About us

The Oecumenicum consists of the Ecumenical Institute and the Ecumenical Student Hall of Residence and is an establishment of the University of Heidelberg. It finds its roots in and is connected to the ecumenical movement. Male and female students from Germany and abroad, from different courses, church denominations, cultures and religions, live together in the Ecumenical Hall of Residence as a diverse and lively community.

In choosing the new house members, it is arranged so that there is a balanced ratio between men and women (1/2 to 1/2), German speaking and foreign speaking students (1/2 to 1/2), Ph.D. students (also occasionally guest lecturers) and students (1/3 to 2/3) and theologians and students studying other subjects (1/3 to 2/3).

The community in the Ecumenical Student Hall of Residence is based on Christian values. Students who have grown up in other cultural or religious contexts are expected to share their own ways of life and faith with the community and thereby enrich it.

What Living Together Involves

The academic house evenings take place in the lecture period every Tuesday from 7pm. After communal devotion and a communal meal - content unit on topics chosen by the residents themselves. Speakers from the university, politics and society are invited to participate. Residents of the house can also give talks.

Taking part in the academic house evening is a compulsory part of the communal life.

Dovotions and other forms of religious celebration, which the house members or the head of the students organise give people the opportunity to get to know different forms of religion and to consider different religious traditions. Traditions and experiences of other religions can and ought to interrelate. All house members take part in the devotion on Tuesdays as a part of the house evening.

All residents take part in the Tuesday devotions on the house evening. In addition, a devotional service is held on Thursdays at 10pm. Morning devotions take place by appointment.

Breakfast is also a part of communal life, which is provided from Monday to Friday (excluding holidays) in the lecture period between 8am and 9am. At the beginning of each semester there is an introductory weekend where old and new housemates can get to know each other. This applies just as much as for the study trip that takes place every summer semester where social activity and culture are combined.

House members are very welcome to organize and present other activities and events of their own initiative in accordance with those in charge.