The opening of the Lucas Cranach Campus is a dream come true for me. I think it's fantastic that the LCC has launched the new Autonomous Driving degree program, which we are supporting intensively. We will work together with the LCC to develop Kronach and Upper Franconia into a center for autonomous driving.

With the Lucas Cranach Campus, a new type of teaching and research environment is being created that will bring innovation practice into all our lives. I am delighted about this and expect many impulses for innovation and growth for companies and institutions in the region.

The university offering in Kronach provides prospects for the region in many respects and thus promotes local investment. Local industry, research and academic teaching benefit from each other. Overall, Kronach is strengthened as an educational and business location.

With the launch of the Lucas Cranach Campus, we have taken an important step toward becoming an educational region. From it, a radiant force is to unfold that will make our district known beyond its borders and thus strengthen its future as an attractive region. The innovative study concept will make a significant contribution to this in its form and implementation.

The Lucas-Cranach-Campus is a unique place to live and learn, where a modern university program is growing that addresses future issues and the strengths of our home region. The LCC is a 'we project' of the region. It was our vision for a good future, now it is a reality - and that makes me incredibly happy.

The LCC brings a new spirit to the city. No ivory tower of science, but a new home not only for research and development, but also for creativity, corporate and practical proximity. The LCC, a win-win situation for the region, the companies and the people!

At LCC in Kronach, we have the opportunity to implement a unique university concept that can build on broad support from the region. Modern teaching formats, special courses of study and exceptionally close cooperation with practice show what the university can look like in the future.

For me, the Lucas Cranach Campus is a place of innovative teaching and research. Students acquire knowledge about future technologies such as autonomous driving as part of new teaching concepts. Joint research by the university and local companies strengthens the region's innovative power.

At the LCC, research and teaching are linked in a practice-oriented manner. Innovation and interdisciplinarity are practiced both in the study program Innovative Health Care and in the close cooperation with the research group of the same name at the Institute (iisys) of Hof University of Applied Sciences.

What's exciting about the LCC is the integration of two universities. I hope that the LCC will help us to create a place that is different from other university locations. For Kronach, innovative courses of study and future-oriented research activities offer the chance to become better known beyond the region.

The Lucas Cranach Campus brings the interface to university research directly to us in the region. This opens up completely new opportunities for local companies: Together, we develop creative ideas, bring in the local perspective and meet tomorrow's innovation drivers today.

The LCC offers proximity to people. As a result, a network of learners, teachers, entrepreneurs and citizens will develop that does not exist like this at any other place of study. "Quality of life management" will be the challenge but also the opportunity of the future. The LCC offers enormous development potential both for the companies and the entire region, but also for the students.

In my view, the LCC has the key position of imparting future-oriented and urgently needed competencies in a relaxed learning environment through excellent equipment. I hope that the LCC will succeed in networking the Kronach region even more strongly and in bringing people, ideas and concrete technologies together. Many actions of the universities and the stakeholders involved are already bundled here today.