History of the university
Universities are higher education institutions with the right to award doctorates , which serve the maintenance and development of the sciences through research , teaching and study . The university, which emerged from the Christian educational system and ideas of medieval Western Europe and is largely self-governing, is considered a classic European creation:
"The university is one, yes, the European educational institution par excellence : As a community of teachers and students, endowed with special rights of self-administration, the definition and execution of curricula and research goals as well as the award of publicly recognized academic degrees , it is a creation of the European Middle Ages ... No other European institution has achieved universal recognition in the whole world like the university with its traditional structures and scientific achievements. The titles of the medieval university, baccalaureate , licentiate , master's degree , doctorate , are recognized in the most diverse political and ideological systems. "
Beginnings
The following are known as the first universities and university-like institutions that are still active:
- University of al-Qarawiyin in Morocco, founded in 859,
- al-Azhar University in Egypt, founded in 972,
- School of Salerno in Italy, founded in the 10th century,
- al-Nizamiyya University in Iraq, founded in 1065,
- University of Bologna in Italy, founded in 1088,
- Oxford University in England, founded in 1096.
Non-European role models
Early non-European, university-like educational institutions are, for example, the houses of life in ancient Egypt and Islamic universities such as the University of Zabid in Yemen (around 820), the House of Wisdom founded by Christians in Baghdad (around 825) or the Al-Azhar, founded in 975 University in Cairo that emerged from Koran schools ( madrasas ) .
Monastery and cathedral schools
The origins of many European universities lie in the medieval monastery schools and cathedral schools , where monks and nuns have been teaching since the 6th century AD . The first universities often joined the old monastery and cathedral schools. As early as the 8th and 9th centuries there were some of these who, as for example Tours , St. Gallen , Fulda , Liège , and Paris , had attracted numerous students from abroad as scholae publicae .
Until the end of the 11th century, the masters teach exclusively on behalf of a cathedral chapter or collegiate monastery , often with church benefices . In the 12th century, however, more and more wandering masters and scholars appear. In addition, from the 11th century onwards, ecclesiastical concerns about the teaching activities of monks were growing. The education of the diocesan clergy keeps them alive, but the level remains limited to elementary education.
In 1155, Emperor Friedrich I issued the so-called scholar privilege (authentica habita) , which protects the wandering pupils and teachers who come together in corporations and ensures them a choice of court under bishop or master's degree. Both the aristocracy and the papal curia need trained scholars for financial administration and legal affairs in particular, so that since 1200 clarifications of their legal status in favor of episcopal jurisdiction have been made, above all, through the authorization to teach autonomous research and teaching.
Science, which is increasingly pursued for its own sake and no longer for ecclesiastical education, was only made possible in the 13th century by the connection of the Magister with the cathedral schools , but as an organizational form, a new university. This development initially remains regionally limited, for example the Holy Roman Empire is very late in taking hold, and so the university remains part of the ecclesiastical framework until the 15th century .
Medieval universities
The first universities are mentioned in imperial Italy in the 11th century ; According to today's usage, however, there were only individual faculties in which a few scholars (usually fewer than five) trained aristocratic sons in one subject, namely canon law , secular law and medicine . At the beginning of the course, the artes liberales were studied as an introduction (see also: studium generale ).
The first universities were the law schools in Bologna (founded in 1088 by Irnerio) and the medical school of Salerno, which developed between 995 and 1087 and was considered a prototype of a university (founded around 1057 by Constantine , older than Bologna, but remained a pure medical college), then expanded The wave of founding in the 12th century led to world and canon law universities:
- Paris , between 1150 and 1170
- Oxford , 1167
- Cambridge , 1209
- Salamanca , 1218
- Montpellier , 1220 (initially medical school, from 1289 university status)
- Padua , 1222
The next wave of founding took place in the 14th century in the German-speaking area (see below).
The University of Bologna is considered to be the oldest existing university in Europe and its founding date is given by its own historians to be 1088. In fact, it will not be possible to give an exact date, as this was a slow merging of smaller schools of law. In Bologna, the interests of the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire were important to the development of effective training for legal scholars.
In the pursuit of independent power against the pope's claim to supremacy , the emperors were dependent on not only employing monks and clergy as literary experts in his administration. In the schools of law, administrative specialists were trained who were independent of the Pope. The development of the universities, especially the legal education, represented a process of emancipation from the educational monopoly of the church. In 1155 , the university was given legal autonomy by Friedrich Barbarossa through the so-called scholar privilege ( authentica habita ). Among other things, the dominus of the university was responsible for protecting lecturers and students, and the university had its own jurisdiction. This was to prevent the city of Bologna from taking control of the university. After several disputes, an agreement was reached with the city in the middle of the 13th century.
In contrast, the University of Paris came into being . Although the education grew slowly from small beginnings, the exhibition of the papal bull Parens scientiarum by Pope Gregory IX is considered to be the founding act . in 1231. Innocent wanted to make Paris the highest school of Christianity. Centralization in a single school should make it easier to monitor the training of higher theologians. Theological doctrine was thereby stabilized into the 14th century.
The members of the Sorbonne , masters and scholars alike, were subject to the Pope and to ecclesiastical jurisdiction. This was also confirmed by the French king. Jurisdiction was exercised by the University's Chancellor, who was not a member of the University but acted as the representative of the Bishop of Paris . He watched over the purity of teaching and awarded degrees.
The University of Paris became the starting point and model for almost all western universities, especially the English ones, among which Oxford through an emigration from Paris under Queen Blanka of Castile (1226–1236), mother Louis IX. at least first came to a higher importance, and the Germans . Both universities differed from Bologna in their colleges, at that time actually bursas , in which the students slept.
The third university in history was the Medical School of Salerno , which existed for about 200 years and taught Greek-Arabic medicine.
As the importance of these bodies for the spiritual life of the peoples grew, the popes and emperors claimed protection or control over the new institutions and thus granted them the right to be a legal body and to confer a doctorate ( doctorate ) . Because of the special decentralized political structure of the European Middle Ages, local powers - smaller princes or the cities - could otherwise have gained influence over the universities.
This is how the principle of academic jurisdiction came about . It allowed the universities a certain independence from local powers and rulers and at the same time a loyalty to the emperor and / or pope. This principle was also maintained during the Reformation , when the Protestant princes founded their own state universities, which were often located in smaller provincial towns. The academic jurisdiction included not only masters and scholars, but also all employees of the university. There was also talk of the civitas academica ("Academic Citizenship"), that is, of the university as a self-governing community.
The curriculum consisted of the seven liberal arts logic, Latin grammar, rhetoric, geometry, arithmetic, astronomy and music. Only then did the students choose whether to study theology, law or medicine; only a few graduated.
Nations and Faculties
University of Leipzig: Badge of the (Lower) Saxon Landsmannschaft
Badge of the Meissen country team
Polish national team badge
Badge of the Bavarian country team
From 1249 the internal organization of the universities was based on the different nationalities , with the smaller ones following one of the larger ones. This is how the division into four so-called Nationes arose in Paris : Gallicans or Gauls (which also included Italians, Spaniards, Greeks and Orientals ), Picards , Normans and English (which also included the Germans and other northern and central Europeans). This classification applied to both the scholars and the Masters.
Each nation had its special statutes , special officials and a chief ( procurator ). The procurators elected the rector of the university. Pope Honorius III. decreed in 1219 that only those scholars could be elected as teachers who had received the license to do so from the bishop or the scholastic of the responsible monastery .
Gradually, however, guild-like associations emerged among the teachers (magistri, masters) of theology , jurisprudence and medicine , which were first established as closed colleges in 1231 by Gregory IX. recognized in Paris and ordines or facultates, faculties were called. This division gradually replaced that of nations . A little later, the college of artists, that is, the teachers of the “ seven liberal arts ”, adopted the constitution of a fourth faculty, which until the later modern era initially only had the task of preparing for the study of one of the higher technical sciences . Accordingly, their teachers were often scholars in one of the upper faculties.
The faculties soon had the privilege of conferring academic degrees . In Paris these were three main degrees , those of baccalarians , licentiates and magisters . The bachelor's degrees were appointed by the individual masters; the degree of licentiate was awarded after an examination by the faculty masters on the part of the chancellor or bishops, who ultimately only gave their confirmation.
Only the Masters had the unrestricted right to appear as teachers in their faculty. They were also often called doctors . In the HRRDN , the designation doctor mostly applied to the three old or upper faculties , while the liberal arts faculties appointed masters. The appointment to a doctorate was called a doctorate . These usually took place during festive ceremonies, and the doctoral hat was presented as a sign of the doctorate .
Colleges
A third institute, important for the medieval constitution of the university, was the colleges or colleges ; originally ecclesiastical institutions in which (predominantly male) students found free maintenance, teaching and supervision. One of the first university colleges was the famous Paris Sorbonne . Especially in HRRDN were additionally as private, the college similar facilities bursae on; in England , Scotland and France , on the other hand, the colleges in which classes later also took place became more widespread.
In addition to college or bursa members, there were so-called traveling students of different ages and levels of education in the Middle Ages .
Development of universities in the German-speaking area
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| Some universities were newly founded after 1945 (Mainz, Trier, Bamberg, Erfurt, Frankfurt / O.), And are listed here under the date they were first founded. |
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Today's federal German university system has its origins in the Holy Roman Empire with the establishment of universities (that is, the granting of privileges, even to existing schools) by the spiritual and secular rulers.
Especially Bologna (founded between 1088 and 1119) by Emperor Barbarossa in 1155 (granting of a legal privilege) and Charles University in Prague in 1348 by Emperor Charles IV , both of which were and are not in "German" language areas, but for students from all parts of the empire Study locations were. The four nationes represented in Prague (students of different origins joined one of these four) were: Bohemia, Poland, Bavaria and Saxony. What was new was that these universities were founded by a ruler and did not evolve out of schools like Bologna, Paris, Oxford and Salerno.
Some encyclopedic works such as the Brockhaus therefore name Prague as the oldest “German” university (even if the teaching language - as was common at the time - was Latin), because the founder was a Roman-German emperor , and which was founded in 1365 by Duke Rudolf IV ( The University of Vienna was expanded to include the theological faculty in 1384, making it the second oldest.
The Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, founded in 1386, claims the status of the oldest university in what is now the Federal Republic of Germany .
Difficulties arise in particular from the border regulations that were completely alien to the medieval self-image: On the one hand, in retrospect, “Germany” could be understood in a broader sense as the Middle High German , Middle Low German and Middle Dutch language area at that time; on the other hand already studied in Paris, but also in non-German-speaking areas of the Empire, z. B. in Bologna, Middle High German and Latin speaking nobles (called transmontani , from across the Alps). Karl also founded the university in his capacity as King of Bohemia; he only became emperor seven years later.
The naming of the “oldest German universities” is therefore misleading because it ignores the complexity and otherness of the social and not nationally defined political conditions in medieval times.
Only in relation to today's political boundaries can Vienna (1365) be the oldest university of today's state of Austria, Erfurt (1379/1392) or Heidelberg (1386) the oldest universities of today's state of Federal Republic of Germany and the University of Basel (1460) the oldest of the call today's Switzerland (this city also belonged to the Swiss Confederation only since 1501).
The occidental schism created other universities. Numerous sovereigns wanted to upgrade their territory by founding their own university in their country. With the doubling of the papacy, the financial aspect stood in the way of this project, because the coveted privilege of the Pope was now easy to obtain. Both popes could be blackmailed and, if requested, granted university privileges in the knowledge that in the event of a rejection, the respective antipope would approve the establishment of a university.
For this reason and because of the greater need for scholars of canon law, further universities were founded:
- 1379 in Erfurt (foundation privilege of the antipope Clemens VII. In Avignon, which was granted again in 1389 by Pope Urban VI, 1392 commencement of teaching),
- 1386 in Heidelberg ,
- 1388 in Cologne ,
- 1402 in Würzburg ,
- 1409 in Leipzig ,
- 1419 in Rostock .
Until the Reformation followed:
- 1456 Greifswald ,
- 1457 Freiburg ,
- 1472 Ingolstadt (moved to Munich),
- 1473 Trier
- 1477 Tübingen and Mainz .
Of the universities mentioned, only Heidelberg, Leipzig, Rostock, Greifswald and Tübingen have existed without interruption since their foundation.
Old universities in Europe
After the Charles University in Prague, the Jagiellonian University in Krakow (Poland), founded in 1364 by the Polish King Kazimierz the Great , is the second oldest university in Eastern Europe.
About two hundred years later, in 1544, the Albertina in Königsberg ( East Prussia ), founded by Duke Albrecht, was the second oldest Protestant university (after Marburg , founded in 1527).
In 1500 there were a total of 66 universities in Europe, 17 in France, 16 in the Holy Roman Empire, 13 in Italy, 11 in Spain, three in Scotland, two in England and one each in Denmark, Poland, Portugal and Sweden.
The University of Vilnius , which is considered to be the oldest university in the Baltic States, is of particular importance for the Baltic States. It was founded by Jesuits in 1579. Its Protestant counterpart is the University of Tartu (Dorpat) , which was founded in 1632 by King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden.
The Early Modern Age: Upswing in the University System
In the period between 1500 and 1670, the development of the academic faculty to the constitution, which is essentially still in force today, began. Thereafter, the full professors ( professores publici ordinarii ) form the academic (large) senate as full members of the four faculties . The theological faculty was long considered the most important, while the philosophical faculty was the least respected; At some universities, the (purely external) priority of theology is still expressed today in seating and admission regulations. The full professors of a faculty elect the dean from among their number , all full professors elect the rector . In addition, there are professors and private lecturers who are not members of the Senate and who have a teaching permit but no teaching obligation.
In the course of the rapid development of the regional principalities since the 15th century and the humanist movement , the ties between church and university were loosened. In the 16th and 17th centuries, other universities emerged, some of which were decidedly Protestant ( Lutheran or Calvinist ) (for example Wittenberg 1502, Marburg 1527, Königsberg 1544, Gießen 1607, Kiel 1665). Many of these universities served the respective sovereigns to train themselves the specialists who were urgently needed for the administration of the territories.
In the German-speaking area, there was also a middle form between the so-called Latin schools ( grammar schools ) and universities, which were referred to as academic grammar schools or gymnasia illustria . These were set up by free cities and minor sovereigns in order to prevent the educated youth from migrating to the universities. They differed from the universities mostly in size and in that they could not award titles. Several of these academic high schools later developed into actual colleges.
While the universities in the Protestant north gradually became state institutions with a certain degree of corporate independence, the "new" Jesuit universities of the 16th and 17th centuries ( Würzburg 1582, Olmütz (today: Olomouc) 1573, Graz 1582, Paderborn 1614) remained. Several of the existing Catholic universities were redesigned according to the model, essentially true to the older type.
At the German universities of the 17th and 18th centuries, new country teams developed as an intermediate stage between nationes and student associations , at the same time the students were no longer involved in university administration. The election of young, studying princes as rectors was purely a matter of form, as the actual administration was carried out by vice rectors, who were elected from the group of professors.
Christian Thomasius gave his first lectures in German at the university in Halle that was founded by his efforts . The first critical academic journal appeared there under his direction. The first university to be connected to an Academy of Sciences was the University of Göttingen, founded in 1737 .
The University of Göttingen was also the first university in the Holy Roman Empire whose faculties - shaped by the spirit of the Enlightenment - could no longer be censored by the theological faculty . Research and teaching were thus freed from the shackles of church supervision, but by no means from state control. Furthermore, all professors remained obliged to ensure that no writings were printed in their sphere of influence that the ruler might have displeased.
By 1789 the number of universities in Europe had grown to 142. The largest contingent with 34 universities was recorded in the Holy Roman Empire (excluding Habsburg territories), which is due to the competition between the sovereigns and the pressure of the Counter-Reformation. In 1790 Italy ranked second with 26 universities. Then came France with 25, Spain with 23, Austria-Hungary with twelve, the Netherlands with six, Scotland with five, Scandinavia with four, England and Russia with two each and Ireland, Portugal and Switzerland with one university each.
At the turn of the 18th to the 19th century there were considerable upheavals in the university landscape in Central Europe. In France, by decree of the National Convention of September 10, 1793, the universities were closed. They were seen as an embodiment of the ancien régime and should be replaced by “special schools”. These “Écoles”, built up from 1794/1795, were specialized in individual subjects (“écoles centrales”) and were intended in particular to provide training in natural sciences and technology (including “école polytechnique”). In doing so, they often continue the tradition of universities in teaching. Under Napoleon , they developed into today's grandes écoles . The reorganization of the universities expanded to include the French-occupied territories, which led to the closure of the universities of Löwen (1797) and Cologne and Mainz (1798).
During the so-called French era , there was also a significant number of university closings in other parts of the HRRDN or in the German successor states; their number fell to 83 between 1789 and 1815.
By 1840 there was an increase in the German Confederation to 98 universities, at which around 80,000 students and 5,000 professors worked.
19th century
After the turmoil of the Napoleonic Wars , the Congress of Vienna met in 1814/15 to reorganize Europe. The German Confederation founded there as the 'successor organization' of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation was under the influence of the two great German powers Austria and Prussia . In 1819 they also enforced the Karlovy Vary resolutions , the university law of which placed universities under strict state supervision. Political activity by professors and students was severely punished. In particular, the sovereign plenipotentiaries who had to supervise the universities went into historical awareness . A closer look at the research shows, however, that not all government plenipotentiaries were rabid demagogue persecutors , numerous individual states only implemented the university law negligently at best, and the government plenipotentiaries, often scolded by the 'historical cliché', in some cases even protected the universities, their professors and students from the authorities took. In 1848 the university law was finally repealed as part of the liberalization initiated by the revolution.
From the second half of the 19th century, the focus at universities shifted from collecting, organizing and imparting knowledge to research , i.e. the generation of knowledge. This happened inspired by the Humboldt educational ideal of the unity of research and teaching, which was founded at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Berlin, today's Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin . The liberal German university model according to Humboldt stood for holistic training (i.e. research and teaching and not just teaching) and training that was independent of economic and state interests ( academic freedom ). The German university model was considered to be “the ideal of the modern university” “around the turn of the 20th century” and was imitated in Europe, the USA and Japan.
Up until the 19th century there were generally only four faculties at universities : a general philosophy faculty and three faculties for theology, law and medicine related to a specific professional field. For the first time in centuries, the number of students in the general philosophical faculties was greater than the number in the law faculties. The number of matriculations in theology fell by half between 1830 and 1904. In the 1880s, faculties were reorganized at universities. This resulted mainly from the Humanities Faculties own natural , state- , humanities or economics faculties. In addition, the academic seminars in which the students conduct practical exercises under supervision became popular. At the same time the laboratories , observatories and clinics developed so that practical training could be undertaken in the natural sciences and medicine. During this time, "overcrowded" courses appeared for the first time. The number of students grew five-fold to 61,000 between 1865 and 1914. In the winter semester of 1871/72 around 5,000 students were enrolled at the technical universities; 1903 already 17,000.
The foundation university represents a special type of university . The first was the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main , which was founded in 1912/1914.
Great Britain
Universities in Great Britain had retained their structures of autonomous bodies from the Middle Ages. This gave universities greater freedom compared to the rest of Europe. For example, it was very easy to set up modern universities. Between 1832 and 1905 thirteen universities were "recognized by the 'royal charter'" without an overall government plan. With the support of regional business circles and authorities, institutes also emerged in the “clinical, polytechnical and commercial” area.
" Oxford , Cambridge and Trinity College Dublin " offered their students very well-funded colleges. Tutors and students lived in the colleges. The students received a humanistic education from the tutors. As far as possible, the universities only had "the function of a graduation authority". The number of matriculations at Oxford and Cambridge had a negative effect on the compulsory student residence, high study costs, the focus of teaching on clerical career preparation and the obligation to follow the Anglican faith. In the 1870s, the British Parliament forced the two universities to accept students of other faiths than Anglican and women. The study program was expanded to include some areas such as natural sciences and research complemented the previous teaching. As a result, the number of students increased.
The emergence of the civic universities is one of the major changes in the university landscape in Great Britain. The later University College London and King's College London were merged in 1836 to form the University of London . The university had "the right to award degrees to graduates of London colleges". This new type of British university did not have a residence requirement and, compared to its Scottish counterparts, did not form an internal unit. Academic degrees were given to foreign students and colleges of the university were able to form in rural areas. The London School of Economics , founded in 1895, is also one of the colleges of the University of London.
In 1889 some changes were made, such as mandatory entrance examinations, the creation of new chairs, the addition of an "assistant" and "lecturer" to the professors, the establishment of natural science faculties, the creation of research facilities for doctoral students and a relaxation of the curriculum. Some of the innovations mentioned were introduced based on the liberal German university model.
Despite an increase in government funding to up to 36% of university income in 1936-37, UK universities remained largely self-financed bodies.
Students women
The first woman to receive a doctorate in Germany was Dorothea Erxleben from Quedlinburg . In January 1754 she submitted her dissertation with the title “Academic treatise on the too quick and pleasant, but therefore often unsafe, healing of diseases” . On May 6, 1754, she took the doctoral examination in Halle, which she passed with great success.
The first women studied at the University of Zurich (first doctorate for a woman in 1867) and soon also at the universities in Geneva, Lausanne and Bern. Almost all of these female students at Swiss universities came from the Russian Empire, which excluded women from studying. The positive experiences with these female students contributed significantly to the fact that, from the 1890s onwards, the German universities gradually opened up to women. Today, more than half of the students at German universities are female, although the gender distribution varies greatly depending on the subject. The proportion of women in the medical, veterinary, biological and humanities subjects is very high, and significantly lower in the mathematics and technical students.
1918-1960
During the Weimar Republic, the universities were largely able to administer themselves. Article 142 of the Weimar Constitution secured the freedom of science and its teaching. The nine Reichsländer were responsible for university policy and administration, and they were able to exercise considerable state influence over the 23 universities.
The university professors and students were predominantly critical and sometimes hostile towards the Weimar Republic. The majority of the students associated the new state with the shameful defeat of the war. This anti-democratic subculture organized itself in fraternities and other student associations , whose membership numbers rose steadily. Even before 1933, the NSDStB successively achieved absolute majorities at German universities.
With the appointment of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor on January 30, 1933, there was a radical reorganization of the German universities. The “ Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service ” of April 7, 1933 and the “Law on the Dismissal and Replacement of University Professors on the Occasion of the Rebuilding of the German University System” created the uniform basis for the dismissal, transfer and discharge of “unwanted” university members. Almost a fifth of the teaching staff was dismissed. The reorganization of the university administration that took place in 1935 implemented the leader principle in the university and declared the rector to be the leader of the university.
With the establishment of the Reich Ministry for Science, Education and National Education in 1934, the states lost their competence for an independent university administration. Access to university studies has also been regulated by law. The “ law against overcrowding in German schools and universities ” attempted to counteract the “overcrowding crisis” that had already been discussed in the 1920s and to limit the number of students through a general numerus clausus . This measure, together with demographic changes, a reduced willingness to study and the growing attractiveness of other professional fields, led to a drastic decline in the number of students by 1939/40. The Jewish students were gradually ousted from the university.
The university professors reacted differently to the power struggles of the National Socialist regime. A large number of right-wing conservative university teachers identified with essential parts of the Nazi ideology before 1933. With Hitler's “seizure of power”, criticism from Nazi-skeptical professors also subsided. There was very little open and organized resistance among the university staff. The students, too, were generally receptive to the ideas of National Socialism and initially played an active role in Nazi university policy. The institutional reactions cannot be traced uniformly for all German universities or institutes and faculties. There were both expressions of loyalty to the Nazi regime but also criticism, because B. feared for the autonomy of higher education. According to Thomas Mann, the universities as a whole made themselves “the breeding ground for the rejected powers ... that are ravaging Germany morally, culturally and economically” and thus “were heavily complicit”. Georg Picht spoke of a "moral surrender (...) to the new rulers" .
The goals of Nazi science policy were the development of a holistic, nationally oriented science that should be released from its end in itself and instead be geared towards a concrete benefit for the German people. The concept of race should become a central part of science and research. The Nazi science policy approach, however, was hampered by competing interest groups and a large number of decision-making bodies with overlapping areas of responsibility. There was consensus on personnel policy and, for example, the targeted (financial) support of individual scientific disciplines, primarily from the natural and technical sciences. There was a very close connection between political and scientific interests. B. in the field of medicine and armaments research . Efforts to establish an “Aryan” science from within, such as B. an “Aryan” physics were unsuccessful. Such areas of science could not be permanently established and therefore had no significant influence on the development of science in the post-war period.
As part of the denazification of German society, German universities and colleges were also subjected to a political review and purge, in the first phase of which there were mass layoffs by the Allies . Through the issuing of so-called Persilscheine and the gradual softening of the denazification directives, most of the dismissed people in the western zones were able to return to their university positions after a short time. The universities reopened long before the process of denazification was complete. At the beginning there were significantly more layoffs in the Soviet zone . But here, too, former NSDAP members could remain in office or later return to their posts, so that in the mid-1950s the proportion of former party members at the universities in East and West was almost the same. In the western occupation zones, the milder denazification policy was linked to a democracy-building function. The structural reforms sought by the Allies were largely fought off by the German authorities. It was not until the university reforms of the 1960s that decisive changes came about.
Expansion and reform after 1960
The continuing economic upswing after the war and later educational reforms in the Federal Republic of Germany gradually granted children from all social classes easy access to higher education from 1960 onwards. From 1962 new universities were founded, mostly by expanding the existing teacher training colleges. These were among others Bochum (1962), Regensburg (1962), Düsseldorf (1965), Konstanz (1966), Ulm (1967), Dortmund (1968), Bielefeld (1969), Augsburg (1970), Trier (founded in 1970), Bremen (1971), Oldenburg (1973), Osnabrück (1973), Passau (1978) and Bamberg (founded in 1979) in Germany and Salzburg (1962), Linz (1966) and Klagenfurt (1973) in Austria. As new colleges were in Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia also Gesamthochschulen established, so in Kassel (1971) and in 1972 in Duisburg , Essen , Paderborn , Siegen and Wuppertal , but later, all were transferred to regular universities. The traditional scientific broad spectrum of a university with medicine, law, theology and philosophy as well as natural science courses in biology, chemistry and physics was often abandoned - partly also in view of the advancing and increasingly confusing subject specialization. At the same time, interdisciplinary study opportunities were created in projects and interdisciplinary teaching and research projects were strengthened.
The student movement that had emerged since 1965 was part of the international reformist awakening that reached in 1968 from Berkeley (USA) to Paris, Berlin, Frankfurt and Prague. The German "68" generation rebelled against the silence of the crimes of the "Third Reich" by their parents' generation and uncovered the unresolved entanglements of considerable parts of German science during the Hitler era . The part of the students at the time that determined the discussion saw the thorough reappraisal and abandonment of traditions that had prepared the Third Reich as a prerequisite for any further scientific and social progress. The most famous banner of the student movement was unveiled in 1967 during the handover of the rectorate at the University of Hamburg and denounced this with the slogan " Under the gowns - mustard of 1000 years ".
The student movement has had a lasting influence on the university landscape: an expanded participation - third and quarter parity - in the university committees of the academic self-administration opened up a wealth of new political opportunities for the students. Today there is a pluralistic variety of associations at universities. These include self-governing student bodies such as AStA units for university and socio-political issues (e.g. lesbian / gay presentations, foreigner’s presentations), political departmental initiatives , leisure facilities, e.g. student cafés , entrepreneur associations and spin-off initiatives to promote careers. Student umbrella organizations like fzs see themselves as a counterweight to conventional student associations , reject them and openly fight them.
In the 1970s it became clear that it was necessary to regulate fundamental questions of the German higher education system on a national basis despite the educational federalism. The University Framework Act was created for this purpose.
Current developments
A major change in the European higher education landscape is currently the endeavor to harmonize and internationalize the European higher education area ( Bologna Process ), which extends far beyond the EU borders and in which 45 countries participate. The most important changes for the students are the standardized Bachelor and Master degrees up to 2010. This is intended to make it easier to change universities as well as easier recognition and better comparison of degrees when entering or changing careers across all national borders. For a mandatory accreditation of study programs, for example, it is necessary that the study programs are modularized. The course work to be achieved is specified in more detail in module handbooks and assigned to these credit points according to the European Credit Transfer System .
On the other hand, in the course of globalization and the above-mentioned harmonization of university systems within the EU, universities are increasingly competing with one another nationally and internationally. This process is illustrated and reinforced by comparing international university rankings on the quality, performance and reputation of selected universities.
The current changes in the educational system are controversial. Criticism is cited, for example, that the reform not only ties up numerous resources and is insufficiently thought out, but also actually achieves the opposite of what was actually intended: a strong “ schooling ” of the new courses can already be seen . Some critics see the reforms as the ultimate end of the Humboldt University, the associated idea of education and thus the "end of a way of life". In addition to schooling, the increasing “separation of research and teaching” and the replacement of “internal control” (interest in content) by “external control” (sham-oriented - i.e., performance certificates - study under time pressure) are cited. In addition, the university staff is becoming increasingly precarious. Other critics point to the " disciplining " of students through the abolition of academic freedom (compulsory attendance, etc.), which puts an additional burden on students who have to work on the side, leads to a further deterioration in study conditions and prevents political engagement. This is countered, however, by the fact that various changes in the content of universities were not specified by the Bologna Process, but that this was put forward as a justification. This should include the shortening of alternative options in the course of study for likely financial reasons or the compulsory attendance introduced in various places.
literature
- Comprehensive list of literature on books, students, masters and doctors at the University of the Middle Ages , Peter Zahn, HU Berlin, December 4, 1997 ( Memento from June 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- Clyde W. Barrow: Universities and the Capitalist State: Corporate Liberalism and the Reconstruction of American Higher Education, 1894-1928. University of Wisconsin Press, 1990.
- Martin Biastoch : Students and Universities in the Empire - An Overview. In: Marc Zirlewagen (ed.): "We win or we fall". German students in the First World War. (= Treatises on student and higher education. 17). Cologne 2008, pp. 11–24.
- Pierre Bourdieu : Homo Academicus. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1988, ISBN 3-518-57892-8 .
- Franco Cardini , Mariaterese Fumagalli Beonio-Brocchieri (ed.): Universities in the Middle Ages. The European sites of knowledge. Munich 1991, ISBN 3-517-01272-6 .
- John Connelly, Michael Grüttner (Ed.): Between autonomy and adaptation. Universities in the dictatorships of the 20th century. Schöningh, Paderborn 2003, ISBN 3-506-71941-6 .
- Jacques Derrida : The Unconditional University . Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 2001, ISBN 3-518-12238-X .
- Sigmund Diamond: Compromised Campus: The Collaboration of Universities with the Intelligence Community, 1945–1955. Oxford University Press, 1992.
- Joachim Ehlers : The high schools. In: Peter Weimar (ed.): The renaissance of the sciences in the 12th century. Zurich 1981, pp. 57-86.
- Thomas Ellwein : The German University. From the Middle Ages to the Present, Athenaeum Verlag , Königstein / Ts. 1985, ISBN 3-7610-8379-3 .
- Johann J. Engel, Johann B. Erhard, Friedrich A. Wolf and others: Occasional thoughts about universities. Leipzig 1990, ISBN 3-379-00531-2 .
- Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Ed.): The specifics of university education. Memorandum on the current situation of the university. edition paideia, Jena 2007, ISBN 978-3-938203-56-9 .
- Karl Griewank : German students and universities in the revolution of 1848. Böhlau 1949, DNB 451661311 .
- Michael Grüttner et al. (Ed.): Broken scientific cultures. University and Politics in the 20th Century. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2010, ISBN 978-3-525-35899-3 .
- Helmut Heiber : University under the swastika. Part 1: The professor in the Third Reich: Pictures from the academic province. Saur, Munich 1991; Part 2: The Surrender of the High Schools: 1933 and Its Themes. 2 volumes. Saur, Munich 1992/94.
- Klaus Heinrich : On the spiritlessness of the university today. University of Oldenburg, 1987, ISBN 3-8142-1008-5 .
- MJFM Hoenen, Jakob Hans Josef Schneider, Georg Wieland (Hrsg.): Philosophy and Learning. Universities in the Middle Ages . Brill, Leiden 1997, ISBN 90-04-10212-4 .
- Jochen Hörisch: The unloved university. Save the alma mater! Hanser, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-446-20805-4 . (some chapters inspired by Karl Jaspers )
- The idea of the German university: the five basic scripts from the time they were re-established through classical idealism and romantic idealism . Gentner, Darmstadt 1956, DNB 452190134 . (including Wilhelm von Humboldt : On the internal and external organization of the higher scientific institutions in Berlin. 1810)
- Karl Jaspers : The idea of the university . Springer, Berlin / New York 1980, ISBN 3-540-10071-7 .
- Michael Klant: University in the caricature - evil images from the curious history of the universities. Hanover 1984, ISBN 3-7716-1451-1 .
- Beate Krais: Scientific Culture and Gender Order. About the hidden mechanisms of male dominance in the academic world. Frankfurt am Main / New York, Campus 2000, ISBN 3-593-36230-9 .
- Otto Krammer: Education and Counter Reformation. The high schools of the Jesuits in the Catholic part of Germany from the 16th to the 18th century. ISBN 3-923621-30-2 .
- Dieter Langewiesche : Why does society need the humanities? How much humanities does the university need? In: Florian Keisinger u. a. (Ed.): Why humanities? Controversial arguments for an overdue debate. Frankfurt am Main / New York 2003, ISBN 3-593-37336-X .
- Konrad Lengenfelder (ed.): Dendrono-Puschner's natural portrayal of academic life in beautiful figures brought to light. 2nd Edition. Altdorf 1993. (1st edition Nuremberg 1962)
- Walter Rüegg : History of the University in Europe . 4 volumes. CH Beck, Munich Volume 1: Middle Ages. 1993; Volume 2: From the Reformation to the French Revolution (1500–1800). 1996; Volume 3: From the 19th Century to the Second World War 1800–1945. 2004; Volume 4: From World War II to the end of the 20th century , 2010, ISBN 978-3-406-36955-1 .
- Rudolf Stichweh: The early modern state and the European university - On the interaction of politics and the educational system in the process of their differentiation . Frankfurt am Main 1991.
- Wolfgang EJ Weber: History of the European University . Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-17-016482-1 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ cf. University laws of the federal states, e.g. University Law Baden-Württemberg v. January 1, 2005, § 38; Saxon Higher Education Act of January 31, 2006, Section 27
- ↑ cf. different but similar formulations of the higher education laws of the federal states: e.g. Bavarian University Act v. May 23, 2006, Art. 2 (1); Higher Education Act Baden-Württemberg v. January 1, 2005, § 2 (1); Higher Education Act North Rhine-Westphalia v. November 30, 2004, § 3 (1)
- ^ Verger (1999), “University”, Lexikon des Mittelalters , 8, Stuttgart: JB Metzler
- ^ Walter Rüegg (Ed.): History of the University in Europe. Volume 1: Middle Ages. CH Beck, Munich 1993, ISBN 3-406-36952-9 , p. 13.
- ^ Pierre Riché : Education and Culture in the Barbarian West: From the Sixth through the Eighth Century , University of South Carolina Press, Columbia 1978, ISBN 0-87249-376-8 , pp. 126 f., 282-298
- ^ Rudolf Peitz, Gundolf Keil: The 'Decem quaestiones de medicorum statu'. Observations on the medical class of the 14th and 15th centuries. In: Specialized prose research - Crossing borders. Volume 8/9, 2012/2013 (2014), pp. 283–297, here: p. 282.
- ↑ a b Encyclopaedia Britannica 2004, university, 3rd paragraph
- ↑ As early as 1137, a daughter of the Salerno medical school was founded in Montpellier. Cf. Rudolf Peitz, Gundolf Keil: The 'Decem quaestiones de medicorum statu'. Observations on the medical class of the 14th and 15th centuries. In: Specialized prose research - Crossing borders. Volume 8/9, 2012/2013 (2014), pp. 283–297, here: p. 283.
- ^ Brockhaus, Universities, History
- ^ Gastone Lambertini: The School of Salerno and the Universities of Bologna and Padua. In: Illustrated History of Medicine. German adaptation by Richard Toellner et al., Special edition Salzburg 1986, Volume II, pp. 726–729.
- ↑ In the nineteenth century a committee of historians, led by Giosuè Carducci, attributed the birth of the University to the year 1088. The first recorded scholars were Pepone and Irnerio.
- ↑ Brockhaus, University, Mannheim 2004, para. 2
- ↑ Brockhaus, University, Mannheim 2004, para. 3
- ^ Britannica, university, 6th paragraph
- ^ Brockhaus 2004, Universities: History
- ^ Laetitia Boehm , Rainer A. Müller (ed.): Universities and colleges in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. A university history in individual representations. Düsseldorf / Vienna 1983 (= Hermes-Handlexikon ), p. 350.
- ↑ Brockhaus, University, Mannheim 2004, para. 4
- ^ Heidelberg about its university ( memento of October 29, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Brockhaus, University, Mannheim 2004, para. 5
- ^ History of Scientific Institutions. ( Memento of the original from September 3, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Cristina Fraenkel-Haeberle: The university in the multi-level system. Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-16-152578-0 , p. 29 f.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Walter Rüegg (Hrsg.): History of the University in Europe. Volume III: From the 19th Century to the Second World War (1800–1945). Beck, Munich 2004, ISBN 3-406-36954-5 .
- ^ Andreas C. Hofmann: Universities. In the S. (Ed.): Lexicon on Restoration and Vormärz. German history 1815 to 1848. from: Restoration and Vormärz (themed portal). In: historicum.net. History on the Internet [5. April 2011], http://www.historicum.net/no_cache/persistent/artikel/8573
- ↑ Gustav Seibt: End of a way of life. From Humboldt to Bologna: The breathtaking demise of the German university. In: Süddeutsche Zeitung. June 21, 2007, p. 11.
- ↑ Ingrid Thurner, to university life , the press , February 27 of 2010.
- ↑ Tobias Becker: The stony path in a questionable direction. Huh! Newspaper of the student self-administration at the HU Berlin. No. 5, June 2007, pp. 4-5.
- ↑ Realization of the goals of the “Bologna Declaration” in Germany, joint report by KMK, HRK and BMBF, April 25, 2002.
