Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg
Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg (
German Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg ) was founded
1457 in
Freiburg by the
Habsburgs. One of the oldest
universities in
Germany, it has a long tradition of teaching the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences.
Originally Albrechts University, the university started with four faculties (
theology,
philosophy,
medicine and
law). Its establishment belongs to the second wave of German university foundings in the late
Middle Ages, like the
Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen and the
University of Basel. Established by papal privilege (
papal bull) the University in Freiburg actually was - like all or most universities in the middle ages - a corporation of the church body and therefore belonged to the
Roman Catholic Church and its hierarchy. The bishop of
Basel consequently was its
provost or
chancellor (
Kanzler), the bishop of
Konstanz was its
patron while the real founder of the university was the sovereign, Archduke
Albert VI of Austria, being the brother of
Frederick III, Emperor of the
Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. At its founding, the university was named after
Albert VI of Austria. He provided the university with land and a huge amount of
endowments as well as its own
jurisdiction. Also he declared Albrechts University as the "county university" (German
Landesuniversität) for his territory - in the past including an area from
Alsace to
Tyrol - until it was handed over to the Austrian
House of Habsburg in 1490.
Shortly after that the university had a time of prosperity when numerous later famous
humanists were educated there like
Geiler von Kaysersberg,
Johann Reuchlin or
Jakob Wimpfeling. When
Ulric Zasius was teaching law (until 1536), Freiburg became a centre of
humanist jurisprudence. From 1529 to 1535
Erasmus of Rotterdam lived and taught in
Freiburg. Since around 1559 the university was housed at the
Altes Collegium ("Old College"), today called the "new town-hall". The importance of the university decreased during the time of the
Counter-Reformation. To counter those tendencies, the administration of two faculties was handed over to the Roman-Catholic order of the
Jesuits in 1620. (The two faculties were, of course,
Theology (or
Divinity) and
Philosophy.) Since 1682 the
Jesuits built up their college as well as the Jesuit church (nowadays the "University Church" or
Universitätskirche).
At times, especially during the disorders of the
Thirty Years' War, the university had to move out of
Freiburg temporarily, e.g. from 1686 to 1698, when French troops devastated
Freiburg and the southern parts of the
upper Rhine region.
After
Freiburg as the capital of
Further Austria was re-conquered, a new time began for the university by the reforms of Empress
Maria Theresa of Austria. The requirements for admission were changed for all faculties in 1767 (before that time only
Roman Catholics were allowed to study) and
Natural Sciences were added as well as
Public Administration. Also in 1767, the university became a governmental institution despite the Church's protests. The Church finally lost its predominant influence on the university when the
Jesuits were suppressed following a decree signed by
Pope Clement XIII in 1773. It also might have been the
Zeitgeist and the official line of the new Emperor
Joseph II (successor and son of Empress
Maria Theresa of Austria) that his Patent of Tolerance which ensured
Protestants the same rights as
Catholics (published 1781) finally began an era of
Enlightenment within the domains of the
Habsburg, nowadays known as an era called
"Josephinismus". Consequently
Johann Georg Jacobi (brother of the more famous philosopher
Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi) in 1784 was the first Protestant professor teaching at the university in
Freiburg. It is said that
Joseph II instructed in his will to offer the professorship in
Freiburg to
Johann Heinrich Jacobi, probably already guessing the shocked reaction which the citizens of
Freiburg would show given the fact that the area around
Freiburg was deeply devoted to
Catholicism.
When
Freiburg became a part of the newly established
Grand Duchy of
Baden (in German
"Großherzogtum Baden") in 1805 (after
Napoleon occupied the area of the formerly
Further Austria), a crisis began for the university in
Freiburg. Indeed there were considerations by
Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden and
Karl, Grand Duke of Baden to close down the university in
Freiburg while both of them thought that the
Grand Duchy could not afford to run two universities at the same time (the
Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg also already existed since 1386). The university had enough
endowmentss and earnings to survive until the beginning of the regency of
Ludwig I, Grand Duke of Baden in 1818. Finally in 1820 he saved the university with an annual contribution. Since then the university has been named Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg (
Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) as an acknowledgement of gratitude by the university and the citizens of
Freiburg.
In the
1880s the population of the
student body and faculty started to grow quickly. The excellent scientific reputation of Albert Ludwigs University attracted several scientists like economist
Adolph Wagner, historians
Georg von Below and
Friedrich Meinecke, or jurists
Karl von Amira and
Paul Lenel. Just before
World War I the university counted 3,000 students. After World War I such experts in
philosophy as
Edmund Husserl and (since 1928)
Martin Heidegger taught at Albert Ludwigs University, also
Edith Stein (she was the assistant of
Edmund Husserl, the predecessor of
Martin Heidegger). In the beginning of the
20th century several new university buildings were built in the centre of Freiburg, such as in 1911 the new main building. During the "
Third Reich" the university went through the process of
Gleichschaltung like the rest of the German universities. This means that most of the non-governmental or non-state-controlled institutions, unions, clubs and associations of students were illegal (e.g. Catholic student fraternities were declared illegal). After
World War II the university was re-opened. New buildings for natural
science were erected in the
Institutsviertel ("institute quarter").
In the late 20th century, the university was part of a mass education campaign and expanded rapidly. The student body grew to 10,000 by the
1960s, and doubled to 20,000 students by
1980.
In the
1970s, the faculty structure was changed to 14 departments, with the Faculty of
Applied Sciences becoming the 15th faculty in
1994. In
2002, the number of faculties was reduced to eleven.
The Albert Ludwigs University Freiburg has many partnerships with universities all around the world, especially the "Sokrates/Erasmus" partnership - a system mainly throughout Europe with an exchange-programme that is very popular with foreign students.
 |
Kollegiengebäude I as viewed from the library |
Having grown with the city since the 15th century, the university's buildings are deeply intertwined with the city of Freiburg. There are three large campuses scattered throughout the city (the university centre next to the historical city of Freiburg, the institutes quarter and the applied sciences campus), but other buildings can be found all over Freiburg.
Today the university has a student population of around 20,000, including both undergraduate and graduate students. Approximately 10-15% of these students are foreigners.
In 2001 there were about 360 professors, 2,800 scientific employees and 7,700 non-scientific employees working for Albert Ludwigs University, making it one of Freiburg's biggest employers.
 |
Students eating in the central mensa. |
The university is headed by a
rector and divided into 11 faculties:
# Faculty of
Theology# Faculty of
Law# Faculty of
Medicine# Faculty of
Economics and
Behavioural Sciences# Faculty of
Philology# Faculty of
Philosophy (
history,
sociology, etc.)# Faculty of
Mathematics and
Physics# Faculty of
Chemistry,
Pharmacy and
Geo-sciences# Faculty of
Biology# Faculty of
Forestry and
Environmental science# Faculty of
Applied Science (mainly
computer science)
It is part of the regional
EUCOR federation with
Karlsruhe,
Basel,
Mulhouse and
Strasbourg.
*
Erasmus of Rotterdam*
Ulrich Zasius*
Karl von Rotteck*
Karl Theodor Welcker*
Edmund Husserl*
Martin Heidegger*
Walter Eucken*
Friedrich August von Hayek*
Hermann Staudinger*
Gerd Tellenbach*
Martin Waldseemüller*
Ernst Zermelo*
Rudolf Carnap*
Herbert Marcuse*
Hans Friedrich Karl Günther*
Homepage of the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (in German)
