A Minor in Event Management
They’re a Mannheim institution and now widely known beyond the city of squares: the Schneckenhof parties at the University of Mannheim. Going back as early as 1971, they are organized by students on a regular basis. FORUM met with Emma Potocnik and Finn Argent, co-chairs of the party board at the Student Body Representative Committee, to talk about the “Schneckenhof party phenomenon.”
Spotlights illuminate the bright yellow walls of the Mannheim palace in colorful style. Bathed in the glow of alternating blues, reds and greens, they are repeatedly shrouded in the ethereal mist created by the fog machine. A crowd of 3,000 is letting loose and having fun. The DJ spins “Everybody” by the Backstreet Boys, then “Roller” by Apache 207. The closer you get to the speakers, the more you feel your body vibrate with the bass.
Anyone entering the Schneckenhof at the University of Mannheim on a Thursday night will run into this unexpected scene. Starting at 9 p.m., the same courtyard that sees university students and staff come and go during the day becomes a gathering ground for partygoers seeking to forget their academic pressures or everyday worries for a few hours. This transformation occurs multiple times each semester – thanks to the dedicated work of Mannheim students.
“Organizing the Schneckenhof parties has been one of my most rewarding experiences as a student,” says Finn Argent, who, together with Emma Potocnik, co-chairs the party board at the Student Body Representative Committee, or Verfasste Studierendenschaft (VS), of the University of Mannheim. Since 2019, Argent, a student in the Master’s Program in Culture and Economy with majors in philosophy and business administration, has been dedicating part of his free time to these widely popular student events – initially as a delegate of his departmental student committee and now as chair of the party board.
Economics student Potocnik, who joined the party board two and a half years ago, explains how it works: “Aside from the two of us, there are two AStA representatives and two delegates from each of the ten departmental student committees. Each department organizes one party per semester, but sometimes two of them might also throw one together.” During the lecture period, the Mannheim Schneckenhof – aside from other events – is usually host to seven parties organized by students. Anyone who wants to party is welcome, even if they’re not Mannheim students.
Themes, tickets and finding a DJ
The departmental student committees are supported by Christian Weisenburger, an event manager with Service & Marketing GmbH, a subsidiary of the University of Mannheim that has helped organize the Schneckenhof parties since the early 2000s. “We mainly take care of the general setup. Aside from renting out the venue itself, this includes providing toilet trailers and counters and communicating with the city of Mannheim,” he explains. In addition, Weisenburger is present at every party to serve as a go-to person for students.
As chairs of the party board, Potocnik and Argent are responsible, among other things, for making general contracts with external service providers that cover all events. The departmental student committees take care of the specific makeup of their respective “Hof,” as the parties are known colloquially. “Aside from finding a party theme, this includes marketing, decoration, ticket and poster design, and booking a suitable DJ,” says Potocnik. Furthermore, it involves ordering beverages and recruiting volunteers from the respective departmental committees. “There are many small puzzle pieces that eventually make up the big event,” Argent adds. “We get a real taste of the world of event management.”
The two have experienced for themselves that this can also be challenging. “The time you have to put into this should not be underestimated. Both in terms of preparation, which starts two to three months before each party, and on the night itself. Sometimes we stay up until 6 a.m. to get everything dismantled,” recalls Potocnik with a chuckle. “You know, we’re also taking a few courses here on the side.” And yet, “it’s a wonderful feeling when everything works out in the end. You only need to look at the party crowd from the stage to know why we’re putting in all the work,” says Argent with a grin.
Norwegian beginnings
The Schneckenhof parties go back a long way at the University of Mannheim. It all began with the first so-called Norwegian party in 1971, self-organized by students even back then. The “Alliance of Norwegian Students Abroad” – at that time Norwegians formed the largest group of international students in Mannheim – started a party series that continues to be a cult classic: To this day, the Schneckenhof is draped in red, blue and white once a year when the traditional Norwegian party is on.
And what makes the Schneckenhof parties so different from all the others? “The venue is really unique,” says Argent. “Open-air parties are generally rare in the Mannheim city center. We often hear from outside guests that the parties are very professional, even though they are organized by student volunteers.” This is another unique feature, according to Weisenburger: “I can’t think of any other university in Germany where parties of this scale are organized by students on a regular basis.”
Now there is just one question left to answer: Where does the name “Schneckenhof,” meaning “snail courtyard” in English, come from? “There are many stories about this, but the answer is quite simple,” Weisenburger says with a laugh. “At the four corners of the courtyard, there are towers featuring spiral staircases. If you look down from above, they look like snail shells.”
Text: Jessica Scholich / August 2024
The interviews for the articles in this section took place in May and June 2024. It is possible, therefore, that officeholders have changed between the editorial deadline and the time the magazine went to print, or that some information is no longer up to date.