Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

in Saxony,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen, and originally comprised the four scholastic faculties. Since its inception, the university has engaged in teaching and research for over 600 years without interruption. Famous alumni include

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathem ...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner,

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was ...

Georgius Agricola Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Pawer or Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empire ...

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Opp ...

and ten Nobel laureates associated with the university.

History

Founding and development until 1900

The university was modelled on the University of Prague, from which the German-speaking faculty members withdrew to Leipzig after the

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the insp ...

crisis and the

Decree of Kutná Hora The Decree of Kutná Hora ( cs, Dekret Kutnohorský) or Decree of Kuttenberg (german: Kuttenberger Dekret) was issued on 18 January 1409 in Kutná Hora (''Kuttenberg''), Bohemia, by King Wenceslaus IV to give members of the Bohemian nation a decis ...

. The ''Alma mater Lipsiensis'' opened in 1409, after it had been officially chartered by

Pope Alexander V Peter of Candia, also known as Peter Phillarges (c. 1339 – May 3, 1410), named as Alexander V ( la, Alexander PP. V; it, Alessandro V), was an antipope elected by the Council of Pisa during the Western Schism (1378–1417). He reigned briefly ...

in his '' Bull of Acknowledgment'' on (9 September of that year). Its first rector was Johannes Otto von Münsterberg. From its foundation, the Paulinerkirche served as the university church. After the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the church and the monastery buildings were donated to the university in 1544. In order to secure independent and sustainable funding, the university was endowed with the lordship over nine villages east of

(university villages). It kept this status for nearly 400 years until land reforms were carried out in the 19th century. Like many European universities, the University of Leipzig was structured into colleges (''collegia'') responsible for organising accommodation and collegiate lecturing. Among the colleges of Leipzig were the Small College, the Large College, the Red College (''Rotes Kolleg'', also known as the New College), the college of our Lady (''Frauenkolleg'') and the Pauliner-College (''Pauliner Kolleg''). There were also private residential halls (''bursen'', see English 'bursaries'). The colleges had jurisdiction over their members. The college structure was abandoned later and today only the names survive. During the first centuries, the university grew slowly and was a rather regional institution. This changed, however, during the 19th century when the university became a world-class institution of higher education and research. At the end of the 19th century, important scholars such as Bernhard Windscheid (one of the fathers of the German Civil Code) and

Wilhelm Ostwald Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald (; 4 April 1932) was a Baltic German chemist and philosopher. Ostwald is credited with being one of the founders of the field of physical chemistry, with Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Walther Nernst, and Svante Arrhen ...

(viewed as a founder of modern

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistica ...

) taught at Leipzig. Rotes Kolleg Leipzig

Leipzig University was one of the first German universities to allow women to register as "guest students". At its general assembly in 1873, the thanked the University of Leipzig and Prague for allowing women to attend as guest students. This was the year that the first woman in Germany obtained her JD, Johanna von Evreinov. During the

decline Decline may refer to: *Decadence, involves a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, or skill over time * "Decline" (song), 2017 song by Raye and Mr Eazi * ''The Decline'' (EP), an EP by NOFX *The Decline (band), Australian ...

and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire in the 19th and first decade of 20th century together with some other German universities Leipzig University turned into one of the centers of higher education for state administrations and elites of newly independent Balkan states (

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

) educating over 5,500 students from the region in 1859–1909 period. Until the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Leipzig University attracted a number of renowned scholars and later

Nobel Prize laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

s, including Paul Ehrlich, Felix Bloch, Werner Heisenberg and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. Many of the university's alumni became important scientists.

Nazi period

Under

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

rule many degrees of

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

were cancelled. Some were later reinstated as Karl-Marx University degrees by the GDR. Noteworthy Nazis, such as Max Clara (chair of anatomy) taught at the university and were appointed to positions with great authority. The university was kept open throughout World War II, even after the destruction of its buildings. During the war the acting rector, Erich Maschke, described the continuation of the university in a memo on 11 May 1945, announcing the vote for a new rector: By the end of the war 60 per cent of the university's buildings and 70 per cent of its books had been destroyed.

The university under the German Democratic Republic

The university reopened after the war on 5 February 1946, but it was affected by the uniformity imposed on social institutions in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

. In 1948 the freely elected student council was disbanded and replaced by Free German Youth members. The chairman of the Student Council, Wolfgang Natonek, and other members were arrested and imprisoned, but the university was also a nucleus of resistance. Thus began the Belter group, with flyers for free elections. The head of the group, Herbert Belter, was executed in 1951 in Moscow. The

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **G ...

was created in 1949, and in 1953 for

Karl Marx Year Karl Marx Year (german: Karl-Marx-Jahr) was a series of anniversaries of Karl Marx commemorated by East Germany in 1953, 1968, and 1983. The most prominent was in 1953, for the 70th anniversary of Marx's death, and included the renaming of Chemnitz ...

the university was renamed by its government the Karl Marx University, Leipzig after

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. In 1968, the partly damaged Augusteum, including Johanneum and Albertinum and the intact Paulinerkirche, were demolished to make way for a redevelopment of the university, carried out between 1973 and 1978. The dominant building of the university was the University Tower (now

City-Hochhaus Leipzig City-Hochhaus is 36- story skyscraper in Leipzig, Germany. At , it is the tallest multistory building in Leipzig and is located proximately of the eastern part of the inner city ring road in Leipzig's district Mitte. The tower was designed by ...

), built between 1968 and 1972 in the form of an open book.

After the reunification of Germany

In 1991, following the reunification of Germany, the university's name was restored to the original Leipzig University (''Alma mater lipsiensis''). The reconstruction of the University Library, which was heavily damaged during the war and in the GDR barely secured, was completed in 2002. With the delivery of the University Tower to a private user, the university was forced to spread some faculties over several locations in the city. It controversially redesigned its historical centre at the Augustusplatz. In 2002, Behet Bonzio received the second prize in the architectural competition; a first prize was not awarded by the jury. A lobby with partial support of the provincial government called for the rebuilding of St. Paul's Church and Augusteum. This caused the resistance of the university leadership, the majority of the students and population of Leipzig. On 24 March 2004 a jury chose a design by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, which was well received by almost all parties. He recalls the outer form of the St. Paul's Church (today called Paulinum) and Augusteum, and abstracted the original building complex. Renovations began in the summer of 2005. In 2008 the university was able to prevail in the nationwide "Initiative of Excellence" of Germany and it was granted the graduate school " BuildMoNa: Leipzig School of Natural Sciences – Building with Molecules and Nano-objects". In addition, the university was able to receive grants from the Saxon excellence initiative for the "Life" project – a project that tries to explore common diseases more effectively. Also in 2008 the "Bach Archive" was associated with the university. In 2009, the Leipzig University celebrated its 600th anniversary with over 300 scientific and cultural lectures and exhibitions, reflecting the role of the university's research and teaching from its beginning.

Campus

The university's urban campus comprises several locations. All in all, the university is spread across 38 locations in Leipzig. The main buildings in the city center (district Mitte) are still located on the same land plots as the earliest university buildings in 1409. The university's buildings in the center of Leipzig underwent substantial reconstruction from 2005, the new university's main building being drafted by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat. The estimated total cost for the renovation project is 140 million euros. The new buildings were scheduled to be completed in 2009/2010, in time for the university's 600th anniversary celebrations. Besides the faculties and other teaching institutions, several other bodies serve the university: the University Library, a university archive and administration, numerous museums (e.g. the Museum for Music Instruments and the Museum of Ancient Egypt) and the university hospital. The university's

Leipzig Botanical Garden The Leipzig Botanical Garden (german: Leipziger Botanische Gärten, Botanischer Garten der Universität Leipzig) is a 3.5-hectare botanical garden maintained by the University of Leipzig and is located at Linnéstraße 1, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. ...

, the second-oldest botanical garden in Europe. was established in 1542. The university's Musical Instrument Museum includes one of the world's three surviving

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

s built by

Bartolomeo Cristofori Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano. Life The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death reco ...

, the piano's inventor. Five other Cristofori instruments are included in the Museum's collections. Key Central institutions of the university are * Centre for Biotechnology and Biomedicine * Career Service * Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig/DLL * German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig * Higher Education Didactics Centre Saxony * Kustodie (Art Collection) * Leipzig University Music * Leipzig Research Centre Global Dynamics * Research Academy Leipzig * Language Centre * Saxon Preparatory Courses (Studienkolleg Sachsen) * Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine Leipzig * University Archive * University Library * University Computer Centre * Centre for University Sport * Centre for Teacher Training and School Research * Centre for Media and Communikation

Library

The University Library of Leipzig was established in 1543. It is one of the oldest German university libraries and it serves as a source of literature and information for the Leipzig University as well as the general public in the region. Its extensive historical and special collections are nationally and internationally recognized. The library consists of the main building "Bibliotheca Albertina" and forty branches situated near their respective academic institutions. The current stock comprises 5 million volumes and about 7,700 periodicals. Collections range from important medieval and modern manuscripts to incunabula, papyri, autographs, ostraka and coins. The Apel Codex, a manuscript of 16th century music, is housed in the Leipzig University library, as well as the Papyrus Ebers. The Leipzig University Library also owns parts of the

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

, a Bible manuscript from the 4th century, brought from Sinai in 1843 by Constantin von Tischendorf. Papyrus Ebers is the longest and oldest surviving medical manuscript from ancient Egypt, dated to around 1600 BC. The Codex contains large parts of the Old Testament and a complete New Testament in ancient Greek, and is one of the most important known manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament and the New Testament. It is the oldest fully preserved copy of the New Testament. Some of the University Library locations in Leipzig are: * Bibliotheca Albertina at Beethovenstraße 6 * Campus Library at Universitätsstr. 3 * Library of Deutsches Literaturinstitut at Wächterstr. 34 * Library of Arts at Dittrichring 18–20 * Library of Musicology at Neumarkt 9–19 * Library of Law at Burgstr. 27 * Library of Medicine at Johannisallee 34 * Library of Medicine at Käthe-Kollwitz-Str. 82 * Library of Veterinary Medicine at the Tierkliniken 5 * Library of Biosciences at Talstr. 35 * Library of Chemistry and Physics at Johannisallee 29 * Library of Earth Sciences at Talstr. 35 * Library of Geography at Johannisallee 19 * Library of Archaeology, Prehistory and Ancient History at Ritterstr. 14 * Library of Oriental Studies at Schillerstr. 6 * Library of Sports Science at Jahnallee 59 In addition to the university library, one of the two centers of the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

is based at Leipzig, the collections of which are open to use for academic research.

Faculties

The original four facilities were the Faculty of Arts, Theology, Medicine, and Law. As of November 2021, the university comprises the following 14 faculties with institutes and centers associated with each one. ; Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy * Institute of Analytical Chemistry * Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry * Institute of Chemical Technology * Institute of Inorganic Chemistry * Institute of Mineralogy, Crystallography and Materials Science * Institute of Organic Chemistry * Wilhelm Ostwald Institut of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ; Faculty of Economics and Management Science * Institute of Accounting, Finance and Taxation (IUFB) * Institute of Building Design and Management (IGB) * Institute of Business Education and Management Training (IFW) * Institute of Economic Policy (IWP) * Institute of Empirical Economic Research (IEW) * Institute of Information Systems * Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management (IIRM) * Institute of Insurance Science (IVL) * Institute of Public Finance and Public Management (PFPM) * Institute of Real Estate Management (IIM) * Institute of Service and Relationship Management (ISRM) * Institute of Theoretical Economics (ITVWL) * Institute of Trade and Banking (IHB) * Institute of Urban Development and Construction Management (ISB) ; Faculty of Education * Institute of Educational Sciences * Institute of Pre-Primary and Primary Education * Institute of Special and Inclusive Education ; Faculty of History, Arts and Regional Studies * Department of History * Institute of African Studies * Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies * Institute of Anthropology * Institute of Art Education * Institute of Art History * Institute of East Asian Studies * Institute of Egyptology * Institute of Musicology * Institute of Oriental Studies * Institute of South and Central Asian Studies * Institute of the Study of Religions * Institute of Theatre Studies ; Faculty of Law * Ernst Jaeger Institute of Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Law * Institute of Broadcasting Law * Institute of Energy and Regulatory Law * Institute of Environmental and Planning Law * Institute of Foreign and European Private and Procedural Law * Institute of German and International Law of Banking and Capital Markets * Institute of International Law * Institute of Labour and Social Law * Institute of Law and Politics * Institute of Public International Law, European Law and Foreign Public Law * Institute of Tax Law * Institute of the Foundations of Law * Institute of the Legal Profession ; Faculty of Life Sciences * Institute of Biochemistry * Institute of Biology * Wilhelm Wundt Institute of Psychology ; Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science * Institute of Computer Science * Institute of Mathematics ; Faculty of Medicine * Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology * Centre for Clinical Trials Leipzig * Centre for Environmental Medicine and Environmental Epidemiology * Clinical Pharmacology * Experimental Centre of the Faculty of Medicine * General Medicine Unit * Heart Center Leipzig GmbH * Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery (ICCAS) * Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics * Institute of Anatomy * Institute of Biochemistry (medicine) * Institute of Legal Medicine * Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology * Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health * Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases * Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research * Karl-Sudhoff-Institute of History of Medicine and Science * LIFE Forschungszentrum für Zivilisationserkrankungen (LIFE) * Neurological Rehabilitation Centre * Paul Flechsig Institute for Brain Research * Rudolf Boehm Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology ; Faculty of Philology * Institute of American Studies * Institute of Applied Linguistics and Translatology * Institute of British Studies * Institute of Classical Studies and Comparative Literature * Herder-Institute (German as a Foreign Language) * Institute of German Language and Literature * Institute of Linguistics * Institute of Romance Studies * Institute of Slavonic Studies * Institute of Sorbian Studies ; Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences * Institute of Geography * Institute of Geophysics and Geology * Institute of Meteorology * Peter Debye Institute of Soft Matter Physics * Felix Bloch Institute of Solid State Physics * Institute of Theoretical Physics ; Faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy * Institute of Communication and Media Studies * Institute of Global and European Studies * Institute of Philosophy * Institute of Political Science * Institute of Sociology * Institute of the Study of Culture ; Faculty of Sport Science * Institute of Sport Medicine and Prevention * Institute of General Kinesiology and Athletics Training * Institute of Movement and Training Science in Sports I * Institute of Movement and Training Science in Sports II * Institute of Exercise and Public Health * Institute of Sport Psychology and Physical Education ; Faculty of Theology * Institute of Church History * Institute of New Testament Science * Institute of Old Testament Studies * Institute of Practical Theology * Institute of Religious Education * Institute of Systematic Theology ; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine * Department for birds and reptiles * Department for horses * Department for ruminants and swine * Department for small animal * Institute of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology * Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health * Institute of Animal Nutrition, Nutrition Diseases and Dietetics * Institute of Bacteriology and Mycology * Institute of Food Hygiene * Institute of Immunology * Institute of Parasitology * Institute of Pathology * Institute of Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Toxicology * Institute of Physiological Chemistry * Institute of Physiology * Institute of Virology * Oberholz Farm for Teaching and Research

Institutes affiliated with the university

* International Max Planck Research School- Mathematics in the Sciences (IMPRS MiS), in association with

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MiS) in Leipzig is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Founded on March 1, 1996, the institute works on projects which apply mathematics in various areas of natural science ...

* International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity, in association with Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences * International Max Planck Research School "The Leipzig School of Human Origins", in association with Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology * Institute of Non-Classical Chemistry e.V * Institute for Applied Informatics * Simon Dubnow Institute for Jewish History and Culture at Leipzig University * Leipzig Centre for the History and Culture of East Central Europe * Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine *

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig is a DFG research center with staff and members at its main locations in Halle, Jena and Leipzig. It is a central facility of Leipzig University, and is run togeth ...

* Institute of East Asian Studies of the Leipzig University * Institute of Classical Archaeology of the Leipzig University * Institute for International Law, European Law and Foreign Public Law (InVEA) of the Leipzig University

Academics

Today, the university has 14 faculties. With over 29,000 students, it is Saxony's second-largest university. There are now more than 150 institutes and the university offers 190 study programs leading to

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, publi ...

, Diplom (equivalent to Master's degree) and Ph.D.s. The university offers a number of courses in English and other foreign languages, and there are several programs which have been specially designed for foreign students. Exchange partner universities include the universities of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, Oklahoma,

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

. Traditionally contacts to universities in Eastern Europe and the Far East are strong as well, e.g. there are cooperations with leading institutions such as Moscow's Lomonosov University and Renmin University in Beijing. Anatomie-Leipzig

There are several International Master's programs: American Studies, Global Studies, Sustainable Development Studies, SEPT (MBA in SME Promotion) and one Bachelor/Master's/Ph.D. program (International Physics Studies Program) taught in English. American Studies Leipzig was awarded three international professorships: The Fulbright-Leipzig Chair for American Studies, the DAAD Professorship for American and International Studies, and the Picador Guest Professorship for Literature. It is also the home of ''Aspeers – Emerging voices in American Studies'', a graduate-level peer-reviewed scholarly journal for

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Schol ...

. Erasmus Mundus Global Studies is an interdisciplinary, research-based Master offered by a consortium of five European universities: Leipzig University, the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

University of Wroclaw A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

and

Roskilde University Roskilde University ( da, Roskilde Universitet, abbreviated RUC or RU) is a Danish public university founded in 1972 and located in Trekroner in the Eastern part of Roskilde. The university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD ...

. In the field of anthropology, the university is cooperating with the Leipzig Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. In 1995, the Leibniz-Institute for Jewish History and Culture named after

Simon Dubnow Simon Dubnow (alternatively spelled Dubnov, rus, Семён Ма́ркович Ду́бнов, Semyon Markovich Dubnov, sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ ˈdubnəf; yi, שמעון דובנאָװ, ''Shimen Dubnov''; 10 September 1860 – 8 Dece ...

was formed as a research institution related to the university. Since 2008 the university is also home to one of Germany's few

Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...

s. The institute is based on an agreement of June 2006 between the university administration and representatives of the Chinese Embassy to establish a Confucius Institute in cooperation with the Renmin University and the "National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language". Leipzig University has been the home of the first German chair for Chinese and East Asian Languages in the 19th century, which later became the Institute of East Asian Studies, which still exists today (see

Georg von der Gabelentz Hans Georg Conon von der Gabelentz (16 March 1840 – 11 December 1893) was a German general linguist and sinologist. His (1881), according to a critic, "remains until today recognized as probably the finest overall grammatical survey of the Clas ...

Rankings

The university is ranked 18th in Germany, 98th in Europe, and 264th in the world by the web-based Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, a ranking evaluating universities' scientific online publications. The 2018 ARWU ranking sees Leipzig climbing in the 151–200 tier being among the top 14 German universities. Leipzig has constantly been ranked among the German top 10 in various university sport disciplines over the past decades.

International students

Leipzig university has a large body of international students. In winter term 2017, out of its 28,797 students about 11% (3,174) were foreign students.

Student life

Leipzig has a thriving student life with a large number of student run bars, sports clubs and recreational facilities for students. The student body in Leipzig is diverse, not only due to the broad spectrum of subjects at the university but also because of the other higher education institutions in the city. The Moritzbastei is the largest student club in Germany, it is part of the historic city fortifications of Leipzig and is famous for its atmosphere and large number of cultural events. The university is home to the Leipzig Academic Orchestra and the University Choir of Leipzig. There are numerous courses offered in performing arts every semester and a dance festival is organised by students once a year. In the field of sports, the university offers training opportunities and courses in almost all disciplines. During the annual Leipzig book fair, the university library and other university institutions organise public events for authors.

Notable people

Leipzig University has produced many notable individuals and noble laureates. Some famous people affiliated with Leipzig include:

Music

Johann Christoph Altnickol Johann Christoph Altnickol, or Altnikol, (baptised 1 January 1720, buried 25 July 1759) was a German organist, bass singer, and composer. He was a student, copyist and son-in-law of Johann Sebastian Bach. Biography Altnikol was born in Berna bei ...

, German composer, son-in-law to Johann Sebastian Bach *

Johann Friedrich Agricola Johann Friedrich Agricola (4 January 1720 – 2 December 1774) was a German composer, organist, singer, pedagogue, and writer on music. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Flavio Anicio Olibrio. Biography Agricola was born in Dobitschen, Thu ...

, German composer, pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

, German composer, second famous son of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (21 June 1732 – 26 January 1795) was a harpsichordist and composer, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach". Born in Leipzig in the Electorate of Saxony, he was ...

, German composer, 3rd famous son of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and compose ...

, German composer, first famous son of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Lorenz Christoph Mizler Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (also known as Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof and Mitzler de Koloff; 26 July 1711 – 8 May 1778) was a German physician, historian, printer, mathematician, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enlightenme ...

, German composer and music theorist, pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Friedrich Blume Friedrich Blume (5 January 1893, in Schlüchtern, Hesse-Nassau – 22 November 1975, in Schlüchtern) was professor of musicology at the University of Kiel from 1938 to 1958. He was a student in Munich, Berlin and Leipzig, and taught in the las ...

, German music theorist * Robert Schumann, German music composer * Christoph Graupner, German composer *

Johann Kuhnau Johann Kuhnau (; 6 April 16605 June 1722) was a German polymath, known primarily as a composer today. He was also active as a novelist, translator, lawyer, and music theorist, and was able to combine these activities with his duties in his offici ...

, German composer,

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...

* Johann David Heinichen, German composer and music theorist, Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Kapellmeister * Richard Wagner, German composer *

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hild ...

, German composer, godfather to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach

Humanities

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th centu ...

, German historian, Nobel Prize in Literature *

Franz Delitzsch Franz Delitzsch (23 February 1813, in Leipzig – 4 March 1890, in Leipzig) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, Biblical psychology, as well as a history of ...

, German Theologian and Hebrew Scholar * Michael Ranft, German historian and theologian. *

, German philosopher *

, German poet and polymath * Max Muller, philologist and Orientalist who wrote authoritative works on Indology. *

Leonard Bloomfield Leonard Bloomfield (April 1, 1887 – April 18, 1949) was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. He is considered to be the father of American distributionalis ...

, American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. He is considered to be the father of American Distributionalism. * Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and rector of the university *

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pr ...

, German poet, author, and critic * Christian Friedrich Henrici, German poet, Saxon Actuary, Postal clerk, Postal Commissioner, and Wine inspector * Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, German philosopher and writer *

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang ( ; October 10, 1895 – March 26, 1976) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generati ...

, Chinese author and linguist *

Nathan Söderblom Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Cale ...

, Swedish clergyman, Nobel Peace Prize * C. F. W. Walther, first President of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and its most influential theologian. * Ferdinand de Saussure, linguist, founder of structuralism

Sciences

, German Mathematician who developed

calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

, philosopher, polymath *

Felix Klein Christian Felix Klein (; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and mathematics educator, known for his work with group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the associations between geometry and grou ...

, German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis and non-Euclidean geometry *

Sophus Lie Marius Sophus Lie ( ; ; 17 December 1842 – 18 February 1899) was a Norwegian mathematician. He largely created the theory of continuous symmetry and applied it to the study of geometry and differential equations. Life and career Marius Soph ...

, Norwegian mathematician who developed Lie algebra *

August Ferdinand Möbius August Ferdinand Möbius (, ; ; 17 November 1790 – 26 September 1868) was a German mathematician and theoretical astronomer. Early life and education Möbius was born in Schulpforta, Electorate of Saxony, and was descended on hi ...

, German mathematician and theoretical astronomer, known for the Möbius strip. * Karl Mollweide, German mathematician and astronomer, known for the

Mollweide projection 400px, Mollweide projection of the world 400px, The Mollweide projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation The Mollweide projection is an equal-area, pseudocylindrical map projection generally used for maps of the world or celestial sph ...

Hermann Hankel Hermann Hankel (14 February 1839 – 29 August 1873) was a German mathematician. Having worked on mathematical analysis during his career, he is best known for introducing the Hankel transform and the Hankel matrix. Biography Hankel was born on ...

, German mathematician, known for the

Hankel transform In mathematics, the Hankel transform expresses any given function ''f''(''r'') as the weighted sum of an infinite number of Bessel functions of the first kind . The Bessel functions in the sum are all of the same order ν, but differ in a scaling ...

Felix Hausdorff Felix Hausdorff ( , ; November 8, 1868 – January 26, 1942) was a German mathematician who is considered to be one of the founders of modern topology and who contributed significantly to set theory, descriptive set theory, measure theory, an ...

, German mathematician, one of the founders of modern

topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ...

, known for the

Hausdorff space In topology and related branches of mathematics, a Hausdorff space ( , ), separated space or T2 space is a topological space where, for any two distinct points, there exist neighbourhoods of each which are disjoint from each other. Of the m ...

Bartel Leendert van der Waerden Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (; 2 February 1903 – 12 January 1996) was a Dutch mathematician and historian of mathematics. Biography Education and early career Van der Waerden learned advanced mathematics at the University of Amster ...

, Dutch mathematician * Johann Samuel Traugott Gehler German mathematician, physicist and lawyer, author of 'Physikalisches Wörterbuch' * Edgar Odell Lovett, American mathematician *

Wei-Liang Chow Chow Wei-Liang (; October 1, 1911, Shanghai – August 10, 1995, Baltimore) was a Chinese mathematician and stamp collector born in Shanghai, known for his work in algebraic geometry. Biography Chow was a student in the US, graduating from the ...

, Chinese mathematician and stamp collector born in Shanghai, known for his work in algebraic geometry. *

Johann Heinrich Winckler Johann Heinrich Winckler (12 March 1703 – 18 May 1770) was a German physicist and philosopher. Biography Early life Winckler was born in Wingendorf, a village in Silesia.Klemme, Heiner F; Kuehn, Manfred. (2016). ''The Bloomsbury Dictionary of E ...

, German physicist *

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent serie ...

, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics *

Felix Bloch Felix Bloch (23 October 1905 – 10 September 1983) was a Swiss-American physicist and Nobel physics laureate who worked mainly in the U.S. He and Edward Mills Purcell were awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for "their development of new ...

, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics *

Friedrich Hund Friedrich Hermann Hund (4 February 1896 – 31 March 1997) was a German physicist from Karlsruhe known for his work on atoms and molecules. Scientific career Hund worked at the Universities of Rostock, Leipzig, Jena, Frankfurt am Main, and Göt ...

, German physicist, discovered quantum tunnelling and is known for Hund's rules * Julius Edgar Lilienfeld, Austro-Hungarian physicist *

Ludwig Boltzmann Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (; 20 February 1844 – 5 September 1906) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher. His greatest achievements were the development of statistical mechanics, and the statistical explanation of the second law of ther ...

, Austrian physicist *

, Danish astronomer *

Gustav Hertz Gustav Ludwig Hertz (; 22 July 1887 – 30 October 1975) was a German experimental physicist and Nobel Prize winner for his work on inelastic electron collisions in gases, and a nephew of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz. Biography Hertz was born in Hamb ...

, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics * Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics * William Vermillion Houston, American physicist *

Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care for ...

, Hungaro-American nuclear scientist, member of the Manhattan Project *

Peter Debye Peter Joseph William Debye (; ; March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966) was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Biography Early life Born Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije in Maastricht, Netherlands, D ...

, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry *

, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry *

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure ...

, German doctor, Nobel Prize in Medicine * Svante Pääbo, Noble Prize in Medicine, currently teaches molecular evolutionary biology at the university *

Gustav Theodor Fechner Gustav Theodor Fechner (; ; 19 April 1801 – 18 November 1887) was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics (techniques for measuring the mind), he inspired ...

, German psychologist, founder of Psychophysics * Maximilian von Frey, physiologist, inventor of the

esthesiometer An esthesiometer (British spelling aesthesiometer) is a device for measuring the tactile sensitivity of the skin (or mouth, or eye, etc.). The measure of the degree of tactile sensitivity is called aesthesiometry. The device was invented by Edward ...

* Ernst Heinrich Weber, German physician and professor whose studies paved the way for the founding of

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

* Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist, founded the first formal laboratory for psychological research * Friedrich Trendelenburg, German surgeon, described surgical removal of pulmonary emboliArch Klin Chir 86:686, 2908, 1908

Politics

Luo Gan Luo Gan (; born July 18, 1935) is a retired Chinese politician. Between 2002 and 2007, Luo was one of China's top leaders, serving as a member of the nine-man Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and as the Secretary of ...

, Chinese Politician, Member of the

Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...

* Johann Major, German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

theologian, a principal author of the so-called

Leipzig Interim The Leipzig Interim was one of several temporary settlements between the Emperor Charles V and German Lutherans following the Schmalkaldic War. It was presented to an assembly of Saxon political estates in December 1548. Though not adopted by the a ...

, and author of the Majoristic Controversy *

, first female

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ge ...

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

, German politician, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor * Rudolph Sohm, lawyer and

Church historian Church Historian and Recorder (usually shortened to Church Historian) is a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The role of the Church Historian and Recorder is to keep an accurate and comprehensive record of th ...

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Pek ...

, president of Peking University and leading thinker in the early Chinese communist movement *

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

, first female

President of Chile The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is r ...

between 2006 and 2010 *

Selig Brodetsky Selig Brodetsky, זליג ברודצק (10 February 1888 – 18 May 1954) was a Russian-born English mathematician, a member of the World Zionist Executive, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and the second president of the ...

, Israeli President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem * Raila Amolo Odinga, Kenyan politician

Sports

Luz Long Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 – 14 July 1943) was a German Olympic long jumper, notable for winning the silver medal in the event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for his association with Jesse Owens, who went on to win the ...

, German Olympic long-jumper, noted for his sportsmanship

Notes

References

Literature

* Anne-Kathleen Tillack-Graf: ''Institute of Communication and Media Studies (University of Leipzig).'' The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society. SAGE Publications, 2019, ISBN 978-14833-7553-3.

External links

Leipzig University Website

History of the Leipzig University
* {{Authority control 1400s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1409 establishments in Europe Educational institutions established in the 15th century Tourist attractions in Leipzig Universities and colleges in Saxony