In Profile: University Benefactor Dr. Gerhard Metzger

No one needs to show Gerhard Metzger the way to the meeting room in the Schloss. The 68-year-old Mannheim alumnus knows his way around — even the old shortcuts are still fresh in his mind, he says with a smile as he returns to his alma mater. Since moving back to Mannheim in 2023, he has spent much of his time on campus as an active member of ABSOLVENTUM and the Friends of the University of Mannheim, attending library tours and lectures and joining the annual scholarship ceremony. “Plus, my apartment is in the B-Quadrate, I more or less live in the university’s shadow,” Metzger adds, and soon he is reminiscing. School years, student days, doctoral studies — a past that now feels far removed, in a world that was very different. He recalls it all with striking clarity, sharing his anecdotes with an easy polish; revisiting those years is clearly a pleasure, for him no less than for those listening.

Friendships for life

Metzger grew up across the Rhine, in the Palatinate town of Limburgerhof, and went to school in nearby Speyer. For university, he crossed the river back to his birthplace of Mannheim. In both his choice of institution and of field — business administration — he followed a family tradition. “My father had studied business administration at what was then the Mannheim College of Business and Economics, shortly after returning home from a prisoner-of-war camp,” Metzger explains. He began his studies in the winter semester of 1978–79, and those first weeks remain vivid in his memory. The sheer number of business students nearly overwhelmed him at first, he recalls with a laugh. “The old auditorium had 435 seats, and even that wasn’t enough for all of us. And in that packed lecture hall, in those first days — really, those very first days of the first semester — I met four fellow students with whom I am still close friends today. We last met in 2025, and another reunion is already planned for 2026.” Those friendships became a steady anchor, while Metzger pursued his studies with determination. Thanks to a scholarship, he was able to devote himself fully to his studies. He later completed his doctorate under Professor Gaugler, again on a scholarship, in just two years.

In 1986, he entered the workforce. “Automotive engineering, mechanical engineering—those would have made sense,” he says with a grin. “After all, I had studied at a university in Baden-Württemberg.” That he ultimately joined BASF, however, was again in keeping with family tradition. “Both my parents worked there, that’s where they met. On my mother’s side, I was already the fourth generation at the company.” After applying, he received an offer in management accounting but initially hesitated, unsure whether it was the right move. He turned to his doctoral supervisor for guidance. To this day, he remembers the response word for word: “It might later prove unwise to turn down this offer.” Metzger adds, “After all, you never commit to a company for your entire working life. I’ve often thought of those words over the years.”

The work in management accounting appealed to him immediately. The chemistry, he says, was hard going at first. And although his adviser had told him that no one expects to stay with their first employer forever, Metzger ended up doing exactly that. He stayed with BASF for 35 years: 22 in Ludwigshafen, followed by five in Lemförde in Lower Saxony and eight in Schwarzheide in Brandenburg. It is a professional journey he recalls with pride and deep satisfaction. Even during the years he lived elsewhere, he kept his apartment in Mannheim. After retiring, he returned to the city he had always considered home.

From scholarship recipient to university benefactor

For Metzger, becoming actively involved once again in the university community was only natural. “I owe a great deal to this university. It gave me the foundation I needed to succeed in my career,” he says. Throughout his life, he has been engaged in voluntary service — in local politics, in the church, and most recently as a lay judge — always wherever he happened to be living. In his support of the University of Mannheim Foundation, he has made use of several options: direct endowment contributions, sponsorship through the Deutschlandstipendium, and the inclusion of his alma mater in his will.

At last fall’s scholarship ceremony, Metzger met the student currently supported through his Deutschlandstipendium. “An impressive young corporate lawyer preparing for her first state exam. And thanks to the scholarship, she can focus fully on her studies,” he says. He appears wholly content when speaking about his philanthropic engagement, pleased that his journey has come full circle. “You return to the university and experience so much again from a different perspective — no longer as someone receiving support, but now as someone giving it. That brings me particular joy.”

Text: Jule Leger / April 2026