Public university in Germany
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg
(German:
Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg
), also referred to as
MLU
, is a
public
research university
in the cities of
Halle
and
Wittenberg
. It is the largest and oldest university in the German
state
of
Saxony-Anhalt
. MLU offers German and international (English) courses leading to academic degrees such as
BA
,
BSc
,
MA
,
MSc
,
doctoral degrees
, and
Habilitation
.
The university was created in 1817 through the merger of the University of Wittenberg (founded in 1502) and the University of Halle (founded in 1694). MLU is named after
Protestant
reformer
Martin Luther
, who was a professor in Wittenberg. Today, the university campus is located in Halle, while
Leucorea Foundation
in Wittenberg serves as MLU's convention centre.
History
[
edit
]
Diploma 1833 (Source: State Archive in
Pozna?
(Posen))
Wittenberg University, Collegianstrasse, Wittenberg
Quadrangle, Wittenberg University
University of Wittenberg (
Universitat Wittenberg
) was founded in 1502 by
Frederick the Wise
,
Elector of Saxony
to propagate the principles of
Renaissance humanism
.
[3]
The foundation of the university was heavily criticized, especially when Martin Luther's
Ninety-five Theses
reached
Albert of Brandenburg
, the
Archbishop of Mainz
. Ecclesiastically speaking,
the Electorate of Saxony
was subordinate to Albert. He criticized the elector for Luther's theses, viewing the recently founded university as a breeding ground for heretical ideas. Under the influence of
Philipp Melanchthon
, building on the works of Martin Luther, the university became a centre of
Protestant Reformation
, even incorporating, at one point in time, Luther's house in Wittenberg, the
Lutherhaus
, as part of the campus. Notable alumni include
George Muller
,
Georg Joachim Rheticus
and ? in fiction ?
William Shakespeare
's
Prince Hamlet
and
Horatio
and
Christopher Marlowe
's
Doctor Faustus
.
University of Halle (
Universitat Halle
) was founded in 1694 by Frederick III,
Elector of Brandenburg
, who became
Frederick I
,
King in Prussia
, in 1701. In the late 17th century and early 18th century, Halle became a centre for
Pietism
within Prussia.
The University of Halle in 1836.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the universities were centers of the German
Enlightenment
.
Christian Wolff
was an important proponent of
rationalism
. He influenced many German scholars, such as
Immanuel Kant
.
Christian Thomasius
was at the same time the first philosopher in Germany to hold his lectures not in
Latin
, but German. He contributed to a rational programme in philosophy but also tried to establish a more common-sense point of view, which was aimed against the unquestioned superiority of aristocracy and theology.
The institutionalisation of the local language (German) as the language of instruction, the prioritisation of
rationalism
over religious orthodoxy, new modes of teaching, and the ceding of control over their work to the professors themselves, were among various innovations which characterised the University of Halle, and have led to its being referred to as the first "modern" university, whose liberalism was adopted by the
University of Gottingen
about a generation later, and subsequently by other German and then most North American universities.
[3]
The University of Wittenberg was closed in 1813 during the
Napoleonic Wars
. The town of Wittenberg was granted to Prussia in the
Congress of Vienna
in 1815, and the university was then merged with the Prussian University of Halle in 1817. It took its present name on 10 November 1933.
Nazi period
[
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]
Under the Nazi regime, more than a dozen professors were expelled. Others were shifted to Halle-Wittenberg from universities regarded as "better" at the time, which led to the university being called an
academic
Vorkuta
(after the largest center of the
Gulag
camps in
European Russia
).
Faculties
[
edit
]
Following the continental European academic tradition, MLU has 9
faculties
, regrouping academic staff and students according to their field of studies (as opposed to the Anglo-Saxon
collegiate university
model):
- Faculty of Theology
- Faculty of Law and Economics
- Faculty of Medicine
- Faculty of Philosophy I (Social and Cultural Studies, History, Archaeology and Art History)
- Faculty of Philosophy II (Ancient and Modern Languages, Communication Studies, Music)
- Faculty of Philosophy III (Paedagogy)
- Faculty of
Natural Sciences
I (Biochemistry, Biology, Pharmacy)
- Faculty of
Natural Sciences
II (Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics)
- Faculty of
Natural Sciences
III (Agriculture, Geology, Computer Science)
Points of interest
[
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]
Cooperating research institutions
[
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]
MLU's
Lions' Hall
("Lowengebaude"), decorated with
neoclassical
frescos
.
Central
lecture hall
("Auditorium Maximum", in the background) and entry of
Lions' Hall
(in the front).
Thomasianum
(office of MLU's president and chancellor).
MLU is enclosed by a variety of research institutions, which have either institutional or personal links with the university or cooperate occasionally in their respective fields of studies:
Collegium musicum
[
edit
]
Even though MLU is an academic, research oriented institution, not an
academy of music
or
conservatory
, the university has an academic orchestra, founded in 1779, and a rather prestigious
[4]
choir, founded in 1950, which together constitute the so-called
Collegium musicum
. Members are mostly gifted students of all faculties, but also academic staff and
alumni
. The university choir regularly performs at the international
Handel Festival
in
George Frideric Handel
's birthplace, Halle.
Partner universities
[
edit
]
MLU's international partner universities include:
- Argentina:
National University of La Plata
- Armenia:
Yerevan State University
- Australia:
University of Queensland
- Austria:
Johannes Kepler University Linz
- Canada:
University of Ottawa
- Colombia:
National University of Colombia
and
University of Atlantico
- China:
Beijing University of Chemical Technology
- Czech Republic:
Department of Musicology
of
Palacky University Faculty of Philosophy
- France:
Charles de Gaulle University ? Lille III
,
Paris X University Nanterre
- Hungary:
University of Szeged
- India:
Jawaharlal Nehru University
, New Delhi
- Israel:
Tel Aviv University
,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
,
Bar-Ilan University
- Italy:
University of Palermo
,
University of Pisa
,
University of Naples Federico II
- Japan:
Senshu University
,
Sophia University
,
Waseda University
,
Keio University
- Mauritius:
University of Mauritius
- Mongolia:
National University of Mongolia
- Peru:
National University of San Marcos
- Poland:
University of Gda?sk
,
Silesian University of Technology
,
Jan Kochanowski University
,
Adam Mickiewicz University in Pozna?
,
Poznan University of Medical Sciences
- Romania:
Babe?-Bolyai University
- Russia:
M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University
,
Moscow City Pedagogical University
,
Smolensk Humanitarian University
,
Bashkir State University
,
Voronezh State University
,
Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
Dubna
- Slovakia:
Comenius University in Bratislava
,
Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava
- Spain:
University of Alcala
- South Africa:
University of Pretoria
,
Stellenbosch University
- South Korea:
Hanbat National University
- Syria:
University of Damascus
,
Arab International University
- United States:
University of South Carolina
,
University of Alabama
,
University of Florida
,
Illinois Institute of Technology
Rankings
[
edit
]
The university is recognized in several
university ranking
systems. In the 2024 QS World University Rankings, it was placed in the 611?620 bracket worldwide and ranked 36th nationally.
[5]
Similarly, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) positioned the university within the 601?700 range globally and between 37th and 40th at a national level in its 2023 edition.
[6]
Notable scholars
[
edit
]
University Hospital, Halle.
Melanchthoneanum
(on the right) and Juridicum (on the left).
Given the history
[7]
and reputation of MLU, numerous notable personalities attended the institution, such as Nobel laureates
Emil Adolf von Behring
,
Gustav Ludwig Hertz
,
Hermann Staudinger
and
Karl Ziegler
, as well as
Georg Cantor
(mathematician known for set theory and the theory of infinity),
Hermann Ebbinghaus
(psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory),
Anton Wilhelm Amo
(the first coloured
Sub-Saharan African
known to have attended a European university),
Dorothea Erxleben
(the first female medical doctor in Germany),
Henry Melchior Muhlenberg
, the Patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America, and his son,
Frederick Muhlenberg
(the first
Speaker of the House of Representatives
of the United States), and
Hans Dietrich Genscher
(Germany's longest serving Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor).
Cultural references
[
edit
]
University of Wittenberg is the alma mater of
Prince Hamlet
(as well as his acquaintances
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
and
Horatio
) in
William Shakespeare
's play
Hamlet
, and of the titular magician in
Christopher Marlowe
's
Doctor Faustus
.
See also
[
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]
Notes
[
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]
- ^
a
b
c
"Berichterstattung 2015: Hochschulen des Landes im quantitativen Vergleich"
(PDF)
(in German). Ministerium fur Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Digitalisierung des Landes Sachsen-Anhalt. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 11 August 2017
. Retrieved
18 June
2017
.
- ^
"About the university"
.
University of Halle-Wittenbarg
.
Archived
from the original on 30 May 2013
. Retrieved
18 June
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"Britannica Online"
.
Archived
from the original on 13 May 2013
. Retrieved
21 December
2012
.
- ^
In 2007, the "
Johann Friedrich Reichardt
University Choir", led by MLU's musical director Jens Lorenz, was awarded the overall distinction "Gold ? Excellent" in the "18th International Competition of Choral Music" in
Verona
, Italy for its performance with spiritual and secular
a cappella
works from the
renaissance
,
baroque
and
romantic
periods and the 20th century. In addition, the choir was awarded one of three special awards for the best interpretation of the compulsory piece "As Torrents in Summer" by
Edward Elgar
. Source: Martin Luther University (2008): MLU Yearbook 2007, p. 138
- ^
a
b
"QS World University Rankings 2024"
.
QS World University Rankings
. Retrieved
16 July
2023
.
- ^
a
b
"2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities"
.
Academic Ranking of World Universities
. Retrieved
15 August
2023
.
- ^
Speler, Ralf-Torsten (2003): 'Die Martin-Luther-Universitat Halle-Wittenberg', Erfurt: Sutton,
ISBN
978-3-89702-482-3
References
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External links
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