Last week, the newly established Speinshart Scientific Center for AI and SuperTech hosted its first public event: “AI and Us”, a scientific panel designed to foster dialogue between researchers and the broader public — and it was a resounding success.
“After spending the past few months working quietly behind the scenes to complete the founding of the company and prepare for operations, it was truly wonderful to finally host our first public event — and to see that everything ran smoothly.”
Dr. Adrian Rossner
Behind the scenes, however, substantial progress had already been made. The organization, originally burdened with a lengthy official name, is now publicly operating under the much more concise title “Speinshart Scientific Center”. It also boasts a new corporate design, which will be featured both on-site and on the Center’s new website launching later this month.
The choice of an English name was deliberate, aiming to attract an international audience to visit Speinshart Monastery. Since 2023, the underlying concept has been developed with the vision of combining the living tradition of the Baroque abbey with the exploration of future technologies. The special spirit of the place has always been central — after all, Speinshart has for centuries been a place of science, community, and exchange.
A Special Place of Knowledge
This spirit was also deeply meaningful to Dr. Roßner himself, a historian by training:
“I was originally tasked with drafting the concept and coordinating the project for the creation of the center,” he explains. “After that phase concluded, I applied for the role of Managing Director in order to help bring it to life.”
He, too, was personally moved by the place:
“The community in and around Speinshart Monastery — the whole location — is truly unique. Once you’ve been here, it’s hard to let go.”
The next step is to open this space — and its long intellectual tradition — to scholars, who will be invited to attend multi-day seminars in a setting free from bureaucracy and daily distractions, giving them space to fully focus on their research. The first group to do so consisted of researchers from the University of Bayreuth, TU Darmstadt, and Saarland University. They had spent four years exploring Explainable Intelligent Systems, examining not only technical aspects but also legal, regulatory, and philosophical dimensions of artificial intelligence.
The project, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, culminated in a three-day retreat at Speinshart. The researchers embraced the atmosphere, enjoyed the peaceful surroundings — and even sampled the local monastery beer. On Tuesday evening, they presented their findings to the public in the form of a scientific panel, with each expert giving a brief five-minute talk followed by a Q&A session. The format was very well received by both the researchers and the audience, which included guests who had traveled all the way from Saxony.
A special highlight came from Prof. Dr. Holger Hermanns, the incoming Scientific Director of Schloss Dagstuhl — Germany’s renowned center for informatics research and a source of inspiration for Speinshart. He was not only impressed by the location and the collegial atmosphere, but concluded, based on what he had seen and experienced, that:
“Speinshart will become something truly phenomenal.”
Prof. Dr. Holger Hermanns
A better endorsement for the Center’s debut is hard to imagine.
Now the focus turns to preparing the next events and continuing to develop the Scientific Center in close cooperation with the monastery and the team at the International Meeting Center.
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