For Alexander Klebe, many things began at the European University Viadrina.
Not only in lecture halls, but through the camera in his hand.
The camera became a way into new worlds. It opened doors to events, conversations and people he might not have met otherwise. It was both tool and bridge. A way to participate, to observe and to create something with and for others.
During those years, one idea became clear:
Good ideas rarely grow in isolation.
They grow in systems of trust, exchange and mutual support. In conversations between classes. In coffee breaks. Over lunch. In unexpected encounters in the hallway.
The Viadrina was one of those systems.
A place where people encouraged each other, shared opportunities and helped ideas find their first shape.
One important moment came when Heide Fest, the university photographer at the time, asked Alexander whether he would like to photograph university events from time to time.
He picked up the camera, started working and understood something simple but decisive:
It was possible to earn money with something he genuinely loved doing.
A second important impulse came through Arne Meyer-Haake from the Viadrina Startup Center. He saw the work and said:
“You could build a business from this.”
What had started as a passion began to gain structure. Coaching, tax advice, legal guidance and entrepreneurial support turned a vague possibility into a foundation.
More than fifteen years later, that spirit returned to Ocean Studio Berlin.
For this special Salon, Viadrina alumni were invited into the studio for an evening dedicated to systems, storytelling and shared beginnings.
Agnieszka Lindner, Alumni Manager of the Viadrina, helped shape the framework of the evening with openness, care and a calm sense for connection.
Christine Bräunig added a Lego® Serious Play® format that made the topic tangible and playful. Through small models, personal reflections and shared stories, participants explored how we think in systems, how we tell stories and how our paths remain connected over time.
The evening brought together alumni, founders, creative professionals and people shaped by the Viadrina spirit.
It was not only a reunion.
It was a reminder that universities can become more than places of study. They can become long-term ecosystems of trust, courage, curiosity and mutual support.
For the Creators Foundation, this evening carried a strong message:
We are all part of systems that shape us.
And later, we become part of shaping those systems for others.
The Viadrina Alumni Salon showed how much a place can continue to live in the people who passed through it. Not only as memory, but as attitude.
Curiosity. Courage. Openness.
The willingness to follow one’s own path and support others on theirs.
In that sense, the evening was both personal and collective. A return to a beginning, and a continuation of something that still grows.
Because studying may happen once.
But learning, building and connecting continue for a lifetime.
A sincere thank you to the Viadrina alumni community, to Agnieszka Lindner, Christine Bräunig, Heide Fest, Arne Meyer-Haake and everyone who joined this special evening at Ocean Studio Berlin.
A quiet chapeau to the Viadrina.
And a thank you that still carries forward.
