Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg

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Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Image:Uni-Heidelberg-siegel.png
Latin: Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis
Motto:Semper apertus
Latin for "[The book of learning is] always open"
Established1386
Type:Public university
Rector:Prof. Dr. Bernhard Eitel
Staff:15,000+ academics;
400+ University Professors
Students:25,562 (2007)
LocationImage:Flag of Europe.svg Image:Flag of Germany.svg Heidelberg, Germany
Campus:Urban
Colors:Sandstone Red and Gold
               
Affiliations:LERU
Coimbra Group
EUA
Website:http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/
Data as of 2007

The Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg is a public, comprehensive research university located in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Commonly referred to as University of Heidelberg, Ruperto Carola, and as simply Heidelberg, it is the oldest German university, and it is consistently ranked among Europe's top universities.[1] It consists of twelve faculties, and offers degree programs at undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral level in a wide array of disciplines.[2]

Rupert I, Elector Palatine established the university in the town of Heidelberg, then the seat of Prince-Electors of the Holy Roman Empire, in 1386.[3] It acted from the outset as a center for theologians and law experts from throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Having went into decline as a result of the Thirty Years' War, it overcame its fiscal and intellectual crisis in the early 19th century, became a hub for independent thinkers, and developed into a stronghold of humanism and democracy.[4] Today, the university puts an emphasis on natural sciences and medicine, but it retains its humanistic traditions with strong law, philosophy, and theology faculties. The university is closely associated with some of the foremost science institutes in Europe, and is therefore particularly research oriented.[5] Although there is an increasing number of commercial sponsors, the university depends mostly on financial support by the state. With approximately 1,000 doctorates successfully completed every year, the university ranks among the internationally leading education venues for doctoral students.[6] International students from about 130 countries usually account for more than 20 percent of the entire student body[7]; at some graduate programs the proportion of international students approaches 50 percent.[8] Heidelberg University is a founding member of the elite League of European Research Universities, the Coimbra Group, and the European University Association

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Founding

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University Library

The university was founded at the behest of Rupert I, Count Palatine of the Rhine, in order to provide faculties for the study of philosophy, theology, jurisprudence, and medicine.

The Great Schism in 1378, which split European Christendom into two hostile groups, was initiated by the election of two popes after the death of Pope Gregory XI in the same year. One successor was in Avignon (elected by the French) and the other in Rome (elected by the Italian cardinals). The German secular and spiritual leaders voiced their support for the successor in Rome, which had far reaching consequences for the German students and teachers in Paris: they lost their stipends and had to leave. Palatine Elector Ruprecht I recognized the opportunity and initiated talks with the Curia, which ultimately lead to the creation of the Papal Bull of Foundation which can be considered the establishment of the university.

On October 18, 1386 a ceremonial fair commemorated the opening of the doors of the university. As a motto for the seal, Marsilius von Inghen, the first rector of the university chose "Semper apertus" - the book of learning is always open. At this point in time, the city of Heidelberg could not have had more than 3500 inhabitants and in the first year of existence the university had almost 600 enrolled. On October 19 1386 the first lecture was held. Thus, the University of Heidelberg is the oldest university in Germany.

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Carolinum (main administration building)

[edit] Early development

The newly created university acted from the outset as a center for theologians and law scholars from throughout the Holy Roman Empire. Nominalism had been prevalent from the time of Marsilius until after 1406, when Jerome of Prague, the friend of John Hus, introduced realism, on which account he was expelled by the faculty which, six years later, also condemned the teachings of John Wycliffe. Several distinguished professors took part in the Council of Constance and acted as counsellors for Louis III who, as representative of the emperor and chief magistrate of the realm, attended this council and had Hus executed as a heretic. In 1432 the university, pursuant to papal and imperial requests, sent to the Council of Basle two delegates who faithfully supported the legitimate pope. The transition from scholastic to humanistic culture was effected by the learned chancellor and bishop, Johann von Dalberg. Humanism was represented at Heidelberg by Rudolph Agricola, founder of the older German Humanistic School, the younger humanist Conrad Celtes, the pedagogue Jakob Wimpheling and that "marvel in three languages", Johann Reuchlin. The learned Æneas Silvius Piccolomini was chancellor of the university in his capacity of provost of Worms, as Pope Pius II always favored it with his friendship and good-will. In 1482 Sixtus IV, through a papal dispensation, permitted laymen and even married men to be appointed professors in ordinary of medicine, and in 1553 Pope Julius III sanctioned the allotment of ecclesiastical benefices to secular professors.[9]

Despite of Martin Luthers appearance in Heidelberg, the university was not to a great extent influenced by the reformation, until Otto Henry, Elector Palatine converted it into a calvinsitic institution. Then, the university underwent a flowering time. In 1563, the Heidelberg Catechism was created under collaboration of members of the divinity school. As the 16th century was passing, the late humanism stepped beside calvinism as a predominant school of thought, and figures like Paul Schede, Jan Gruter, Martin Opitz, and Matthäus Merian taught at the university. It attracted scholars from all over the continent and developed to a cultural and academic center of Europe. However, with the beginning of the Thirty Years' War in 1618, the intellectual and fiscal wealth of the university declined. In 1622 the then world-famous Bibliotheca Palatina, the library of the university, was stolen from the University Cathedral and brought to Rome. The burdensome reconstruction thereafter was shattered by the troops of King Louis XIV, which destroyed Heidelberg in 1693 almost completely.[10]

As a consequence of the late Counter-Reformation, the university lost its protestant character, and was channeled by Jesuits. In 1735, the Old University was constructed at university square, then known as Domus Wilhelmina. Through the efforts of the Jesuits a preparatory seminary was established, the Seminarium ad Carolum Borromæum, whose pupils were also registered in the university. After the suppression of the Jesuit Order, most of the schools they had conducted passed into the hands of the French Congregation of Lazarists in 1773. They deteriorated from that time forward. The university itself continued to lose in brilliance and prestige until the reign of the last elector, Charles Theodore, Elector Palatine, who established new chairs for all the faculties, founded scientific institutes such as the Electoral Academy of Science, and transferred the school of political economy from Kaiserslautern to Heidelberg, where it was combined with the university as the faculty of political economy. He also founded an observatory in the neighboring city of Mannheim, where the celebrated Jesuit Christian Meyer laboured as director. In connexion with the commemoration of the four hundredth anniversary of the university, a revised statute book which several of the professors had been commissioned to prepare, was approved by the elector, and the financial affairs of the university, its receipts and expenditures, were put in order. At that period the number of students varied from three to four hundred; in the jubilee year 133 matriculated. In consequence of the disturbances caused by the French Revolution and particularly through the Peace of Lunéeville, the university lost all its property on the left bank of the Rhine, so that its complete dissolution was expected.[11]

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Old Assembly Hall in the Old University

[edit] 19th and early 20th century

It was not until 1803 that this decline stopped. In this year, the university was reestablished as a state-owned institution by Karl Friedrich, Grand Duke of Baden, to whom had been allotted the part of the Palatinate situated on the right bank of the Rhine, and since then it bears his name together with the one of Ruprecht I. He divided it into five faculties and placed himself at its head as rector, as did also his successors. During this decade Romanticism found expression here through Clemens Brentano, Achim von Arnim, Ludwig Tieck, Joseph Görres, and Joseph von Eichendorff, and there went forth a revival of the German Middle Ages in speech, poetry, and art. The German Students Association exerted great influence, which was at first patriotic and later political. After Romanticism had died out, Heidelberg became a center of Liberalism and of the movement in favour of national unity. The historians Friedrich Christoph Schlosser and Georg Gottfried Gervinus were the guides of the nation in political history. The modern scientific schools of medicine and natural science, particularly astronomy, were models in point of construction and equipment, and Heidelberg was especially noted for its influencial law school.[12] One of the students at that time was Karl Drais, inventor of the two-wheeler principle that started mechanized and later motorized personal transport. Heidelberg’s professors were important supporters of the Vormärz revolution, and many of them were members of the revolutionary 1848 Frankfurt Parliament. During the late 19th century, the Ruperto Carola housed a very liberal and open-minded spirit which was deliberately fostered by Max Weber, Ernst Troeltsch and a circle colleagues around them. In the Weimar Republic, the University was widely recognized as a center of democratic thinking, coined by professors like Karl Jaspers, Gustav Radbruch, Martin Dibelius and Alfred Weber. Unfortunately, there were also dark forces working within the university: Nazi physicist Philipp Lenard was head of the physical institute during that time. Following the assassination of Walther Rathenau he refused to half mast the national flag on the institute, thereby provoking its storming by communist students.[13]

[edit] Nazi era and Federal Republic

With the advent of the Third Reich, the university, just like all other German universities, supported the Nazis, decruited a large number of lecturers and expelled many students by reason of political and racist causes. Many dissident fellows had to emigrate, some jewish and communist professors were deported, and two professors directly fell victim to Nazi terror. Particularly members of the university took actively part in the book burning at University Square, and Heidelberg was ill-famed as a NSDAP cadre university. The inscription above the main entrance of the New University was changed from "The Living Spirit" in "The German Spirit", and many professors payed homage to the new motto. After the end of World War II, the university was subject to an extensive denazification, and since Heidelberg was for the most part spared from destruction during the war, the reconstruction of the university was realised rather quickly. With the foundation of the Collegium Academicum, Heidelberg became the home of Germany's first and, until today, only self-governed student hall. Newly laid statutes obliged the university to "The Living Spirit of Truth, Justice and Humanity".[14] During the sixties and seventies, the university grew dramatically in size. In this time, the university developed into one of the main scenes of the left-wing student protests in Germany. In 1975, a massive police force arrested the entire student parliament AStA. Shortly thereafter, the "Collegium Academicum", a progressive college in immediate vicinity to the universities main grounds, was stormed by over 700 police officers and closed once and for all. On the outskirts of the city, in the Neuenheimer Feld Area, a large campus for medicine and natural sciences was constructed.[15] Today, about 25,000 students are enrolled for studies at the Ruperto Carola. More than 15,000 academic staff and over 400 University Professors[16] make it one of Germany's larger universities. In 2007, the university was appointed University of Excellence within the scope of an initiative started by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the German Research Foundation in order to enhance the German university system by establishing a small group of exceptionally well funded elite universities which are expected to generate a strong international appeal.[17]

[edit] Structure

[edit] Faculties

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A study in the library of the Faculty of Philosophy

After a structural reformation, the university consists of twelve faculties which in turn comprise several disciplines. As a consequence of the Bologna process, most faculties now offer Bachelor's, Master's, and PhD degrees in order to comply with the new European degree standard.

[edit] International Graduate Schools

Besides the various doctoral programs offered by the Heidelberg Graduate Academy, and in addition to the opportunity to pursue individual doctoral studies in all disciplines offered, instructed by an University Professor as dissertation adviser, the university has recently set up interdisciplinary international graduate schools offering PhD programs for outstanding graduates in relevant disciplines. As for most doctoral programs, the lectures, seminars, and tutorials will be held in English.

[edit] Research institutes

Accessorily to the faculties, their respective institutes, and research centers, a number of independent, semi-independent, and inter-faculty research institutes take part in the educational tasks, including those listed below:

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The Max-Planck-Institute for Astronomy Heidelberg

[edit] Academics

[edit] Reputation

The THES - QS World University Rankings[58][59][60][61] ranked Heidelberg University overall between 12th and 15th in Europe, between 45th and 60th in the world, and consistently as the foremost German university. Based on the overall academic peer review score of 2005, Heidelberg ranked 6th in Europe and 28th in the world. In the separate THES - QS rankings of broad subject areas, Heidelberg ranked world-wide between 17th and 43rd in life science and biomedicine, between 22nd and 45th in science, and between 41st and 61st in arts and humanities. The Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Academic Ranking of World Universities[62] ranked Heidelberg between 12th and 18th in Europe, and between 58th and 66th in the world. With these placings Heidelberg outranks many world-renowned institutions of higher education, such as most often two Ivy League universities. (Note that the THES - QS and Jiao Tong tables are the only annual comprehensive world university rankings, and that their methodologies are subject to controversy.)

According to the Ranking of Scientific Impact of Leading European Research Universities[63][64] compiled by the European Commission, Heidelberg ranks 9th in Europe. The CHE Excellence Ranking[65], measuring academic performance of European graduate programs in biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics, placed Heidelberg in the excellence group for physics and chemistry, and in the top group for mathematics and biology, which is overall a joint 9th place in Europe. Ranked by the number of Nobel Laureates affiliated with the university at the time of Nobel Prize announcement, Heidelberg is placed 4th in Europe and 13th in the world by 2007.[66] A study based on a survey of scientific journal referees created by Braun et al. in 2007 ranks the University of Heidelberg at the top of German universities in academic reputation.[67] The Times referred to Heidelberg University as "the oldest and most eminent in the country of Luther and Einstein" and as "the jewel of German learning".[68] In October 2007 Heidelberg was officially appointed "elite university" in line with an initiative started by the federal government, thus securing nine-digit additional funds.[69]

[edit] Organisation and length of courses

The academic year is divided into two semesters. The winter semester runs from 1st of October - 31st of March and the summer semester from 1st of April - 30th of September. Classes are held from mid-October to mid-February and mid-April to mid-July. Students can generally begin their studies either in the winter or the summer semester. However, there are several subjects students can begin only in the winter semester. The standard time required to finish a Bachelor's degree is principally 6 semesters, and a further 4 semesters for consecutive Master's degrees. The normal duration of PhD programs for full-time students is 6 semesters. The overall period of study for an undergraduate degree is divided into two parts: a period of basic study, lasting at least 4 semesters, at the end of which students must sit a formal examination, and a period of advanced study, lasting at least 2 semesters, after which students take their final examinations.

[edit] Tuition fees

Studying at German universities is heavily subsidized by the state in order to keep higher education affordable regardless of socio-economic background.[70] Therefore, Heidelberg charges tuition fees of approximately € 1,200 p.a., including student union fees, for undergraduate, consecutive Master's, and doctoral programs, for both EU and non-EU citizens, and for any subject area. The usual housing costs for on-campus dormitories range from € 2,200 to € 3,000 p.a.[71]

[edit] Admission

Admission to Heidelberg University is strictly merit-based, and is generally highly competitive.

Since in Germany the universities are basically obliged to grant permission to study as an undergraduate by having acquired the German equivalent of the high school degree, the selection is exercised by allocating the best qualified applicants to a given number of places available in the respective discipline. Thus, the selection depends primarily on the field of study and the grade point average of the higher education entrance qualification. Admission to the Faculties of Medicine, Biosciences, and Law is most competitive. Even graduating from high school at the top of one's class does not guaranty admission to these faculties. Some other faculties, in contrast, do not demand a minimum GPA and undergraduate admission is always granted if certain criteria (e.g. relevant language proficiency) are fulfilled. Acceptance rates are not published, and may vary significantly from faculty to faculty. For undergraduate studies a good command of German language is indispensable. Therefore, prospective undergraduate students must have passed the DSH before admission is granted.

Admisson to consecutive Master's programs always requires at least a "good" undergraduate degree (i.e., normally B+ in American, or 2:1 in British terms). However, some very popular Master's programs apply even higher entrance criteria. Except for the Master's programs taught in English, the DSH must be passed as well. PhD admission prerequisite is normally a strong Master's degree, but in exceptional cases an undergraduate degree can be sufficient. Moreover, most doctoral programs require academic references and hold interviews which focus on additional aspects such as intellectual brightness, creativity, imagination, poise, perseverance, critical view, independency in motivation, ability to work in a team, and aims of personal career. A language test for English is requested for all PhD applicants, and for applicants to anglophone Master's programs, except of native speakers coming from Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, and USA.

International applicants usually make up considerably more than 20 percent of the applicant pool, and are considered individually by the merits achieved in their respective state of origin. Provided having a suitable educational background, international students are encouraged to apply.

[edit] International cooperations

Heidelberg University is a founding member of the League of European Research Universities, the Coimbra Group, and the European University Association. It has further specific agreements with 17 partner universities, among which are the University of Montpellier, Hebrew University, Kyoto University, Tsinghua University, and the University of Cambridge. Additionally, the university has student exchange programs with 23 universities in 17 countries world-wide, and it participates in 7 European exchange programs, such as ERASMUS. Moreover, the faculties maintain own international cooperations. For instance the Medical School has ties with the Wuhan University Tongij Medical School, the Faculty of Modern Languages with the Shanghai University Foreign Languages College, and the Faculty of Law with the Georgetown University Law Center.[72]

[edit] Campuses

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Old town and Heidelberg Castle

Heidelberg is a city with approx. 140,000 inhabitants. It is situated in the Rhine Neckar Triangle, an European metropolitan area with approx. 2.4 million people living there, comprising the neighboring cities of Heidelberg, Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, and a number of smaller towns surrounding them. Heidelberg is known as the cradle of Romanticism, and its old town and castle are among the most frequented tourist destinations in Germany. Its pedestrian zone is a shopping and night life magnet for the surrounding area and beyond. Heidelberg is about 40 minutes by train away from Frankfurt International Airport.

Heidelberg University’s facilities are, generally speaking, separated in two parts. The faculties and institutes of humanities and social sciences are embedded in the old town. The sciences faculties and the medical school, including three large university hospitals, are located on the New Campus on the outskirts of Heidelberg.

[edit] Old Town Campus

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The Old University (seat of the Rector and of the University Senate)

The so-called New University can be regarded as the center of the Old Town Campus. It is situated in the pedestrian zone at University Square in direct neighbourhood to the University Library and to the main administration buildings. The New University was officially opened in 1931. Its erection was largely financed by donations of American tycoon families, such as Goldman, Sachs, Morgan, Chrysler, Ford, and many others, in line with a fundraising campaign of Jacob Gould Schurman, an alumnus of Heidelberg University and former US Ambassador to Germany.[73] It houses the new assembly hall, the largest lecture halls, and a number of smaller seminar rooms, mostly used by faculties of humanities and social sciences. The University Library, the largest library of the university, was opened in 1905 and has about 3.2 million books in stock[74], including the returned parts of the Bibliotheca Palatina. It is a popular working place for students and also houses two large internet lounges, a number of special collections, and changing exhibitions. Education in humanities and social sciences takes place to a great extent in the respective faculty buildings which are spread all over the ancient part of town, though, they are mostly a maximum of ten minutes walk away from University Square. The faculties maintain own extensive libraries, and working places for their students. Seminars and tutorials are usually held in the faculty buildings.

[edit] New Campus

Image:Newcamp11.jpg
River Neckar and New Campus

The New Campus is located in the newest district of the town called Neuenheimer Feld. It is today the larger part of the university. Almost all science faculties and institutes, the medical school, the university hospitals, and the science branch of the University Library are situated at the New Campus. Most of the dormitories and the athletic facilities of the university can be found there as well. Lots of independent research institutes, such as the German Cancer Research Center, Max-Planck-Institutes, and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory have settled there. The New Campus is also seat of several biomedical spinn-off companies. The ancient part of the town can be reached by streetcar in about ten minutes. The Faculty of Physics and Astronomy is in an exceptional position since its faculty buildings are located in Heidelberg's exclusive residential area, overlooking the River Neckar, the ancient town, and the castle.

[edit] Facilities abroad

Heidelberg University has founded a Center for Latin America in Santiago de Chile in 2001.[75] It has the task of organising, managing, and marketing the courses of study maintained either independently by Heidelberg University or in cooperation with the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and the University of Chile. Heidelberg University has arranged cooperation agreements with both of these universities. The center has responsibility for programs of postgraduate education. It also coordinates the activities of Heidelberg University in Latin America, and provides a platform for scientific cooperation.

In addition, the university is currently about to set up a Heidelberg Center for North America, with similar tasks, in Amherst, Massachusetts.

[edit] Libraries

The University Library is the main library of the university, and constitutes together with the decentralized libraries of the faculties and institutes the integral university library system, headed by the director of the University Library. Besides the usual tasks of a library for research and teaching, the University Library contains special collections in the following concentration areas: literature concerning the Palatinate and Baden, egyptology, archeology, history of art, and South Asia. The University Library's stocks exceeded one million in 1934. Today it holds about 3.2 million books, about 500,000 other media like microfilms and video tapes, 6000 ancient handwritings, as well as 10,732 current scientific journals. The 83 decentralized libraries contain another 3.5 million printed books. In 2005, 34,500 active users of the University Library accessed 1.4 million books a year. The conventional book supply is complemented by numerous electronic services. Around 3000 commercial scientific journals can be accessed via e-journal.

The University Library of today traces its roots back to the purchase of a chest of documents by the first Rector Marsilius von Inghen in 1388, which was stored in the University Chathedral. Additional foundations of the library were laid by means of donations from the bishops, chancellors, and early professors. Louis III willed his large and valuable collection to the university. At the instance of the later German king Rupert III, Elector Palatine, Pope Boniface IX, in 1399, relinquished twelve important livings and several patronages to the university. Rupert's eldest son, Louis III, changed the University Chathedral into a collegiate church and united its twenty-four prebends to the university, a measure sanctioned by Pope Martin V. Otto Henry, Elector Palatine, combined the university's libraries in the 16th century, thus creating the Bibliotheca Palatina. Especially notable stocks were the library inherited from the Fugger of Augsburg. In the 17th century, the greatest part of the Bibliotheca Palatina was donated to the Vatican in Rome as a loot of the Thirty Years War. The libraries of the secularized monasteries Salem and Petershausen constituted the basis for the reconstruction. From 1901 to 1905 a richly ornamented, four-wing red sandstone building was constructed for the library across from the Church of St. Peter. It was designed by Josef Durm, who adapted the Renaissance style of Heidelberg Castle and added numerous elements of art noveau. The building was expanded several times, lately by basements in the courtyard of the neigboring New University. The frontage is punctuated with many windows for the sake of natural illumination. Since 1978, the science branch of the University Library serves the institutes of natural sciences and medicine at the New Campus.

[edit] Student life

[edit] Athletics

The university offers a broad variety of athletics, such as teams in 16 different court sports from American football to volleyball, courses in 11 different martial arts, 26 courses in fitness and body building, 9 courses in health sports from aquapower to yoga, and groups in 12 different dance styles. Moreover equestrian sports, sailing, rowing, skiing in the French alps, track and field, swimming, fencing, cycling, acrobatics, gymnastics, and much more. Most of the sports are free of charge.[76] Heidelberg’s competition teams are particularly successful in soccer, volleyball, equestrian sports, judo, karate, track and field, and basketball. The track and field team regularly achieves best placings at the German university championships. The University Sports Club's basketball team, USC Heidelberg, is the championship record holder, won 13 national championships, and is the only university team playing at a professional level in the second division of Germany's national league.[77]

[edit] Newspapers

Heidelberg’s student newspaper “ruprecht” is, with editions of more than 10.000 copies, one of Germany’s largest student-run newspapers. It was recently distinguished by the MLP Pro Campus Press Award as Germany’s best student newspaper. The jury, consisting of journalists of major newspapers, commended its “well balanced, though critical attitude”, and its “simply great” layout which “suffices highest professional demands”. The ruprecht is financed entirely by advertising revenues, thus retaining its independence from the university's management. Some very renowned journalists emerged from ruprecht’s editorial board.[78] Heidelberg is also home of Germany’s oldest student law review “StudZR”. The journal is published quarterly, at the beginning and end of each semester break, and is circulated throughout all of Germany.[79]

[edit] Student groups

Moreover, the university supports a number of student groups in various fields of interest. Among them are the student parliament AStA, the student councils of the twelve faculties, four drama clubs, the university orchestra Collegium Musicum, four choirs, six student media groups, six groups of international students, nine groups of political parties and NGO’s, several departments of European organizations of students in certain disciplines, 4 clubs dedicated to fostering international relations and cultural exchange, a chess club, a literature club, a debate society, two student management consulting groups, and four religious student groups.[80]

[edit] Corporations

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Academic fencing in Heidelberg, 1900

Heidelberg hosts 34 student corporations, which have a long tradition as most of them were founded in the 19th century. Corporations are to some extent comparable to the fraternities in the US. As traditional symbols (couleur) corporation members wear colored caps and ribbons at ceremonial occasions (Kommers) and some still practice the traditional academic fencing, a kind of duell, in order to "shape their members for the challenges of life". In the 19th and early 20th century, corporations played an important role in Germany's student life. Today, however, corporations include only a relatively small number of students. Their self-declared mission is to keep academic traditions alive and to create frendships for life. The corporation's mostly representative 19th century mansions are present throughout the old town.

[edit] Night life

Heidelberg is not least famous for its student night life. Besides the various parties regularly organized by the student councils of the faculties, the semester opening and closing parties of the university, the dormitory parties, and the soirees of Heidelberg's 34 student fraternities, the city, and the metropolitan area even more, offers night life for any taste and budget. Located close to University Square is Heidelberg's major night life district, where one pub is placed next to each other. From Thursday on, it is all night very crowded and full of atmosphere. Moreover, Heidelberg has four major clubs playing black music, house, rock, and all time classics. The largest of them, having three floors, is located at the New Campus. The city of Mannheim, which is about triple as large as Heidelberg, is 15 minutes by train away, and offers an even more diverse night life, having a broad variety of clubs and bars well-frequented by Heidelberg's and Mannheim's student community.

[edit] Heidelberg University in popular culture

  • Mark Twain wrote as detailed as humorously about his impressions of Heidelberg's student life in A Tramp Abroad.[81]
  • The 1927 silent film The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, based on a novel by Wilhelm Meyer-Förster and starring Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer, shows the story of a German prince who comes to Heidelberg to study there, but falls in love with his innkeeper's daughter. Having been very popular in the in the first half of the 20th century, it presents the typical student life of the 19th and early 20th century, and it is today considered a masterpiece of the late silent film era.[82] MGM's 1954 color remake The Student Prince, featuring Mario Lanza, is based on Sigmund Romberg's operetta version of the story.
  • The university was the main scene of the successful 2000 German horror film Anatomy. The medical student Paula Henning (played by Franka Potente) wins a place in a summer course at the prestigious Heidelberg Medical School. When the body of a young man she met on the train turns up on her dissection table, she begins to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding his death, uncovering a gruesome conspiracy perpetrated by an Antihippocratic secret society operating within the university.[83]

[edit] People associated with the university

Since 1386, a vast number of internationally renowned scholars have been affiliated with Heidelberg University, and it has produced an even greater number of notable alumni. Besides those figures mentioned in the history section, the following is meant to give just an additional impression.

[edit] Arts and social sciences

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G. W. F. Hegel

Heidelberg has a strong tradition in the arts and social sciences. Max Weber and his brother Alfred both taught sociology and political economy at Heidelberg University. Carl Joachim Friedrich, the famous political scientist, sociologist Talcott Parsons, and psychologist, psychoanalyst, and humanistic philosopher Erich Fromm studied under the latter. Hannah Arendt completed her doctoral studies there, instructed by the existentialist philosopher-psychologist Karl Jaspers. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel was a professor at Heidelberg. His then world-wide predominant school of thought had a stong influence on Heidelberg’s students, so that some of them, such as Ludwig Feuerbach, became world-renowned philosophers themselves. Even important contemporary philosophers taught there. The critical theorist Jürgen Habermas held a chair at Heidelberg, where he maintained a congenial collaboration with his fellows Karl-Otto Apel and Hans-Georg Gadamer. The influential logicians and mathematicians Leo Königsberger and Emil Gumbel both held chairs there as well. Moreover, Heidelberg enjoys a long tradition in jurisprudence. Some of the most important fellows in this branch were certainly Friedrich Carl von Savigny, Anton Friedrich Justus Thibaut, Georg Jellinek and Gustav Radbruch, who was also Federal Minister of Justice. The same is true for divinity. The Lutheran reformer Philipp Melanchthon, the Old Testament’s scholars Gerhard von Rad, his successor Claus Westermann, and the New Testament's expert Martin Dibelius were especially notable figures in the field of religious studies. Even in other branches of arts, Heidelberg has a number of notable alumni. The historian Ernst Hartwig Kantorowicz was educated at the university, just as Wilhelm Wundt was, who is regarded as the father of psychology. Robert Schumann, the classical composer, attendet the university as well.

[edit] Medicine and natural sciences

Today, Heidelberg is particularly strong in sciences. Besides such pioneers of their fields as Ludolf von Krehl was for medicine, Robert Bunsen for chemistry, Gustav Kirchhoff for physics, Hermann von Helmholtz for both physiology and physics, and Alfred Wegener for earth sciences, an impressive number of Nobel Laureates have been affiliated with the university. A distinctive fact is, that most of them received the award during their lectureship at Heidelberg, and for research achievements largely accomplished there.[84] Heidelberg's Physics Nobel Laureates are Philipp Lenard, Walther Bothe, Max Born, J. Hans D. Jensen, Wolfgang Ketterle, and Theodor W. Hänsch. In medicine or physiology, the university's Nobel Laureates are Albrecht Kossel, Otto Fritz Meyerhof, Otto Heinrich Warburg, and Bert Sakmann, who is currently a fellow of the MPIMF in Heidelberg. Other Nobel Laureates who were fellows of the MPIMF, which is financially independent but closely associated with the university, are Fritz Lipmann, Severo Ochoa, Rudolf Mößbauer, André Lwoff, and George Wald. Even in chemistry, Heidelberg University notes four Nobel Laureates: Adolf von Baeyer, Fritz Haber, Richard Kuhn, and Georg Wittig.

[edit] Political and social life

Image:Helmut Kohl 1997.jpg
Helmut Kohl

Since the Middle Ages, lots of leading figures from aristocracy, political, social, and business life obtained higher education at Heidelberg. Among them are Constantine I, King of Greece and Rangsit, Prince Regent of Thailand. Furthermore the statesmen Frederick II, Grand Duke of Baden, Prince Maximilian of Baden, last Chancellor of the German Empire, Johann von Miquel, Hugo Preuß, Rudolf Heinze, George Bancroft, and Charles McLaren, 1st Baron Aberconway. International industrialists and financiers like Baron Mayer Amschel de Rothschild, Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, and Heinrich, Baron Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon were educated there as well. Besides these rather historical figures, a number of outstanding contemporary German politicians also attended the university, such as Helmut Kohl, the 6th Chancellor of the Federal Republic, Bernhard Vogel, who was Prime Minister of two German federal states, Andreas von Bülow, the former Federal Minister for Research and Technology, Reinhard Bütikofer, the Chairman of the Green Party of Germany, and Hans-Christian Stroebele, the Deputy Parliamentary Leader of Germany's Green Party. Paul Kirchhof, former Justice of the German Constitutional Court, currently teaches public law there.

[edit] Poetry and prose

As Heidelberg is deeply coined by Romanticism, its beautiful old town, and its stunning landscape surround has inspired poets and literates for centuries. Some of them were also educated there. Good examples are Joseph von Eichendorff, Jean Paul, William Somerset Maugham, Gottfried Keller, Christian Friedrich Hebbel, Constantin Virgil Gheorghiu, Heinrich Hoffmann, and Golo Mann. Especially notable alumni are also José Rizal and Sir Muhammad Iqbal, who both were not only literates, but became national heroes and political icones of their countries.

[edit] Literature on Heidelberg University

  • Steven P. Remy: The Heidelberg Myth: The Nazification and Denazification of a German University. Cambridge, Harvard University Press 2002. ISBN 0-674-00933-9
  • Andreas Cser: Kleine Geschichte der Stadt Heidelberg und ihrer Universität. Verlag G. Braun, Karlsruhe 2007, ISBN 978-3-7650-8337-2
  • Dagmar Drüll: Heidelberger Gelehrtenlexikon, Bd. 1: 1803-1932, Bd. 2: 1652-1802, Bd. 3: 1386-1651. Heidelberg 1986, 1991, 2002. (Bd. 4: 1933-1986 in Vorbereitung)
  • Sabine Happ, Werner Moritz: Die Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Ansichten - Einblicke - Rückblicke. Erfurt 2003.
  • Wolfgang U. Eckart, Volker Sellin, [Eike Wolgast (Hrsg.): Die Universität Heidelberg im Nationalsozialismus. Springer Verlag, Berlin 2006. ISBN 3540214429
  • H. Krabusch: Das Archiv der Universität Heidelberg. Geschichte und Bedeutung, in: Aus der Geschichte der Universität Heidelberg und ihrer Fakultäten. Sonderbd. der Ruperto Carola, hrsg. von G. Hinz (1961), S. 82-111;
  • Die Rektorbücher der Universität Heidelberg, Bd. I-II, bearb. von Heiner Lutzmann u. a. hrsg. v. Jürgen Miethke. (Bd. 1: 1386-1410, Heft 1-3, Heidelberg 1986/1990/1999. Bd. 2: 1421-1451, Heft 1, Heidelberg 2001)
  • Peter Moraw: Heidelberg: Universität, Hof und Stadt im ausgehenden Mittelalter, in: Studien zum städtischen Bidlungswesen des späten Mittelalters und der frühen Neuzeit, hrsg. von Bernd Moeller, Hans Patze, Karl Stackmann, Redaktion Ludger Grenzmann (Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Göttingen, Philol.-hist. Klasse, III.137), Göttingen 1983, S. 524-552.
  • Werner Moritz: Die Aberkennung des Doktortitels an der Universität Heidelberg während der NS- Zeit, In: Armin Kohnle/ Frank Engehausen: Zwischen Wissenschaft und Politik. Studien zur deutschen Universitätsgeschichte. Festschrift für Eike Wolgast zum 65. Geburtstag, Stuttgart 2001, S. 540-562
  • Gerhard Ritter: Die Heidelberger Universität im Mittelalter (1386-1508), Ein Stück deutscher Geschichte, Heidelberg 1936, Neudruck 1986.
  • Gotthard Schettler (Hrsg.): Das Klinikum der Universität Heidelberg und seine Institute. Berlin-Heidelberg, Springer 1986. ISBN 3540160337
  • Wilhelm Doerr u.a. (Hrsg.): ‚Semper apertus', Sechshundert Jahre Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg 1386-1986, Festschrift in sechs Bänden. Berlin-Heidelberg, Springer 1985
  • Eduard Winkelmann (Hrsg.): Urkundenbuch der Universität Heidelberg, Bd. I-II, Heidelberg 1886.
  • Eike Wolgast: Die Universität Heidelberg, 1386-1986, Berlin-Heidelberg, Springer 1986.

[edit] Notes and References

  1. ^ Its latest overall ranking positions range from 9th to 18th in Europe; the peer review scores, reflecting academic esteem, are usually even higher. It was never ranked outside Europe's top 20 by any major university ranking. See reputation section.
  2. ^ The university does not include departments of business, engineering, and visual arts. For a list of subjects offered see http://www.zuv.uni-heidelberg.de/AAA/english/info_hd_fach.htm
  3. ^ http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9039821/University-of-Heidelberg
  4. ^ THES - QS World University Ranking 2005
  5. ^ The university is organizationally and personally interlinked with e.g. EMBL, DKFZ and four Max Planck Institutes, which are mostly located at the campus. Besides joint research, they take also part in undergraduate and graduate education.
  6. ^ http://graduateacademy.uni-heidelberg.de/graduate_academy.html
  7. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/news/press321_e.html
  8. ^ It is the aim of the university and its partners to increase the number of international students by establishing the anglophone international graduate programs. See this article about the Max Planck Research Schools at MPG.de
  9. ^ http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=5611
  10. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/welcome/history.html
  11. ^ http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=5611
  12. ^ http://www.catholic.org/encyclopedia/view.php?id=5611
  13. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/welcome/history.html
  14. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/welcome/history.html
  15. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/welcome/history.html
  16. ^ Conferences 2007: Welcome to Heidelberg
  17. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/news/538e.html
  18. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/welcome/theology.html
  19. ^ http://www.jura-hd.de/
  20. ^ http://www.klinikum.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?id=8200
  21. ^ http://www.ma.uni-heidelberg.de/
  22. ^ http://www.philosophische-fakultaet.uni-hd.de/index-en.htm
  23. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak9/
  24. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak18/index.html
  25. ^ http://www.verkult.uni-hd.de/
  26. ^ http://www.mathematik.uni-heidelberg.de/
  27. ^ http://www.chemgeo.uni-hd.de/indexengl.html
  28. ^ http://www.physik.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php?lang=en
  29. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/institute/fak14/
  30. ^ http://www.hbigs-heidelberg.de
  31. ^ http://www.dkfz.de/en/phd-program/index.html
  32. ^ http://ephedra.hip.uni-heidelberg.de/phd/
  33. ^ http://www.griph.de
  34. ^ http://www.mathcomp.uni-heidelberg.de
  35. ^ http://www.systemearth.uni-hd.de/
  36. ^ http://www.fundamental-physics.uni-hd.de/
  37. ^ http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/ato/amo/
  38. ^ http://www.ita.uni-heidelberg.de/~msb/gradSchool/
  39. ^ http://www.mpia-hd.mpg.de/imprs-hd/]
  40. ^ http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/imprs-qd/
  41. ^ http://www.dkfz.de/en/index.html
  42. ^ http://www.embl-heidelberg.de/
  43. ^ http://www.mpimf-heidelberg.de
  44. ^ http://www.mpia.de/Public/menu_q2e.php
  45. ^ http://www.mpi-hd.mpg.de/english/index.html
  46. ^ http://www.mpil.de/ww/en/pub/news.cfm
  47. ^ http://www.lsw.uni-heidelberg.de/?lang=en
  48. ^ http://www.ari.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php.en
  49. ^ http://www.kip.uni-heidelberg.de/?lang=en
  50. ^ http://www.gsi.de/
  51. ^ http://hca.uni-hd.de/
  52. ^ http://www.hiik.de/start/index.html.en
  53. ^ http://www.zi-mannheim.de/start_en.html
  54. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/welcome/sai.html
  55. ^ http://www.bioquant.uni-hd.de/
  56. ^ http://www.iwr.uni-heidelberg.de/
  57. ^ http://www.haw.baden-wuerttemberg.de/index_eng.php
  58. ^ THES - QS World University Ranking 2004
  59. ^ THES - QS World University Ranking 2005
  60. ^ THES - QS World University Ranking 2006
  61. ^ THES - QS World University Ranking 2007
  62. ^ http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ranking.htm
  63. ^ ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/indicators/docs/3rd_report_snaps10.pdf
  64. ^ http://cordis.europa.eu/indicators/third_report.htm
  65. ^ http://www.che.de/downloads/CHE_ExcellenceRanking_AP99.pdf
  66. ^ http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html
  67. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news07/2707budap.html
  68. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/news/press380_e.html
  69. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/press/news/538e.html
  70. ^ As a benchmark: The effective costs which the state must pay for every single medical student account for approximately €33,000 (=$48,500) per year. See http://www.unifr.ch/ztd/ems/berichte/b2/testergebnisse.htm
  71. ^ Information for incomming Erasmus Students
  72. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/international/index_e.html
  73. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news/2005schurman2.html
  74. ^ http://www.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/Englisch/allg/profil/geschichte.html
  75. ^ http://www.heidelberg-center.uni-hd.de/english/center.html
  76. ^ http://www.issw.uni-heidelberg.de/hsp/
  77. ^ http://www.usc-heidelberg.de/
  78. ^ http://www.ruprecht.de/fileadmin/pdf/Presseberichte/2007_10_07_RNZ.pdf
  79. ^ http://www.studzr.de/html/menu_oben/uberuns_en.html
  80. ^ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/magazin/2001/topthema_1101.html
  81. ^ http://www.gutenberg.org/files/119/119-h/119-h.htm
  82. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0018451/
  83. ^ http://wm05.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:212148
  84. ^ http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/lists/universities.html

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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ar:جامعة هايدلبرغ

de:Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg es:Universidad de Heidelberg fr:Université d'Heidelberg id:Universitas Ruprecht Karl Heidelberg he:אוניברסיטת היידלברג lt:Heidelbergo universitetas hu:Heidelbergi egyetem nl:Ruprecht-Karls-Universiteit Heidelberg ja:ハイデルベルク大学 no:Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg pt:Universidade de Heidelberg ru:Гейдельбергский университет sv:Ruprecht-Karls-Universität tr:Heidelberg Ruprecht Karls Üniversitesi uk:Гайдельберзький університет Рупрехта-Карла zh:海德堡大学

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