Honorary professorship for founder Dr. Ernst A. Langner

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A visionary for jazz is honored by the Senate

Dr. Ernst A. Langner has been awarded the title of Honorary Professor by the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. In a festive ceremony held at Hamburg City Hall, Science Senator Katharina Fegebank presented the certificate to the long-time supporter and benefactor, recognizing his great commitment to strengthening jazz education at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama (HfMT). Thanks to his many years of support in the design and expansion of the jazz courses and thanks to the initiative of the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation to build a new concert hall and its own rehearsal rooms, which were completed this year, the position of jazz within the Hamburg music scene is now being significantly enhanced. Hamburg and the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation had already decided to strengthen the HfMT jazz department beyond this: the completion of the JazzLab will complement the newly built JazzHall as part of the expansion of the "Jazz" Master's degree course and in cooperation with the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation. The combination of the two new buildings has created more space for rehearsals and performances on the Outer Alster, which is urgently needed by the university. Thanks to the initiative and financial support of the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation, the number of "Dr. Langner Jazz Master" study places will be doubled by 2022/23.

Katharina Fegebank, Senator for Science"Dr. Langner is a Hanseatic patron and promoter of culture and science in a class of his own. With his work, he has shaped a very special aspect of Hamburg: Culture, music, or more precisely: jazz. I am therefore particularly pleased to be able to award him the honorary title of Professor today, which has only been awarded by the Senate around one hundred times in the past 70 years. Through scholarships and the targeted promotion and networking of young talent, he has created a completely new space for the development of Hamburg's jazz scene and, with great commitment, passion and considerable financial support, has sustainably strengthened the University of Music and Drama and Hamburg as a music location as a whole. Thanks to the new Master's degree course in jazz at the HfMT, which he made possible, the impressive newly built JazzHall and the JazzLabor with its rehearsal rooms, jazz education in Hamburg is now one of the best in the world. On behalf of the entire Senate, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Prof. Dr. Langner for his important work and his many years of outstanding commitment to the well-being of our city."

Prof. Elmar LampsonPresident of the University of Music and Drama (HfMT): "Prof. Dr. Langner is the greatest patron and most powerful visionary for jazz that has ever existed in Germany, if not internationally. He is one of the greatest patrons in the history of the HfMT. In addition to his outstanding patronage

he has developed a forward-looking vision for strengthening jazz in Hamburg's cultural life. A new era has begun for jazz at the HfMT. On behalf of the HfMT, I would like to thank him from the bottom of my heart! His systematically developed concepts, together with his patronage activities, now form the basis for a reassessment of the position of jazz within the Hamburg music scene. Prof. Dr. Langner's achievements have a lasting significance for Hamburg's cultural life."

Prof. Dr. Ernst LangnerChairman of the Board of Trustees of the Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation: "Today I would like to express my sincere thanks for being awarded the honorary title of 'Professor' by the Hamburg Senate. I gladly accept the title and would like to express my thanks to the Second Mayor and Senator for Science, Ms. Katharina Fegebank, and to the President of the University of Music and Drama, Prof. Elmar Lampson. What I have achieved for the university would not have been possible if I had not received the full support of the organs of my foundation over 16 years. My special thanks therefore go to the members of the Board of Trustees, Prof. Dr. Carl-Heinz Heuer and Dr. Bernhard Wunderlin, as well as the Executive Board with the Chairwoman of the Board, Ms. Nataly Langner, and her deputy, Ms. Antje Blumhagen. This is the first time that the Senate has honored a Hamburg citizen with a professorship for his services to the University of Music. In this respect, I share my pride with the President of the University, Prof. Elmar Lampson, and his Head of the Jazz Department, Prof. Wolf Kerschek."

About the person

Prof. Dr. Ernst Langner (born in 1943) has been devoted to music since his youth as an instrumentalist and lover of jazz and classical music. After graduating from high school in Cuxhaven in 1963, studying economics and gaining a doctorate in economics at the Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) in Munich, Langner began a self-employed career in the Lower Elbe region as an entrepreneur and founder of a hypermarket chain. Since the successful transfer of his business activities in food retailing in 1989, Prof. Dr. Langner has concentrated on national and international investments and holdings in various sectors. Prof. Dr. Langner established the non-profit Dr. E. A. Langner Foundation in 2004. The foundation focuses on promoting and expanding the jazz department at the Hamburg University of Music and Drama (HfMT). The foundation doubled the number of bachelor's degree places and established the "Dr. Langner Jazz Master's Degree", which now has an international reputation. The opening of a "JazzLabor" and the financing and opening of a jazz concert hall "JazzHall" on the grounds of the University of Music and Drama were the foundation's highlights in 2021.