Campus - 02.09.2026 - 10:00
As a chaplain, Thomas Reschke was there for the HSG community even during off-hours. For example, there was the time a student rang his doorbell at 3 a.m. seeking comfort because her cat had died. Or over Christmas, when he provided intensive support to a group of students who had witnessed a friend’s suicide attempt. “It has always been important to me that everyone feels welcome here—regardless of their background, faith, or academic performance,” says Reschke. After 25 years as a Catholic university chaplain, he will be leaving the HSG at the end of 2026.
But before then, the 63-year-old still has a lot to do: For example, he officiates 20 to 30 weddings each year for current or former members of HSG. “Then there are the children’s baptisms later on—those are always the greatest joy,” says Reschke. Several student clubs are also planning farewell celebrations for him during the fall semester of 2026; one of them will be titled “Das letzte Ma(h)l” (The Last Meal). “Fitting and original for my profession,” says Reschke with a laugh. All of this shows that he is well-liked and deeply rooted at HSG.
“Don Camillo”—as Reschke is known as an honorary member of three student fraternities—has earned this status through countless conversations and encounters. He estimates that he knows about 500 of the roughly 10,000 HSG students by their first names, he says, and attends many events. During the semester, Reschke and his wife Petra also host weekly lunches with guests at the Akademikerhaus.
That is the name of the Art Nouveau house near the HSG campus where Reschke lives as the university’s Catholic chaplain. His four children grew up here—and this is where guests from the worlds of politics, culture, and academia meet with HSG students every week. During lunch, discussions are open, and the “Chatham House Rules” apply: What is said here stays here.
In addition, Reschke organizes church services and events such as “Christmas in the Woods” or hikes. Furthermore, having studied theology, German language and literature, philosophy, and education in Münster, he gives one or two public lectures each semester on theological and religious topics. His most recent public lecture, in the fall of 2026, was titled “What Matters in Life.” At the same time, Reschke is active on Instagram and WhatsApp—“you have to be able to reach the students,” he says.
At the heart of his work as a university chaplain, however, are one-on-one conversations with a wide variety of people. “These encounters are what make my job so interesting; at the same time, the feedback from people I’ve been able to help gives me a lot of energy,” he says. For example, students who are under pressure or questioning the meaning of life come to him. Once, a student wanted to drop out of school shortly before completing his master’s degree to become a priest. Reschke advised him: “Finish your degree; you can still decide later.” Today, that former student is a deacon. But faculty members with relationship problems have also sought his advice.
Over the 25 years he’s been working there, HSG has become larger, more international, and more professional: in 2001, there were just under 5,000 students; today, there are twice as many. “But the pressure on young people has also grown in our time. Today, you can have an impressive résumé at age 23 and still feel completely lost,” says Reschke. He adds: “I think we need places for open dialogue where people can simply be themselves without the pressure to perform—and that’s even more important today.”
“If I wanted to give students something to take with them, it wouldn’t be ready-made answers, but rather the permission to truly ask the big questions of their lives. Especially at a university, religion shouldn’t stifle thinking, but rather broaden it,” says the deacon, who works closely with the HSG’s Protestant chaplain, Markus Anker. For example, the two chaplains jointly organize the university worship service once per semester.
His departure at the end of the year is part of a natural rhythm, he says. He and his wife are planning, for instance, to travel to Scandinavia in a motorhome in the spring of 2027. He will also be moving from the large parsonage with a garden to a smaller apartment in Wittenbach. In his office, there’s a 3D printer, and electronic parts are scattered about. Another plan for this new chapter in his life: “I want to build my own computer.”
