Moving farewell to a long-standing colleagueKarin Nentwig - A committed personality in University Sports Hamburg

7 May 2025

Karin's official farewell took place on 23 April 2025 in Mollerstraße. Many colleagues from Hochschulsport Hamburg, as well as numerous companions from her university career, came to celebrate her and give her their best wishes for her retirement. We are sure that it will be more of an ‘unrest’ stand with lots of movement and experiences.

Karin Nentwig retired after an extraordinary career at Universität Hamburg. On 23 April 2025, colleagues and companions gathered to bid her farewell in a festive ceremony. After her own farewell words, Nora Wieneke, long-time head of university sports at the University of Lüneburg, confidante and friend of Karin, as well as Birgitta Büsch, responsible for corporate health management at the University of Hamburg, and Jörg Förster, Managing Director of University Sports Hamburg, spoke about Karin's commitment in her professional and sporting life. The speeches honoured Karin's diverse career and her tireless commitment to sport, health and sustainability.

Karin began her career at the University of Hamburg after studying exercise science and training as a physiotherapist in 1993, initially working as head of university sports at the Technical University of Hamburg-Harburg, where she established a vibrant sports programme and opened the gym on the TUHH campus. She worked to adapt the university sports programme to the specific needs of university members and organised highlights such as the German University Mountain Biking Championships in 2003.

During her time at the Hamburg University Sports Promotion Association, she developed health programmes such as the ‘Pausenexpress’, an exercise-promoting break from work for employees. She was also involved in sports policy at the German University Sports Association (adh), was a member of the education committee and a board member in the education department.

In 2002, Karin took on responsibility as deputy managing director of University Sports Hamburg, later becoming acting managing director. After her time in university sports, she moved to space management at the University of Hamburg in 2012, where she managed projects such as the relocation of the Presidential Administration and the development of a space database.

Karin returned to university sports in 2016, this time focussing on health promotion, children's sports and sustainability. She established the ‘Bewegt studieren’ project, worked with the family offices, organised children's sports courses, children's birthday parties and holiday camps. She also dedicated herself to sustainable projects such as urban gardening, honey bees and wildflower beds on the sports park grounds.

Her passion for sport has always remained alive, even in her private life. She is an enthusiastic marathon runner, triathlete, climber and regularly practises handstands. At the 2001 Universiade in Beijing, she was a member of the adh team and looked after the German athletes, which shaped her passion for competitive sport.

In collaboration with Birgitta, she organised health and exercise for the university's employees and also offers for other universities, developed the Healthy Campus and held sports offers or lectures herself, was always present at runs and posted many videos on the subject of ergonomics at the workplace and exercise breaks online.

The speakers expressed their sincere thanks for Karin's dedication, inspiration and commitment. We wish her many exciting sporting experiences in the most beautiful places in the world in this new phase of her life.

We as a team have created a farewell video for them with shared experiences and many good wishes for their - we all agree - eventful time full of sport, travelling and adventures! Our thanks go to our two media mice Marieta and Alexa, who put the video together beautifully and created lasting memories.

Karin is convinced ‘that sport, exercise and learning new physical skills are not a question of age. I have always conveyed that the body and mind remain capable of change and learning throughout life - and that we can actively shape this process’.

Dear Karin, thank you for your tireless commitment, your passion for sport and your innovations in University Sports Hamburg. You will leave a big gap and many will miss you. For many years, you actively helped to shape university sport with your commitment, expertise and warmth. The entire team wishes you health, happiness and many exciting sporting experiences in the future - true to your motto: exercise and joy are the best for body and mind!

Goodbye, Karin - in Hamburg we say goodbye!

Many thanks to Nora for providing her speech and to Hans Jürgen for the many beautiful photos