University of Altdorf

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Academia norica Altdorfina
University of Altdorf
logo
activity 1622-1809
place Altdorf near Nuremberg
country Imperial City of Nuremberg
( Holy Roman Empire )

The University of Altdorf , also Altdorfina or Academia norica , was the university of the imperial city of Nuremberg in Altdorf near Nuremberg , which was inaugurated as an academy in 1575 and elevated to a university in 1622 . In 1809 it was dissolved by the Bavarian King Maximilian I.

history

prehistory

The Nuremberg University of Altdorf (1714)
Exterior view of the university building (2007)
Johann Georg Puschner , the hardworking student , around 1725, in the background the characteristic architecture of the Altdorf university building with inner courtyard and gatehouse
Johann Georg Puschner , The Ruffing Student , copperplate engraving around 1725, in the background you can see the Altdorf University fencing floor

In May 1526 the St. Egidien grammar school was founded in Nuremberg with the participation of a number of well-known humanists and reformers , among them Philipp Melanchthon and Martin Luther , but it only lasted nine years. When it was later re-established in Nuremberg in the 19th century, it was named the Royal Old High School and in 1933 the Melanchthon High School . Initially, however, Joachim Camerarius , the former founding rector of the St. Egidien grammar school, gave the Nuremberg council the impetus for a new attempt with a letter written in 1565. After visiting several possible locations near Nuremberg, a delegation from the Nuremberg Council decided in favor of Altdorf. On September 30, 1571 the foundation stone was laid for the college building financed by donations from the wealthy Nuremberg patriciate; In return, the donors acquired a right of residence for their student sons. After almost four years of construction, the inauguration took place on June 29, 1575. In 1582 the east wing with the largest lecture hall, financed by Sebald Welser , was completed a year later the gatehouse with a bookstore and the pedell's apartment . The spatial dimensions of the building complex suggest that the Nuremberg residents thought beyond a simple grammar school early on. So the representative of the Nuremberg Council at the imperial court in Prague finally achieved the elevation to the academy. In 1581, the institution, which is no longer divided into classes, but rather into faculties, was awarded the first master’s degrees.

Elevation to university and Thirty Years' War

As the Altdorf Academy flourished and enjoyed a large influx of students, Emperor Ferdinand II elevated it to university on October 3, 1622 at the urging of the Nuremberg Council. In return, Nuremberg had to leave the Protestant Union and pay 25,000 guilders in aid to the emperor. The official founding date was set on June 29, 1623, the day on which the inauguration of the former grammar school took place in 1575. The Protestant St. Laurentius Church was named a university church. More than 1,100 young Protestant clergymen were ordained there by 1809 . Eight years after the university was founded, the Thirty Years' War had also reached Altdorf when Tilly's troops occupied town and university in November 1631 and threatened to plunder . After paying 1000 Reichstalers , the troops finally withdrew. In June 1632, members of the university were attacked by Croatian horsemen on their way from Nuremberg to Altdorf . The university rector Nößler had to stay as a doctor in Wallenstein's army . The enrollment at the university reached its low point during this time; Students and professors sought protection in neighboring Nuremberg.

Heyday, decline and dissolution

After the end of the war, the University of Altdorf enjoyed a period of prosperity and constant expansion into the first quarter of the 18th century. The anatomy was set up in 1650, the observatory in 1657 and the chemical laboratory in 1682 . On June 29, 1723, the centenary was celebrated with great pomp. But the annual new registrations continued to decline. A commission set up to improve the university in 1729 urged a higher discipline among students and professors and for the first time considered moving the university to Nuremberg. With the takeover of Nuremberg in 1806, the Imperial City University of Altdorf also fell to the Kingdom of Bavaria . As a result of the newly founded Bavarian state universities, savings had to be made in other areas. As the University of Dillingen had already done so in 1803 , the Altdorfina was dissolved by King Maximilian I Joseph on September 24, 1809 because the financial means were lacking . The library's holdings, including the bookcases, went to the Erlangen University Library . From 1824 to 1924 there was a school teacher seminar.

The "Wallenstein Affair"

On August 29, 1599, the then sixteen-year-old Albrecht von Waldstein , the son of a Protestant landowner and later famous under the name "Wallenstein" of the Thirty Years' War, registered in the Altdorf register . Only a few weeks later he was involved in the scandal surrounding the murder of Wolff Fuchs, an ensign of the Altdorf vigilante group , who was stabbed to death by student Johann Hartmann von Steinau shortly before Christmas after an argument. The allegations, which were then brought against Wallenstein, affected not only his presence at the act itself, but also that he , he should have been too Altorff and studirn in kurtzen time since turned white in mancherley allerley unrest and muetwillens were subject have As a letter from the Nuremberg Council to the Rector of the Altdorfina testified on January 12, 1600. The punishment was unusually mild, and Wallenstein was only given brief house arrest. A little later, on January 14th, another incident occurred when Wallenstein severely abused his servant with lashes because he had been idly looking out the window at the market. The then initiated proceedings ended with Wallenstein having to pay the medical expenses for the treatment of his servant and a fine of 30 guilders . His name appears for the last time in the university annals in mid-March 1600. Wallenstein disappeared from Altdorf and went on a grand tour to France and Italy, where he continued his studies at the universities of Padua and Bologna .

Eminent scholars

The year of the appointment to Altdorf or the lifetime is given in brackets

Eminent students

Aftertaste

Former University of Altdorf in 2014, tower clock by Isaak Habrecht , in the courtyard of the fountain with the figure of Pallas Athene by Georg Labenwolf

The university building is now part of the Wichernhaus , a boarding school for the physically handicapped and a retirement home .

To commemorate Wallenstein's student days, the so-called " Wallenstein Festival " takes place in Altdorf at regular intervals , at which over 600 Altdorf citizens in historical costumes reenact scenes from student life at the beginning of the 17th century. The next festival year is 2021.

Today there is a university museum less than a hundred meters from the university building.

Since September 2002 the INUA initiative ("International Network University Altdorf") has been working to revitalize the University of Altdorf. INUA is currently working on the development of various courses and on a university database. Important data from all German universities should be made generally accessible there.

literature

Wills, history and description of the Nuremberg University of Altdorf , Altdorf 1795.

swell

  • Ludwig Krauss: The Altdorfer memorial speech for Sebald Welser (d. 1589) . The Latin text with translation, introduction and explanations. Nuremberg: Melanchthon-Gymnasium, 1976, 53 pages (uniform title: Oratio in obitum et memoriam domini Sebaldi Welseri senatoris consularis Norimbergensis)
  • Johann Martin Trechsel: Amoenitates Altdorfinae or actual prospectuses drawn from life of the praiseworthy Nuremberg University of Altdorf , Nuremberg, approx. 1720
  • Johann Georg Puschner : Natural portrayal of academic life in present fourteen beautiful figures brought to light by D. , Nuremberg approx. 1725
  • The register of the University of Altdorf . Stürtz: Würzburg ( digitized version )

Representations

  • Georg Andreas Will: History and description of the Nuremberg University Altdorf . Reprint of the 2nd edition Altdorf 1801, with an addendum by Christian Conrad Nopitsch, Aalen 1975, ISBN 3-511-10095-X . ( Google Books )
  • Horst Claus Recktenwald (ed.): Scholars of the University of Altdorf . Nuremberg 1966.
  • Horst Claus Recktenwald: The Franconian University of Altdorf , 2nd edition, Nuremberg 1990, ISBN 3-88929-073-6 .
  • Hans Recknagel : The Nuremberg University Altdorf , Altdorf near Nuremberg 1993.
  • Hans Recknagel: The Nuremberg University Altdorf and its great scholars , Altdorf 1998, ISBN 3-00-003737-3 .
  • Wolfgang Mährle: Academia Norica. Science and education at the Nuremberg High School in Altdorf (1575-1623) . (Contubernium. Tübingen Contributions to the History of University and Science 54). Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 2000. ( Google Books ; limited preview)
  • Hanns Christof Brennecke / Dirk Niefanger / Werner Wilhelm Schnabel (eds.): Academy and University of Altdorf, studies on the university history of Nuremberg , Cologne, Weimar, Vienna 2011 (supplements to the archive for cultural history, 69), ISBN 978-3-412-20640- 6 .
  • Werner Wilhelm Schnabel (ed.): Athena Norica. Images and data on the history of the University of Altdorf , Nuremberg 2012 (gff digital - Series A: Digitized sources, 3), ISBN 978-3-929865-93-6 (DVD-ROM)

Web links

Commons : Wichernhaus Altdorf  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 49 ° 23 ′ 5.5 ″  N , 11 ° 21 ′ 24.5 ″  E