host the highlight event of every summer university - European night.  European night is a classic at every overnight AEGEE event, where each participant brings some food and drink from their home country for others to share.  A buffet is made, and you're able to sample many different types of sweets, alcohols, and foods from all over Europe.  Some people even make a 'Euro train' challenge out of it, with a goal to sample everything from every country!  It's a good way to learn about different cultures, and to see what foods are symbolic, classic, or important in other regions of Europe.

When all was said and done, the Heidelberg portion of the Summer University was quite successful, with lots of laughs and memories made by all involved.

Similar exchanges take place all over Europe, and only AEGEE members are able to take place.  If you're interested in participating in a similar event in France, Italy, Turkey, or further abroad, reach out to any AEGEE Heidelberg member for more information!

Written by Chris Fedosick, Events manager, 11 September 2026