Heidelberg, 9 May 2025 MrWissen2Go visits the International Study Center
On May 9, 2025, we at the International Study Centre of Heidelberg University had the pleasure of welcoming the journalist and presenter Mirko Drotschmann, known from television and social media, who is probably even better known under his moniker “MrWissen2Go”. His lecture took place at the Neue Universität building, which for our students not only meant a trip to the other side of the Neckar river, but above all, an opportunity to experience an authentic university lecture.
The high turnout was evident in the packed lecture hall: The audience included students from the history and politics courses of the first and second Studienkolleg semesters, Tunisian government scholarship holders, students from the Semester Courses for exchange students as well as students from the intermediate and advanced levels of the intensive German language courses at the Kolleg für deutsche Spache und Kultur at the Max-Weber-Haus. In addition to the director and the vice director of our institute, Mrs Gardt and Dr Deissler, many colleagues from both the Studienkolleg and the Max-Weber-Haus also attended.
As “MrWissen2Go”, Mirko Drotschmann is known to the students primarily for his factually sound and well-prepared videos and reports, which are used to deepen knowledge, prepare for and review lessons, and to study for the semester exams or the Studienkolleg's final exam, the Feststellungsprüfung. Mr Bahn, who organized the event together with his colleague Dr Roth, had invited Mr Drotschmann to give a lecture on the topic "Conveying Knowledge on Social Media", which concluded with a question-and-answer and discussion session.
The following report by Ms Asia Vilenskaia from the S course of the first Studienkolleg semester offers further insights into the event:
I must honestly admit that I probably knew far too little about Mr. Drotschmann until now, because the positive and lively atmosphere in the audience surprised me, and I had previously only known him from the videos in our history classes. The topic of the lecture was "Conveying Knowledge on Social Media", and it lasted two hours. It is an issue that is widely discussed in current educational politics.
I was definitely curious to see what could be learned and discovered about this topic. We learned that social media can support learning, but also what must be taken into account when using it and how it must be prepared to meaningfully supplement in-person classes and have a positive impact on learning success. What I found particularly exciting was the look behind the scenes — or in this case, behind the videos by Mr Drotschmann. He gave us some exclusive insights into his YouTube channel, and we learned a few things about data such as view counts or watch time, which are not normally accessible to the public. Following his presentation, it was a pleasant surprise that a lot of time had been set aside for us to ask Mr Drotschmann our questions.
Everything was discussed: How the “MrWissen2Go” channel is funded, how to approach sensitive issues on a political or historical YouTube channel, and even how much water Mr Drotschmann drinks per day. Our many questions had to be stopped, however, 10 minutes before the end of the event so that everyone interested had the opportunity to take a photo with Mirko Drotschmann or get an autograph. The event was cheerful and was discussed further later on back at the Studienkolleg.
Overall, it was a perfect day: The weather cooperated, and the invitation to an event at the University's lecture hall building was a great occasion and experience for us prospective students. Many thanks to Mr Drotschmann for the detailed insights into his work and to everyone who made this event possible. We hope for new encounters that will further our understanding of what we are currently learning and what we are planning to study later.
