A different vision of the societal role of universities, free universities: this is what nineteen scientists, lecturers and students wish to promote in this publication. Its contributors envisage universities as institutions that have liberated themselves from modern forms of megalomania and perverse incentives. They call upon universities to become places where the Bildung of students is given centre stage and where research will thus become more meaningful for society at large. They picture universities as part of an ecosystem making society more vital and dynamic, more committed, more service oriented, more tolerant and richer: a society where people share their lives with others and where a sense of serving others fosters wellbeing, tranquillity and wisdom.