The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...

located in the city of Tübingen,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, Germany. The University of Tübingen is one of eleven German Excellence Universities. The University of Tübingen is especially known as a centre for the study of plant biology,

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...

, law, archeology, ancient cultures, philosophy,

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

, and religious studies as well as more recently as center of excellence for

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machine A machine is a physical system using Power (physics), power to apply Force, forces and control Motion, moveme ...

. The university's noted alumni include presidents, EU Commissioners, and judges of the Federal Constitutional Court. The university is associated with eleven Nobel laureates, especially in the fields of medicine and chemistry.

History

The University of Tübingen was founded in 1477 by Count Eberhard V (Eberhard im Bart, 1445–1496), later the first Duke of Württemberg, a civic and ecclesiastic reformer who established the school after becoming absorbed in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass id ...

revival of learning during his travels to Italy. Its first rector was Johannes Nauclerus. Its present name was conferred on it in 1769 by Duke

Karl Eugen Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

who appended his first name to that of the founder. The university later became the principal university of the kingdom of Württemberg. Today, it is one of nine state universities funded by the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Tübingen Alte Aula BW 2015-04-27 15-48-31

Tübingen Alte Aula BW 2015-04-27 15-48-31

The University of Tübingen has a history of innovative thought, particularly in theology, in which the university and the Tübinger Stift are famous to this day.

Philipp Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellectual leader of the L ...

(1497–1560), the prime mover in building the German school system and a chief figure in the

Protestant 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 ...

, helped establish its direction. Among Tübingen's eminent students (and/or professors) have been the astronomer Johannes Kepler; the economist Horst Köhler (President of Germany); Joseph Ratzinger (

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

), poet Friedrich Hölderlin, and the philosophers Friedrich Schelling and

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (; ; 27 August 1770 – 14 November 1831) was a German philosopher. He is one of the most important figures in German idealism and one of the founding figures of modern Western philosophy. His influence extends ...

. "The Tübingen Three" refers to Hölderlin, Hegel and Schelling, who were roommates at the Tübinger Stift. Theologian Helmut Thielicke revived postwar Tübingen when he took over a professorship at the reopened theological faculty in 1947, being made administrative head of the university and President of the Chancellor's Conference in 1951. The university rose to the height of its prominence in the middle of the 19th century with the teachings of poet and civic leader Ludwig Uhland and the Protestant theologian Ferdinand Christian Baur, whose circle, colleagues and students became known as the "Tübingen School", which pioneered the historical-critical analysis of biblical and early Christian texts, an approach generally referred to as "

higher criticism Historical criticism, also known as the historical-critical method or higher criticism, is a branch of criticism that investigates the origins of ancient texts in order to understand "the world behind the text". While often discussed in terms of ...

". The University of Tübingen also was the first German university to establish a faculty of natural sciences, in 1863. DNA was discovered in 1868 at the University of Tübingen by Friedrich Miescher. Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, the first female Nobel Prize winner in medicine in Germany, also works at Tübingen. The faculty for economics and business was founded in 1817 as the "Staatswissenschaftliche Fakultät" and was the first of its kind in Germany. Starting with the late 1990s at Tübingen University, the foundation work with mRNA-based substances (e.g. for cancer treatment and

vaccine A vaccine is a biological preparation that provides active acquired immunity to a particular infectious or malignant disease. The safety and effectiveness of vaccines has been widely studied and verified. ...

s) were laid in the groups of H.-G. Rammensee and G. Jung which led through the Ph.D. work and later research of Ingmar Hoerr eventually to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

vaccine programs by BioNTech, Moderna and Curevac.

Nazi period

The university played a leading role in efforts to legitimize the policies of the Third Reich as "scientific". Even before the victory of the Nazi Party in the general election in March 1933, there were hardly any Jewish faculty and a few Jewish students. Physicist Hans Bethe was dismissed on 20 April 1933 because of "non-Aryan" origin. Religion professor Traugott Konstantin Oesterreich and the mathematician Erich Kamke were forced to take early retirement, probably in both cases the "non-Aryan" origin of their wives. At least 1158 people were sterilized at the University Hospital.

After the war

In 1966, Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become

, was appointed to a chair in dogmatic theology in the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Tübingen, where he was a colleague of Hans Küng. Uni Tübingen Kupferbau

In 1967, Jürgen Moltmann (b. 1926), one of the most influential Protestant theologians of the 20th century, was appointed Professor of Systematic Theology in the Faculty of Protestant Theology. Drafted in 1944 by Nazi Germany, he was an Allied prisoner of war 1945–1948. He was influenced by his colleague and friend Ernst Bloch, the Marxist philosopher. In 1970, the university was restructured into a series of faculties as independent departments of study and research after the manner of French universities. The university made the headlines in November 2009 when a group of left-leaning students occupied one of the main lecture halls, the Kupferbau, for several days. The students' goal was to protest tuition fees and maintain that education should be free for everyone. In May 2010, Tübingen joined the

Matariki Network of Universities The Matariki Network of Universities (MNU) is an international group of universities that focuses on strong links between research and undergraduate teaching. Each member is leading international best practice in research and education based on ...

(MNU) together with Dartmouth College (US), Durham University (UK),

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

(Canada), University of Otago (New Zealand), University of Western Australia (Australia) and

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. The university rose to significance durin ...

(Sweden). On 27 April 2022, for the first time, a woman was elected Rector in the person of

Karla Pollmann Karla Pollmann (born 1963) is the President at the University of Tübingen in Germany, an office she has held since October 1, 2022. Previously she was the Dean of Arts at the University of Bristol, where she worked in both the department of Classi ...

Research focus

The University of Tübingen undertakes a broad range of research projects in various fields. Among the more prominent ones in the natural sciences are the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, which focuses on general, cognitive and cellular

neurology Neurology (from el, νεῦρον (neûron), "string, nerve" and the suffix -logia, "study of") is the branch of medicine dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the brain, the spinal ...

as well as

neurodegeneration A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

, and the

Centre for Interdisciplinary Clinical Research Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

, which deals primarily with cell biology in diagnostics and therapy of organ system diseases. In the liberal arts, the University of Tübingen is noteworthy for having the only faculty of rhetoric in Germany – the department was founded by

Walter Jens Walter Jens (8 March 1923 – 9 June 2013) was a German philologist, literature historian, critic, university professor and writer. He was born in Hamburg, and attended the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums from 1933 to 1941, when he gained his A ...

, an important intellectual and literary critic. The university also boasts continued pre-eminence in its centuries-old traditions of research in the fields of philosophy,

and

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

. Since at least the nineteenth century, Tübingen has been the home of world-class research in prehistoric studies and the study of antiquity, including the study of the

ancient Near East The ancient Near East was the home of early civilizations within a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia (modern Iraq, southeast Turkey, southwest Iran and northeastern Syria), ancient Egypt, ancient Iran (Ela ...

; a particular focus of the research in these areas at the University of Tübingen has been

Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The r ...

, e.g., through the continued excavations of the university at

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in present-day Turkey, south-west of Çan ...

Campus

The University of Tübingen is not a campus university, but is spread throughout the town: Tübingen is one of five classical "university towns" in Germany. The other four are

Marburg Marburg ( or ) is a university town in the German federal state (''Bundesland'') of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf district (''Landkreis''). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has a population of approx ...

, Göttingen, Freiburg and Heidelberg. In Tübingen there are four areas with a major concentration of university institutions. *The university uses a number of buildings in the old town of Tübingen, some of which date back to the foundation of the university. Today, these are mainly used by smaller humanities departments, as is the adjacent

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

, ''Schloss Hohentübingen''. *Northeast of the old town, the ''Wilhelmstraße'' area surrounding the street of the same name is home to larger humanities departments as well as the university's administration. The main university library and main refectory are also in this area. * A new campus for the sciences was built in the 1970s at ''Morgenstelle'', a hill north of the historic centre of Tübingen. Facilities include a large refectory. Psychiatre_Universität_Tübingen

* The university's teaching hospitals are located between the Wilhelmstraße area and the Morgenstelle campus in an area collectively known as the ''Klinikum''. The 17 hospitals in Tübingen affiliated with the university's faculty of medicine have 1,500 patient beds, and cater to 66,000 in-patients and 200,000 out-patients on an annual basis. Accommodation provided by the Tübingen Studentenwerk is in several locations throughout the town. The largest of the eleven halls of residence are in the city's northern neighbourhood of ''Waldhäuser Ost'' (1,700 rooms) and in the city's southeasternmost neighbourhood, ''Französisches Viertel'' (500 rooms).

Museum

Since 2006, the young Museum of the University of Tübingen (MUT) has made it its task to professionalize the 65 sometimes very old, singular teaching, show and research collections of the university from all faculties in terms of collection, curatorial and organizational aspects. In interdisciplinary exhibitions, both the broader public should be provided with insights into the history of science as well as researched in the field of science itself. In addition, the master's degree program "Museum & Collections" of the MUT, with the participation of six humanities and cultural studies subjects, offers the training of students in the field of exhibitions. MUT-9908

Eight scientific teaching collections – Origins of Art, Pile Dwellings + Celts, Cuneiform, Gods + Tombs, Ancient Art, Ancient Coins, Ancient Sculptures – are open to the public in the Museum Alte Kulturen and in the permanent exhibition WeltKulturen in Hohentübingen Castle. In addition, there are other, partially accessible scientific teaching collections on Hohentübingen: Cradle of Biochemistry (Schlosslabor), BildBestand, Everyday Culture, AntikenBilder, Professor Gallery (partial), Castle Church and TonSteineScherben. The MUT – and thus the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen – is the only university institution in the world to house artefacts with world heritage status, such as the oldest surviving figurative works of art and musical instruments of humanity, mammoth ivory figures and fragments of bone flutes. These come from the Vogelherdhöhle (Swabian Alb), which has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage "Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura" since 2017.

Libraries

The

University Library of Tübingen The University Library of Tübingen (german: Universitätsbibliothek Tübingen; ''UB Tübingen'') is the main library of the University of Tübingen, one of the biggest and most renowned universities in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The people who ...

is not just available to those affiliated with the university, but also to the general public. The library provides more than three million individual volumes and more than 7,600 journals. Apart from the main library, more than 80 departmental libraries containing an additional three million volumes are also associated with the university. The main lending library is located on Wilhelmstraße and consists of several different parts which are connected through corridors and walkways: *The Bonatzbau, the library's oldest building, was built in 1912 and currently houses the historical reading room (Historischer Lesesaal), the university

archive An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual ...

, along with a number of

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced ...

collections. *The library's main building, constructed in 1963, contains the information desk and research stations to access electronic catalogues and databases. * Innenansicht_Bonatzbau

The Ammerbau is the most recent addition to the library complex. Built in 2002, it offers users direct access to over 300,000 volumes and latest issues of newspapers, magazines and journals. It also contains numerous work places and separate individual rooms for group work.

Organisation

Faculties

The university is made up of seven faculties, some of which are subdivided into further departments. *Protestant Theology * Catholic Theology * Law *Medicine *Humanities *Economics and Social Sciences *Science

Governance

The university is governed by three separate bodies sharing different functions and duties. However, some persons serve in more than one body. The Rectorate is the executive component of the university's governing body. The current

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

, Professor

, is supported by four deputies consisting of three

prorector Academic rank (also scientific rank) is the rank of a scientist or teacher in a college, high school, university or research establishment. The academic ranks indicate relative importance and power of individuals in academia. The academic ran ...

s and one provost. All are also permanent members of the university senate. The Senate forms the legislative section of governance. Apart from the members of the rectorate, it includes the equal opportunities commissioner, the deans and 20 elected members representing the professors, lecturers, students and non-academic staff. Two advisors represent the university's

teaching hospital A teaching hospital is a hospital or medical centre that provides medical education and training to future and current health professionals. Teaching hospitals are almost always affiliated with one or more universities and are often co-locate ...

s. The University Council (''Hochschulrat'' or ''Universitätsrat'') has 13 members, including its president and vice-president as well as five further internal and six external members.

Rankings and reputation

Since 2012, the University of Tübingen has been regarded as one of eleven German Excellence Universities that have been successful in the competition of the German Universities Excellence Initiative. The award brings additional research funds for five years. With three successful research Clusters of Excellence approved by the German Universities Excellence Initiative in 2018, Tübingen is one of the three universities with the highest research output in Germany and leading among universities in South Germany. According to the funding report of the German Research Foundation (DFG) 2018, which breaks down the grants awarded to German universities from 2014 to 2016, the University of Tübingen was ranked 8th overall, 4th in

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at th ...

and

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

s, and 6th in life sciences including

. This ranking is based on a selection of best research projects nationwide and thus regarded as an indicator of the quality of research. In the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (2021), Tübingen was ranked 78th worldwide and 5th nationwide. US News Best Global Universities and

QS World University Rankings ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

also ranked Tübingen amongst the top ten universities in Germany overall in 2021. Traditionally, Tübingen has been particularly strong in the fields of

, especially in

and religious studies,

, and law: * In 2019, Tübingen was ranked 6th worldwide and 1st nationwide in the fields of theology and religious studies by ''

''. * In the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (2021), Tübingen was ranked 24th worldwide and 3rd nationwide in arts and humanities. According to the

QS World University Ranking ''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for th ...

(2021), Tübingen ranks among the world's top universities in the subjects of

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...

(21st), classics and

ancient history Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history co ...

(35th), and

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

(49th). * According to the Times Higher Education World University Ranking (2021), Tübingen also ranks among the top universities worldwide in life sciences (61st),

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 betwe ...

(65th), and medicine (75th). * The Tübingen Law School was ranked second nationwide by the

Wirtschaftswoche ''Wirtschaftswoche'' is a German language, German weekly business news magazine published in Germany. “Wirtschaft” means economy (including business) and “Woche” is week. History and profile For many years, ''Wirtschaftswoche'' was pub ...

University Ranking. Also according to international rankings, Tübingen regularly ranks among the top ten law schools in Germany. The University of Tübingen is the only university in the

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is a ...

world that teaches

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...

as an independent subject of study.

Controversies

Since 2018, the university has been part of a wider artificial intelligence research initiative named Cyber Valley. Cyber Valley has seen investments from multinational companies poured into establishing research centers, research groups, and professorships in the city. The investing organisations and corporations include

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

, Amazon, BMW, IAV, Daimler, Porsche, and Bosch. The Cyber Valley initiative has attracted criticism from student groups and

activist groups Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

alike, with many protest actions, including building occupations and demonstrations, having taken place decrying both the commercialisation of university research and the involvement of the university with organisations that are engaged in military research.

Student life

The university's students make up roughly a third of the total population of Tübingen and the town's culture can seem to be largely dominated by them. As a result there is a slump of activity during university holidays, particularly over the summer when a large number of otherwise regular events are not happening. Around 30 '' Studentenverbindungen'', the German type of fraternities, are associated with the university. While famous for their parties, public academic lectures and the yearly "Stocherkahn-Rennen" punting-boat race on the Neckar river, some of them are the subject of ongoing controversy surrounding alleged rightwing policial views, leading to strong criticism from leftist groups. The university itself takes a neutral stance on this issue. However, all of Tübingen's fraternities distance themselves from the fraternities of the Deutsche Burschenschaft, which have been widely criticized as adhering to far-right principles. Akademische_Gesellschaft_Stuttgardia

Also closely linked to the university are a number of student societies representing mainly the arts and political parties. Most notable are a number of

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...

s as well as student

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

groups affiliated with the faculty of Modern Languages, some of which perform in foreign languages. ''Radio Uniwelle Tübingen'' is the university's radio station, airing seven hours of programmes a week produced by students under the supervision of staff employed by the university. The university also offers gym and

sport Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, ...

s classes called ''Hochschulsport''. Since Tübingen has a department of sports science with a broad range of facilities, students of other subjects have the possibility to participate in various kinds of sports courses in teams or as individuals. Furthermore, even exotic sports, such as parachuting or martial arts, are offered. Students may attend courses either for free or at reduced rates. The sports department is located close to the ''Wilhelmstraße'' area of university buildings and is served by a number of frequent bus routes. Traditional Stocherkahn Race

Unlike in some major cities, student discounts are not widely available in Tübingen. Cinemas and the town council's

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

in particular do not offer discounts for students, and there are only a handful of restaurants which have reduced lunch deals. However, students may benefit from the ''Semesterticket'', a heavily discounted

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typic ...

season pass offering six months of unlimited travel on trains and buses in the

naldo Naldo may refer to: * Ronaldo Aparecido Rodrigues (born 1982), Brazilian football defender * Edinaldo Gomes Pereira (born 1988), Brazilian football defender *Marinaldo dos Santos Oliveira (born 1990), commonly known as Naldo, Brazilian footballer * ...

''Verkehrsverbund'' transport association for approximately €62.50. The Landestheater Tübingen theatre and all public swimming pools also have discounts for students. Nightlife in Tübingen is centered on the numerous pubs in the old town along with a number of clubs, most of which dedicate themselves to non-mainstream music. During the semester, the Studentenwerk-owned ''Clubhaus'' at the centre of the Wilhelmstraße university area hosts the weekly ''Clubhausfest'' on Thursday nights. This popular, free-entry club night is organized and promoted by student societies and ''Fachschaft'' student representative bodies and all proceeds go towards their activities in support of students.

Notable faculty

* Eberhard Jüngel (1934–2021), German Lutheran theologian * Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (born 1942), German developmental biologist and 1995 Nobel Prize-winner File:Küng3.JPG, Hans Küng (1928–2021), Swiss Catholic priest, theologian, and author File:Pope Benedict XVI Blessing.jpg,

(2005–2013)

Notable alumni

File:Schirmherr der Initiative „Deutschland – Land der Ideen“ Bundespräsident Horst Köhler.jpg, Horst Köhler, President of Germany (2004–2010) and Head of the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

(2000–2004) File:Roman Herzog 2012.JPG, Roman Herzog, President of Germany (1994–1999) and judge of the Federal Constitutional Court (1983–1994) File:Günther Oettinger 2013 Hannover.jpg, Günther Oettinger, European Commissioner (2010–2019) File:JuergenStark.jpg, Jürgen Stark, Chief Economist and Member of the Executive Committee of the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centra ...

(2006–2012) File:Ralf Dahrendorf.jpg, Ralf Dahrendorf, sociologist, European Commissioner (1970–1977), Director of the LSE (1974–1984), founder of the Tübingen Institute of Sociology (1960–1964) File:Kurt Georg Kiesinger (Nürburgring, 1969).jpg, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, Chancellor of Germany (1966–1969) File:Walter Eucken2.jpg, Walter Eucken,

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and father of ordoliberalism (1891–1950) File:Erwin Baelz.jpg,

Erwin Bälz Erwin Otto Eduard von Bälz (13 January 1849 – 31 August 1913) was a German internist, anthropologist, personal physician to the Japanese Imperial Family and cofounder of modern western medicine in Japan. Biography The son of a contr ...

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and cofounder of modern western medicine in Japan (1849–1913) File:Hegel by Schlesinger.jpg,

, philosopher (1770–1831) File:Johannes Kepler 1610.jpg, Johannes Kepler,

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, moons, comets and galaxies – in either o ...

(1571–1630) The University of Tübingen has a long list of notable alumni and staff. As of 2022, eleven Nobel Laureates, 17 Leibniz Laureates and five Alexander von Humboldt Professorships are affiliated with the university. Besides several Federal Ministers of Germany and Minister Presidents of German States, politicians associated with the University of Tübingen include six founding fathers of the

Federal Republic of Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south ...

, a Chancellor of Germany, two Presidents of Germany, and several European Commissioners. As Tübingen has traditionally been home to one of the most prestigious law schools in Germany, alumni in the legal profession include at least 19 judges of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, the first female German judge at the European Court of Justice, an Advocate General at the European Court of Justice, as well as several judges at the Federal Court of Justice, the Federal Fiscal Court, and the Federal Labour Court. Notable legal scholars associated with Tübingen include Dieter Medicus,

Klaus Hopt Klaus Jürgen Hopt (born 24 August 1940, in Tuttlingen) is a German lawyer and prominent representative of German commercial law.Mitgliedseintrag von Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus J. Hopt (mit Bild und CV) bei der Deutschen Akademie der Naturforscher Leopold ...

and Wolfgang Ernst. Affiliates in the field of religious studies include many of the most influential theologians of the last centuries such as

Karl Barth Karl Barth (; ; – ) was a Swiss Calvinist theologian. Barth is best known for his commentary ''The Epistle to the Romans'', his involvement in the Confessing Church, including his authorship (except for a single phrase) of the Barmen Declara ...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer Dietrich Bonhoeffer (; 4 February 1906 – 9 April 1945) was a German Lutheran pastor, theologian and anti- Nazi dissident who was a key founding member of the Confessing Church. His writings on Christianity's role in the secular world h ...

, Eduard Mörike, Miroslav Volv, Paul Tillich,

David Strauss David Friedrich Strauss (german: link=no, Strauß ; 27 January 1808 – 8 February 1874) was a German liberal Protestant theologian and writer, who influenced Christian Europe with his portrayal of the " historical Jesus", whose divine nature h ...

Philip Melanchthon Philip Melanchthon. (born Philipp Schwartzerdt; 16 February 1497 – 19 April 1560) was a German Lutheran Protestant Reformers, reformer, collaborator with Martin Luther, the first systematic theologian of the Protestant Reformation, intellect ...

, and Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling.

Nobel laureates

Faculty members and alumni who have been awarded with the

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfre ...

: * William Ramsay (1904, Chemistry) * Eduard Buchner (1907, Chemistry), faculty * Karl Ferdinand Braun (1909, Physics), faculty * Fritz Pregl (1923, Chemistry) * Adolf Butenandt (1939, Chemistry), faculty * Hans Bethe (1967, Physics), faculty * Georg Wittig (1979, Chemistry), faculty *

Hartmut Michel Hartmut Michel (; born 18 July 1948) is a German biochemist, who received the 1988 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for determination of the first crystal structure of an integral membrane protein, a membrane-bound complex of proteins and co-factors that ...

(1988, Chemistry) * Bert Sakmann (1991, Medicine) * Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard (1995, Medicine), faculty * Günter Blobel (1999, Medicine)

Quotes

*"Tübingen does not ''have'' a university, Tübingen ''is'' a university." –

*"One need merely say 'Tübingen Seminary' to understand what German philosophy is at bottom: an insidious theology. The Swabians are the best liars in Germany: they lie innocently." –

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 c ...

, 1888Friedrich Nietzsche, '' The Antichrist'', translated by H. L. Mencken (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1918), Chapter 10.

References

Bibliography

*Martin Biastoch, ''Tübinger Studenten im Kaiserreich. Eine sozialgeschichtliche Untersuchung'': Contubernium – Tübinger Beiträge zur Universitäts- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Vol. 44 (Sigmaringen, 1996, ) *

, ''Eine deutsche Universität. 500 Jahre Tübinger Gelehrtenrepublik'' (Munich : Kindler, 1977) * ''Tubingensia: Impulse zur Stadt- und Universitätsgeschichte. Festschrift für Wilfried Setzler zum 65. Geburtstag'' (Tübinger Bausteine zur Landesgeschichte, 10), edited by Sönke Lorenz and Volker arlSchäfer (Ostfildern: Jan Thorbecke Verlag, 2008)

External links

University of Tubingen Official websiteErasmus and exchange to Tübingen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tubingen, University of 1470s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1477 establishments in Europe Educational institutions established in the 15th century Tourist attractions in Tübingen Buildings and structures in Tübingen Universities and colleges in Baden-Württemberg