Introduction

For six decades, the Catholic Academic Foreigner Service (KAAD) has been supporting study and research stays of talented young people from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America in Germany. The idea for this scholarship scheme goes back to discussions at the German Catholic Congress in Fulda in 1954. Here, against the background of the recent experience of the Second World War, the first considerations were made to found a sponsoring institution for students from so-called developing countries (at that time still “Third World countries”) so that they get the opportunity to study in Germany. The idea behind it was to win the rapidly increasing number of African, Asian and Latin American students at German universities after the Second World War as possible bridge builders to the local churches in their countries of origin. At first, Asian countries were in focus of attention. Already in the winter semester 1956/57, the first foreign students were sponsored, three from China, three from India and one each from Japan, Pakistan and Vietnam (Weber 2008: 302).