Leipzig University (german: link=no, Universität Leipzig), in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by

Frederick I, Elector of Saxony Frederick I, the Belligerent or the Warlike (german: Friedrich der Streitbare; 11 April 1370 – 4 January 1428), a member of the House of Wettin, ruled as Margrave of Meissen from 1407 and Elector of Saxony (as Frederick I) from 1423 until ...

and his brother

William II, Margrave of Meissen Wilhelm II, the Rich (23 April 1371 – 13 March 1425) was the second son of Margrave Frederick ''the Strict'' of Meissen and Catherine of Henneberg. Under the Division of Chemnitz of 1382, he received the Osterland and Landsberg jointly ...

, and originally comprised the four scholastic faculties. Since its inception, the university has engaged in teaching and research for over 600 years without interruption. Famous alumni include

Angela Merkel Angela Dorothea Merkel (; ; born 17 July 1954) is a German former politician and scientist who served as Chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. A member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she previously served as Leader of the Oppo ...

Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathema ...

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as trea ...

Leopold von Ranke Leopold von Ranke (; 21 December 1795 – 23 May 1886) was a German historian and a founder of modern source-based history. He was able to implement the seminar teaching method in his classroom and focused on archival research and the analysis of ...

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Tycho Brahe Tycho Brahe ( ; born Tyge Ottesen Brahe; generally called Tycho (14 December 154624 October 1601) was a Danish astronomer, known for his comprehensive astronomical observations, generally considered to be the most accurate of his time. He was k ...

Georgius Agricola Georgius Agricola (; born Georg Pawer or Georg Bauer; 24 March 1494 – 21 November 1555) was a German Humanist scholar, mineralogist and metallurgist. Born in the small town of Glauchau, in the Electorate of Saxony of the Holy Roman Empir ...

. The university is associated with ten

Nobel laureates The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make ou ...

, most recently with

Svante Pääbo Svante Pääbo (; born 20 April 1955) is a Swedish geneticist who specialises in the field of evolutionary genetics. As one of the founders of paleogenetics, he has worked extensively on the Neanderthal genome. In 1997, he became founding dire ...

who won the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2022.

History

Founding and development until 1900

The university was modelled on the University of Prague, from which the German-speaking faculty members withdrew to Leipzig after the

Jan Hus Jan Hus (; ; 1370 – 6 July 1415), sometimes anglicized as John Hus or John Huss, and referred to in historical texts as ''Iohannes Hus'' or ''Johannes Huss'', was a Czech theologian and philosopher who became a Church reformer and the inspir ...

crisis and the

Decree of Kutná Hora The Decree of Kutná Hora ( cs, Dekret Kutnohorský) or Decree of Kuttenberg (german: Kuttenberger Dekret) was issued on 18 January 1409 in Kutná Hora (''Kuttenberg''), Bohemia, by King Wenceslaus IV to give members of the Bohemian nation a dec ...

. The ''Alma mater Lipsiensis'' opened in 1409, after it had been officially chartered by

Pope Alexander V Peter of Candia, also known as Peter Phillarges (c. 1339 – May 3, 1410), named as Alexander V ( la, Alexander PP. V; it, Alessandro V), was an antipope elected by the Council of Pisa during the Western Schism (1378–1417). He reigned briefly ...

in his '' Bull of Acknowledgment'' on (9 September of that year). Its first rector was Johannes Otto von Münsterberg. From its foundation, the Paulinerkirche served as the university church. After the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, the church and the monastery buildings were donated to the university in 1544. In order to secure independent and sustainable funding, the university was endowed with the lordship over nine villages east of

(university villages). It kept this status for nearly 400 years until land reforms were carried out in the 19th century. Like many European universities, the University of Leipzig was structured into colleges (''collegia'') responsible for organising accommodation and collegiate lecturing. Among the colleges of Leipzig were the Small College, the Large College, the Red College (''Rotes Kolleg'', also known as the New College), the college of our Lady (''Frauenkolleg'') and the Pauliner-College (''Pauliner Kolleg''). There were also private residential halls (''bursen'', see English 'bursaries'). The colleges had jurisdiction over their members. The college structure was abandoned later and today only the names survive. During the first centuries, the university grew slowly and was a rather regional institution. This changed, however, during the 19th century when the university became a world-class institution of higher education and research. At the end of the 19th century, important scholars such as

Bernhard Windscheid Bernhard Windscheid (26 June 1817 – 26 October 1892) was a German jurist and a member of the pandectistic school of law thought. He became famous with his essay on the concept of a legal action, which sparkled a debate with that is said to ...

(one of the fathers of the German Civil Code) and

Wilhelm Ostwald Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald (; 4 April 1932) was a Baltic German chemist and German philosophy, philosopher. Ostwald is credited with being one of the founders of the field of physical chemistry, with Jacobus Henricus van 't Hoff, Walther Nernst, ...

(viewed as a founder of modern

physical chemistry Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic and microscopic phenomena in chemical systems in terms of the principles, practices, and concepts of physics such as motion, energy, force, time, thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, statistical mecha ...

) taught at Leipzig. Rotes Kolleg Leipzig

Leipzig University was one of the first German universities to allow women to register as "guest students". At its general assembly in 1873, the thanked the University of Leipzig and Prague for allowing women to attend as guest students. This was the year that the first woman in Germany obtained her JD, Johanna von Evreinov. During the

decline Decline may refer to: *Decadence, involves a perceived decay in standards, morals, dignity, religious faith, or skill over time * "Decline" (song), 2017 song by Raye and Mr Eazi * ''The Decline'' (EP), an EP by NOFX *The Decline (band), Australian ...

and

dissolution of the Ottoman Empire The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire (1908–1922) began with the Young Turk Revolution which restored the constitution of 1876 and brought in multi-party politics with a two-stage electoral system for the Ottoman parliament. At the same tim ...

in the 19th and first decade of 20th century together with some other German universities Leipzig University turned into one of the centers of higher education for state administrations and elites of newly independent

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

states (

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

) educating over 5,500 students from the region in 1859–1909 period. Until the beginning of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Leipzig University attracted a number of renowned scholars and later

Nobel Prize laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

s, including Paul Ehrlich, Felix Bloch, Werner Heisenberg and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. Many of the university's alumni became important scientists.

Nazi period

Under

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

rule many degrees of Jews were cancelled. Some were later reinstated as Karl-Marx University degrees by the GDR. Noteworthy Nazis, such as

Max Clara Max Clara (12 February 1899, Völs am Schlern, Austro-Hungary – 13 March 1966, Munich) was a German anatomy, anatomist and Nazi Party member, who conducted research on the corpses of executed prisoners. Biography Early life Max Clara ...

(chair of anatomy) taught at the university and were appointed to positions with great authority. The university was kept open throughout World War II, even after the destruction of its buildings. During the war the acting rector,

Erich Maschke Erich Maschke (March 2, 1900 – February 11, 1982) was a Nazi and a German historian and history professor. He taught most recently at the Ruprecht-Karls-University in Heidelberg. During the Nazi era he promoted racist and nationalist ideology ...

, described the continuation of the university in a memo on 11 May 1945, announcing the vote for a new rector: By the end of the war 60 per cent of the university's buildings and 70 per cent of its books had been destroyed.

The university under the German Democratic Republic

The university reopened after the war on 5 February 1946, but it was affected by the uniformity imposed on social institutions in the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a c ...

. In 1948 the freely elected student council was disbanded and replaced by

Free German Youth The Free German Youth (german: Freie Deutsche Jugend; FDJ) is a youth movement in Germany. Formerly, it was the official youth movement of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Socialist Unity Party of Germany. The organization was meant ...

members. The chairman of the Student Council, Wolfgang Natonek, and other members were arrested and imprisoned, but the university was also a nucleus of resistance. Thus began the Belter group, with flyers for free elections. The head of the group,

Herbert Belter Herbert Belter (December 21, 1929 – April 28, 1951) was a resistance activist in East Germany. He was executed because of his activities in the so-called "Belter Group", which was named after him. Life and education Between 1936 and 1945, Her ...

, was executed in 1951 in Moscow. The

German Democratic Republic German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

was created in 1949, and in 1953 for

Karl Marx Year Karl Marx Year (german: Karl-Marx-Jahr) was a series of anniversaries of Karl Marx commemorated by East Germany in 1953, 1968, and 1983. The most prominent was in 1953, for the 70th anniversary of Marx's death, and included the renaming of Chemnitz ...

the university was renamed by its government the Karl Marx University, Leipzig after

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. In 1968, the partly damaged

Augusteum An Augusteum (plural ''Augustea'') was originally a site of imperial cult in ancient Roman religion, named after the imperial title of Augustus. It was known as a Sebasteion in the Greek East of the Roman Empire. Examples have been excavated in ...

, including Johanneum and Albertinum and the intact Paulinerkirche, were demolished to make way for a redevelopment of the university, carried out between 1973 and 1978. The dominant building of the university was the University Tower (now

City-Hochhaus Leipzig City-Hochhaus is 36-story skyscraper in Leipzig, Germany. At , it is the tallest multistory building in Leipzig and is located proximately of the eastern part of the inner city ring road in Leipzig's district Mitte. The tower was designed by a ...

), built between 1968 and 1972 in the form of an open book.

After the reunification of Germany

In 1991, following the

reunification of Germany German reunification (german: link=no, Deutsche Wiedervereinigung) was the process of re-establishing Germany as a united and fully sovereign state, which took place between 2 May 1989 and 15 March 1991. The day of 3 October 1990 when the Ge ...

, the university's name was restored to the original Leipzig University (''Alma mater lipsiensis''). The reconstruction of the University Library, which was heavily damaged during the war and in the

GDR East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

barely secured, was completed in 2002. With the delivery of the University Tower to a private user, the university was forced to spread some faculties over several locations in the city. It controversially redesigned its historical centre at the

Augustusplatz The Augustusplatz is a square located at the east end of the city centre of Leipzig, borough Leipzig-Mitte. It is the city's largest square and one of the largest (and, prior to almost all its buildings being destroyed in bombing in the Second Wor ...

. In 2002, Behet Bonzio received the second prize in the architectural competition; a first prize was not awarded by the jury. A lobby with partial support of the provincial government called for the rebuilding of St. Paul's Church and

. This caused the resistance of the university leadership, the majority of the students and population of Leipzig. On 24 March 2004 a jury chose a design by Dutch architect

Erick van Egeraat Erick van Egeraat (; born 1956) is a Dutch architect and author. He heads the architectural practice based in Rotterdam with offices in Moscow, Budapest and Prague. He is best known for his projects of ING Group Headquarters in Budapest, Drents Mu ...

, which was well received by almost all parties. He recalls the outer form of the St. Paul's Church (today called Paulinum) and Augusteum, and abstracted the original building complex. Renovations began in the summer of 2005. In 2008 the university was able to prevail in the nationwide "Initiative of Excellence" of Germany and it was granted the graduate school "

BuildMoNa The Graduate School BuildMoNa ("Leipzig School of Natural Sciences – Building with Molecules and Nano-objects") at Universität Leipzig, Germany, focuses on interdisciplinary graduate education through top-level, synergistic research in the a ...

: Leipzig School of Natural Sciences – Building with Molecules and Nano-objects". In addition, the university was able to receive grants from the Saxon excellence initiative for the "Life" project – a project that tries to explore common diseases more effectively. Also in 2008 the "Bach Archive" was associated with the university. In 2009, the Leipzig University celebrated its 600th anniversary with over 300 scientific and cultural lectures and exhibitions, reflecting the role of the university's research and teaching from its beginning.

Campus

The university's urban campus comprises several locations. All in all, the university is spread across 38 locations in Leipzig. The main buildings in the city center (district

Mitte Mitte () is the first and most central borough of Berlin. The borough consists of six sub-entities: Mitte proper, Gesundbrunnen, Hansaviertel, Moabit, Tiergarten and Wedding. It is one of the two boroughs (the other being Friedrichshain-Kreuzb ...

) are still located on the same land plots as the earliest university buildings in 1409. The university's buildings in the center of Leipzig underwent substantial reconstruction from 2005, the new university's main building being drafted by Dutch architect

. The estimated total cost for the renovation project is 140 million euros. The new buildings were scheduled to be completed in 2009/2010, in time for the university's 600th anniversary celebrations. Besides the faculties and other teaching institutions, several other bodies serve the university: the University Library, a university archive and administration, numerous museums (e.g. the Museum for Music Instruments and the Museum of Ancient Egypt) and the university hospital. The university's

Leipzig Botanical Garden The Leipzig Botanical Garden (german: Leipziger Botanische Gärten, Botanischer Garten der Universität Leipzig) is a 3.5-hectare botanical garden maintained by the University of Leipzig and is located at Linnéstraße 1, Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. ...

, the second-oldest botanical garden in Europe. was established in 1542. The university's Musical Instrument Museum includes one of the world's three surviving pianos built by

Bartolomeo Cristofori Bartolomeo Cristofori di Francesco (; May 4, 1655 – January 27, 1731) was an Italian maker of musical instruments famous for inventing the piano. Life The available source materials on Cristofori's life include his birth and death recor ...

, the piano's inventor. Five other Cristofori instruments are included in the museum's collections. Key Central institutions of the university are * Centre for Biotechnology and Biomedicine * Career Service *

German Institute for Literature The German Institute for Literature (German: ''Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig'', DLL) is a part of Leipzig University. It was founded in 1955 under the name Johannes R. Becher-Institut. Among the noted writers who graduated from the school a ...

* German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig * Higher Education Didactics Centre Saxony * Kustodie (Art Collection) * Leipzig University Music * Leipzig Research Centre Global Dynamics * Research Academy Leipzig * Language Centre * Studienkolleg Sachsen (The university's pathway and entrance examination provider) * Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine Leipzig * University Archive * University Library * University Computer Centre * Centre for University Sport * Centre for Teacher Training and School Research * Centre for Media and Communikation

Library

The

University Library of Leipzig Leipzig University Library (german: Universitätsbibliothek Leipzig), known also as ''Bibliotheca Albertina'', is the central library of the University of Leipzig. It is one of the oldest German university libraries. History The library was foun ...

was established in 1543. It is one of the oldest German university libraries and it serves as a source of literature and information for the Leipzig University as well as the general public in the region. Its extensive historical and special collections are nationally and internationally recognized. The library consists of the main building "Bibliotheca Albertina" and forty branches situated near their respective academic institutions. The current stock comprises 5 million volumes and about 7,700 periodicals. Collections range from important medieval and modern manuscripts to incunabula, papyri, autographs, ostraka and coins. The

Apel Codex The Apel Codex is a German manuscript which dates from about the year 1500, providing an important source for 15th and 16th century polyphonic music. The works in the manuscript were collected by Nikolaus Apel from about 1490 to 1504. They consis ...

, a manuscript of 16th century music, is housed in the Leipzig University library, as well as the Papyrus Ebers. The Leipzig University Library also owns parts of the

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus (Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts) ...

, a Bible manuscript from the 4th century, brought from

Sinai Sinai commonly refers to: * Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Mount Sinai, a mountain in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt * Biblical Mount Sinai, the site in the Bible where Moses received the Law of God Sinai may also refer to: * Sinai, South Dakota, a place ...

in 1843 by

Constantin von Tischendorf Lobegott Friedrich Constantin (von) Tischendorf (18 January 18157 December 1874) was a German biblical scholar. In 1844, he discovered the world's oldest and most complete Bible dated to around the mid-4th century and called Codex Sinaiticus a ...

. Papyrus Ebers is the longest and oldest surviving medical manuscript from ancient Egypt, dated to around 1600 BC. The Codex contains large parts of the Old Testament and a complete New Testament in ancient Greek, and is one of the most important known manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament and the New Testament. It is the oldest fully preserved copy of the New Testament. Some of the University Library locations in Leipzig are: * Bibliotheca Albertina at Beethovenstraße 6 * Campus Library at Universitätsstr. 3 * Library of Deutsches Literaturinstitut at Wächterstr. 34 * Library of Arts at Dittrichring 18–20 * Library of Musicology at Neumarkt 9–19 * Library of Law at Burgstr. 27 * Library of Medicine at Johannisallee 34 * Library of Medicine at Käthe-Kollwitz-Str. 82 * Library of Veterinary Medicine at the Tierkliniken 5 * Library of Biosciences at Talstr. 35 * Library of Chemistry and Physics at Johannisallee 29 * Library of Earth Sciences at Talstr. 35 * Library of Geography at Johannisallee 19 * Library of Archaeology, Prehistory and Ancient History at Ritterstr. 14 * Library of Oriental Studies at Schillerstr. 6 * Library of Sports Science at Jahnallee 59 In addition to the university library, one of the two centers of the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

is based at Leipzig, the collections of which are open to use for academic research.

Faculties

The original four facilities were the Faculty of Arts, Theology, Medicine, and Law. As of November 2021, the university comprises the following 14 faculties with institutes and centers associated with each one. ; Faculty of Chemistry and Mineralogy * Institute of Analytical Chemistry * Institute of Bioanalytical Chemistry * Institute of Chemical Technology * Institute of Inorganic Chemistry * Institute of Mineralogy, Crystallography and Materials Science * Institute of Organic Chemistry * Wilhelm Ostwald Institut of Physical and Theoretical Chemistry ; Faculty of Economics and Management Science * Institute of Accounting, Finance and Taxation (IUFB) * Institute of Building Design and Management (IGB) * Institute of Business Education and Management Training (IFW) * Institute of Economic Policy (IWP) * Institute of Empirical Economic Research (IEW) * Institute of Information Systems * Institute of Infrastructure and Resource Management (IIRM) * Institute of Insurance Science (IVL) * Institute of Public Finance and Public Management (PFPM) * Institute of Real Estate Management (IIM) * Institute of Service and Relationship Management (ISRM) * Institute of Theoretical Economics (ITVWL) * Institute of Trade and Banking (IHB) * Institute of Urban Development and Construction Management (ISB) ; Faculty of Education * Institute of Educational Sciences * Institute of Pre-Primary and Primary Education * Institute of Special and Inclusive Education ; Faculty of History, Arts and Regional Studies * Department of History * Institute of African Studies * Institute of Ancient Near Eastern Studies * Institute of Anthropology * Institute of Art Education * Institute of Art History * Institute of East Asian Studies * Institute of Egyptology * Institute of Musicology * Institute of Oriental Studies * Institute of South and Central Asian Studies * Institute of the Study of Religions * Institute of Theatre Studies ; Faculty of Law * Ernst Jaeger Institute of Corporate Restructuring and Insolvency Law * Institute of Broadcasting Law * Institute of Energy and Regulatory Law * Institute of Environmental and Planning Law * Institute of Foreign and European Private and Procedural Law * Institute of German and International Law of Banking and Capital Markets * Institute of International Law * Institute of Labour and Social Law * Institute of Law and Politics * Institute of Public International Law, European Law and Foreign Public Law * Institute of Tax Law * Institute of the Foundations of Law * Institute of the Legal Profession ; Faculty of Life Sciences * Institute of Biochemistry * Institute of Biology * Wilhelm Wundt Institute for Psychology ; Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science * Institute of Computer Science * Institute of Mathematics ; Faculty of Medicine * Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology * Centre for Clinical Trials Leipzig * Centre for Environmental Medicine and Environmental Epidemiology * Clinical Pharmacology * Experimental Centre of the Faculty of Medicine * General Medicine Unit * Heart Center Leipzig GmbH * Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery (ICCAS) * Institute for Medical Physics and Biophysics * Institute of Anatomy * Institute of Biochemistry (medicine) * Institute of Legal Medicine * Institute of Medical Informatics, Statistics and Epidemiology * Institute of Social Medicine, Occupational Health and Public Health * Integrated Research and Treatment Center (IFB) AdiposityDiseases * Interdisciplinary Centre for Clinical Research * Karl-Sudhoff-Institute of History of Medicine and Science * LIFE Forschungszentrum für Zivilisationserkrankungen (LIFE) * Neurological Rehabilitation Centre * Paul Flechsig Institute for Brain Research * Rudolf Boehm Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology ; Faculty of Philology * Institute of American Studies * Institute of Applied Linguistics and Translatology * Institute of British Studies * Institute of Classical Studies and Comparative Literature * Herder-Institute (German as a Foreign Language) * Institute of German Language and Literature * Institute of Linguistics * Institute of Romance Studies * Institute of Slavonic Studies * Institute of Sorbian Studies ; Faculty of Physics and Earth Sciences * Institute of Geography * Institute of Geophysics and Geology * Institute of Meteorology * Peter Debye Institute of Soft Matter Physics * Felix Bloch Institute of Solid State Physics * Institute of Theoretical Physics ; Faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy * Institute of Communication and Media Studies * Institute of Global and European Studies * Institute of Philosophy * Institute of Political Science * Institute of Sociology * Institute of the Study of Culture ; Faculty of Sport Science * Institute of Sport Medicine and Prevention * Institute of General Kinesiology and Athletics Training * Institute of Movement and Training Science in Sports I * Institute of Movement and Training Science in Sports II * Institute of Exercise and Public Health * Institute of Sport Psychology and Physical Education ; Faculty of Theology * Institute of Church History * Institute of New Testament Science * Institute of Old Testament Studies * Institute of Practical Theology * Institute of Religious Education * Institute of Systematic Theology ; Faculty of Veterinary Medicine * Department for birds and reptiles * Department for horses * Department for ruminants and swine * Department for small animal * Institute of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology * Institute of Animal Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health * Institute of Animal Nutrition, Nutrition Diseases and Dietetics * Institute of Bacteriology and Mycology * Institute of Food Hygiene * Institute of Immunology * Institute of Parasitology * Institute of Pathology * Institute of Pharmacology, Pharmacy and Toxicology * Institute of Physiological Chemistry * Institute of Physiology * Institute of Virology * Oberholz Farm for Teaching and Research

Institutes affiliated with the university

* International Max Planck Research School- Mathematics in the Sciences (IMPRS MiS), in association with

Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences The Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences (MPI MiS) in Leipzig is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Founded on March 1, 1996, the institute works on projects which apply mathematics in various areas of natural science ...

* International Max Planck Research School on Neuroscience of Communication: Function, Structure, and Plasticity, in association with

Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences is located in Leipzig, Germany. The institute was founded in 2004 by a merger between the former Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute ...

* International Max Planck Research School "The Leipzig School of Human Origins", in association with

Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (german: Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, shortened to MPI EVA) is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, that was founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Plan ...

* Institute of Non-Classical Chemistry e.V * Institute for Applied Informatics * Simon Dubnow Institute for Jewish History and Culture at Leipzig University * Leipzig Centre for the History and Culture of East Central Europe *

Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine The Translational Centre for Regenerative Medicine (TRM) is a central scientific institution of the University of Leipzig. It focusses on the development of diagnostic and therapeutic concepts in the field of regenerative medicine and their implem ...

German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) The German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig is a DFG research center with staff and members at its main locations in Halle, Jena and Leipzig. It is a central facility of Leipzig University, and is run toget ...

* Institute of East Asian Studies of the Leipzig University * Institute of Classical Archaeology of the Leipzig University * Institute for International Law, European Law and Foreign Public Law (InVEA) of the Leipzig University

Academics

Today, the university has 14 faculties. With over 29,000 students, it is Saxony's second-largest university. There are now more than 150 institutes and the university offers 190 study programs leading to

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

s, Master's degrees,

Staatsexamen The ("state examination" or "exam by state"; pl.: ''Staatsexamina'') is a German government licensing examination that future physicians, dentists, teachers, pharmacists, food chemists, psychotherapists and jurists (i.e., lawyers, judges, public ...

Diplom A ''Diplom'' (, from grc, δίπλωμα ''diploma'') is an academic degree in the German-speaking countries Germany, Austria, and Switzerland and a similarly named degree in some other European countries including Albania, Bulgaria, Belarus ...

(equivalent to master's degree) and Ph.D.s. The university offers a number of courses in English and other foreign languages, and there are several programs which have been specially designed for foreign students. Exchange partner universities include the universities of

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

. Traditionally contacts to universities in Eastern Europe and the Far East are strong as well, e.g. there are cooperations with leading institutions such as Moscow's

Lomonosov University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

and

Renmin University The Renmin University of China (RUC; ) is a national key public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated to the Ministry of Education, and co-funded by the Ministry and the Beijing Municipal People's Government. RUC ...

in Beijing. Anatomie-Leipzig

There are several International Master's programs: American Studies, Global Studies, Sustainable Development Studies, SEPT (MBA in SME Promotion) and one Bachelor/Master's/Ph.D. program (International Physics Studies Program) taught in English. American Studies Leipzig was awarded three international professorships: The Fulbright-Leipzig Chair for American Studies, the DAAD Professorship for American and International Studies, and the Picador Guest Professorship for Literature. It is also the home of ''Aspeers – Emerging voices in American Studies'', a graduate-level peer-reviewed scholarly journal for

American studies American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field of scholarship that examines American literature, history, society, and culture. It traditionally incorporates literary criticism, historiography and critical theory. Sch ...

. Erasmus Mundus Global Studies is an interdisciplinary, research-based Master offered by a consortium of five European universities: Leipzig University, the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

University of Wroclaw A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

and

Roskilde University Roskilde University ( da, Roskilde Universitet, abbreviated RUC or RU) is a Danish public university founded in 1972 and located in Trekroner in the Eastern part of Roskilde. The university awards bachelor's degrees, master's degrees, and PhD deg ...

. In the field of anthropology, the university is cooperating with the Leipzig

. In 1995, the Leibniz-Institute for Jewish History and Culture named after

Simon Dubnow Simon Dubnow (alternatively spelled Dubnov, rus, Семён Ма́ркович Ду́бнов, Semyon Markovich Dubnov, sʲɪˈmʲɵn ˈmarkəvʲɪtɕ ˈdubnəf; yi, שמעון דובנאָװ, ''Shimen Dubnov''; 10 September 1860 – 8 Dece ...

was formed as a research institution related to the university. Since 2008 the university is also home to one of Germany's few

Confucius Institute Confucius Institutes (CI; ) are public educational and cultural promotion programs funded and arranged currently by the , a government-organized non-governmental organization (GONGO) under the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic o ...

s. The institute is based on an agreement of June 2006 between the university administration and representatives of the Chinese Embassy to establish a Confucius Institute in cooperation with the Renmin University and the "National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language". Leipzig University has been the home of the first German chair for Chinese and East Asian Languages in the 19th century, which later became the Institute of East Asian Studies, which still exists today (see

Georg von der Gabelentz Hans Georg Conon von der Gabelentz (16 March 1840 – 11 December 1893) was a German general linguist and sinologist. His (1881), according to a critic, "remains until today recognized as probably the finest overall grammatical survey of the Clas ...

Rankings

Leipzig University is recognized in several

university ranking College and university rankings order the best institutions in higher education based on factors that vary depending on the ranking. Some rankings evaluate institutions within a single country, while others assess institutions worldwide. Rankings ...

systems. In the 2024

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

, the university was ranked 479th globally, placing it within the top 30 (29th) nationally. The

Academic Ranking of World Universities The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong University ...

(ARWU), for 2023, positioned the university in the range of 201–300 on the global scale and somewhere between 10th and 19th within the country. The university is ranked 18th in Germany, 98th in Europe, and 264th in the world by the web-based Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, a ranking evaluating universities' scientific online publications.

International students

Leipzig university has a large body of international students. In winter term 2017, out of its 28,797 students about 11% (3,174) were foreign students.

Student life

Leipzig has a thriving student life with a large number of student run bars, sports clubs and recreational facilities for students. The student body in Leipzig is diverse, not only due to the broad spectrum of subjects at the university but also because of the other higher education institutions in the city. The

Moritzbastei The Moritzbastei is the only remaining part of the ancient town fortifications of Leipzig. Today it is widely known as a cultural centre. History of the building The Moritzbastei was built as a bastion in between 1551 and 1554 under the super ...

is the largest student club in Germany, it is part of the historic city fortifications of Leipzig and is famous for its atmosphere and large number of cultural events. The university is home to the Leipzig Academic Orchestra and the University Choir of Leipzig. There are numerous courses offered in performing arts every semester and a dance festival is organised by students once a year. In the field of sports, the university offers training opportunities and courses in almost all disciplines. During the annual Leipzig book fair, the university library and other university institutions organise public events for authors.

Notable people

Leipzig University has produced many notable individuals and noble laureates. Some famous people affiliated with Leipzig include:

Music

Johann Christoph Altnickol Johann Christoph Altnickol, or Altnikol, (baptised 1 January 1720, buried 25 July 1759) was a German organist, bass singer, and composer. He was a student, copyist and son-in-law of Johann Sebastian Bach. Biography Altnikol was born in Berna be ...

, German composer, son-in-law to Johann Sebastian Bach *

Johann Friedrich Agricola Johann Friedrich Agricola (4 January 1720 – 2 December 1774) was a German composer, organist, singer, pedagogue, and writer on music. He sometimes wrote under the pseudonym Flavio Anicio Olibrio. Biography Agricola was born in Dobitschen, Thu ...

, German composer, pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (8 March 1714 – 14 December 1788), also formerly spelled Karl Philipp Emmanuel Bach, and commonly abbreviated C. P. E. Bach, was a German Classical period musician and composer, the fifth child and sec ...

, German composer, second famous son of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (21 June 1732 – 26 January 1795) was a harpsichordist and composer, the fifth son of Johann Sebastian Bach, sometimes referred to as the "Bückeburg Bach". Born in Leipzig in the Electorate of Saxony, he was ...

, German composer, 3rd famous son of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Wilhelm Friedemann Bach Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (22 November 17101 July 1784), the second child and eldest son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Maria Barbara Bach, was a German composer and performer. Despite his acknowledged genius as an organist, improviser and composer ...

, German composer, first famous son of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Lorenz Christoph Mizler Lorenz Christoph Mizler von Kolof (also known as Wawrzyniec Mitzler de Kolof and Mitzler de Koloff; 26 July 1711 – 8 May 1778) was a German medicine, physician, historian, printer, mathematician, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enl ...

, German composer and music theorist, pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach *

Friedrich Blume Friedrich Blume (5 January 1893, in Schlüchtern, Hesse-Nassau – 22 November 1975, in Schlüchtern) was professor of musicology at the University of Kiel from 1938 to 1958. He was a student in Munich, Berlin and Leipzig, and taught in the last ...

, German music theorist *

, German music composer *

Christoph Graupner Christoph Graupner (13 January 1683 – 10 May 1760) was a German composer and harpsichordist of late Baroque music who was a contemporary of Johann Sebastian Bach, Georg Philipp Telemann and George Frideric Handel. Life Born in Hartmannsdorf ...

, German composer *

Johann Kuhnau Johann Kuhnau (; 6 April 16605 June 1722) was a German polymath, known primarily as a composer today. He was also active as a novelist, translator, lawyer, and music theorist, and was able to combine these activities with his duties in his offi ...

, German composer,

Thomaskantor (Cantor at St. Thomas) is the common name for the musical director of the , now an internationally known boys' choir founded in Leipzig in 1212. The official historic title of the Thomaskantor in Latin, ', describes the two functions of cantor a ...

Johann David Heinichen Johann David Heinichen (17 April 1683 – 16 July 1729) was a German Baroque composer and music theorist who brought the musical genius of Venice to the court of Augustus II the Strong in Dresden. After he died, Heinichen's music attracted little a ...

, German composer and music theorist, Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

, German composer *

Georg Philipp Telemann Georg Philipp Telemann (; – 25 June 1767) was a German Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist. Almost completely self-taught in music, he became a composer against his family's wishes. After studying in Magdeburg, Zellerfeld, and Hildesh ...

, German composer

Humanities

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th cent ...

, German historian, Nobel Prize in Literature *

Franz Delitzsch Franz Delitzsch (23 February 1813, in Leipzig – 4 March 1890, in Leipzig) was a German Lutheran theologian and Hebraist. Delitzsch wrote many commentaries on books of the Bible, Jewish antiquities, Biblical psychology, as well as a history of J ...

, German Theologian and Hebrew Scholar *

Michael Ranft Michael Ranft (or Ranfft; also Rauff), in Latin Michael Ranfftius (9 December 1700 in Güldengossa – 18 April 1774 in Löbichau) was a Lutheran pastor, writer and historian who is known for his writings on vampires in Germany. Biography A past ...

, German historian and theologian. *

, German philosopher *

Christian August Crusius Christian August Crusius (10 January 1715 – 18 October 1775) was a German philosopher and Protestant theologian. Biography Crusius was born in Leuna in the Electorate of Saxony. He was educated at the University of Leipzig, and became p ...

,German philosopher and theologian. *

Adolf von Harnack Carl Gustav Adolf von Harnack (born Harnack; 7 May 1851 – 10 June 1930) was a Baltic German Lutheran theologian and prominent Church historian. He produced many religious publications from 1873 to 1912 (in which he is sometimes credited ...

, German theologian *

Karl Friedrich Bahrdt Karl Friedrich Bahrdt (; 25 August 1741 – 23 April 1792), also spelled Carl Friedrich Bahrdt, was an unorthodox German Protestant biblical scholar, theologian, and polemicist. Controversial during his day, he is sometimes considered an ...

, controversial German Protestant biblical scholar, theologian, and polemicist *

Christoph Ernst Luthardt Christoph Ernst Luthardt (22 March 1823– 21 September 1902), was a conservative German Lutheran theologian, Biblical commentator and Christian apologist. He was born in Maroldsweisach, Bavaria. Biography From 1841 to 1845 he studied theolo ...

German theologian *

Martin Petzoldt Martin Petzoldt (13 April 1946 – 13 March 2015) was a German Lutheran theologian, Bach scholar and academic teacher. He was a professor at the University of Leipzig and president of the . Career Petzoldt was born in Rabenstein. He was a me ...

German theologian *

, German poet and polymath *

Max Muller Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) (1 ...

, philologist and Orientalist who wrote authoritative works on Indology. *

Leonard Bloomfield Leonard Bloomfield (April 1, 1887 – April 18, 1949) was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. He is considered to be the father of American distributionalism ...

, American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. He is considered to be the father of American

Distributionalism Distributionalism was a general theory of language and a discovery procedure for establishing elements and structures of language based on observed usage. It can be seen as an elaboration of structuralism but takes a more computational approach. ...

. *

Hans-Georg Gadamer Hans-Georg Gadamer (; ; February 11, 1900 – March 13, 2002) was a German philosopher of the continental tradition, best known for his 1960 ''magnum opus'', '' Truth and Method'' (''Wahrheit und Methode''), on hermeneutics. Life Family an ...

, German philosopher and rector of the university *

Johann Christoph Gottsched Johann Christoph Gottsched (2 February 1700 – 12 December 1766) was a German philosopher, author and critic of the Enlightenment. Biography Early life He was born at Juditten (Mendeleyevo) near Königsberg (Kaliningrad), Brandenburg-Pru ...

, German poet, author, and critic *

Christian Friedrich Henrici Christian Friedrich Henrici (January 14, 1700 – May 10, 1764), writing under the pen name Picander, was a German poet and librettist for many of the cantatas which Johann Sebastian Bach composed in Leipzig. Henrici was born in Stolpen. He stud ...

, German poet, Saxon Actuary, Postal clerk, Postal Commissioner, and Wine inspector *

Gotthold Ephraim Lessing Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (, ; 22 January 1729 – 15 February 1781) was a philosopher, dramatist, publicist and art critic, and a representative of the Enlightenment era. His plays and theoretical writings substantially influenced the developmen ...

, German philosopher and writer *

Lin Yutang Lin Yutang ( ; October 10, 1895 – March 26, 1976) was a Chinese inventor, linguist, novelist, philosopher, and translator. His informal but polished style in both Chinese and English made him one of the most influential writers of his generati ...

, Chinese author and linguist *

Nathan Söderblom Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom (; 15 January 1866 – 12 July 1931) was a Swedish clergyman. He was the Church of Sweden Archbishop of Uppsala between 1914 and 1931, and recipient of the 1930 Nobel Peace Prize. He is commemorated in the Calen ...

, Swedish clergyman, Nobel Peace Prize * C. F. W. Walther, first President of the

Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS), also known as the Missouri Synod, is a traditional, confessional Lutheran denomination in the United States. With 1.8 million members, it is the second-largest Lutheran body in the United States. The LC ...

and its most influential theologian. *

Ferdinand de Saussure Ferdinand de Saussure (; ; 26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is widel ...

, linguist, founder of structuralism * Gert Jäger,

Otto Kade Otto Kade (6 May 1819 – 19 July 1900) was a German musicologist, organist, conductor and composer. Life and career Kade was born in Dresden. After graduating from the Kreuzschule, Kade studied harmony and counterpoint with the Kreuzkantor ...

and

Albrecht Neubert Albrecht ("noble", "bright") is a given name or surname of German origin and may refer to: First name *Albrecht Agthe, (1790–1873), German music teacher *Albrecht Altdorfer, (c. 1480–1538) German Renaissance painter *Albrecht Becker, (1906� ...

, translation scholars and founders of the Leipzig School

Sciences

, German philosopher, polymath, and mathematician who developed

calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizations of arithm ...

, *

Felix Klein Christian Felix Klein (; 25 April 1849 – 22 June 1925) was a German mathematician and mathematics educator, known for his work with group theory, complex analysis, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the associations between geometry and group ...

, German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis and non-Euclidean geometry *

Sophus Lie Marius Sophus Lie ( ; ; 17 December 1842 – 18 February 1899) was a Norwegian mathematician. He largely created the theory of continuous symmetry and applied it to the study of geometry and differential equations. Life and career Marius Sophu ...

, Norwegian mathematician who developed

Lie algebra In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an Binary operation, operation called the Lie bracket, an Alternating multilinear map, alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow ...

August Ferdinand Möbius August Ferdinand Möbius (, ; ; 17 November 1790 – 26 September 1868) was a German mathematician and theoretical astronomer. Early life and education Möbius was born in Schulpforta, Electorate of Saxony, and was descended on his ...

, German mathematician and theoretical astronomer, known for the

Möbius strip In mathematics, a Möbius strip, Möbius band, or Möbius loop is a surface that can be formed by attaching the ends of a strip of paper together with a half-twist. As a mathematical object, it was discovered by Johann Benedict Listing and Augu ...

. *

Karl Mollweide Karl Brandan Mollweide (3 February 1774 – 10 March 1825) was a German mathematician and astronomer who taught in Halle and Leipzig. In trigonometry, he discovered the formula known as Mollweide's formula. He invented a map projection call ...

, German mathematician and astronomer, known for the

Mollweide projection 400px, Mollweide projection of the world 400px, The Mollweide projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation The Mollweide projection is an equal-area, pseudocylindrical map projection generally used for maps of the world or celestial sph ...

Hermann Hankel Hermann Hankel (14 February 1839 – 29 August 1873) was a German mathematician. Having worked on mathematical analysis during his career, he is best known for introducing the Hankel transform and the Hankel matrix. Biography Hankel was born on 1 ...

, German mathematician, known for the

Hankel transform In mathematics, the Hankel transform expresses any given function ''f''(''r'') as the weighted sum of an infinite number of Bessel functions of the first kind . The Bessel functions in the sum are all of the same order ν, but differ in a scaling ...

Felix Hausdorff Felix Hausdorff ( , ; November 8, 1868 – January 26, 1942) was a German mathematician who is considered to be one of the founders of modern topology and who contributed significantly to set theory, descriptive set theory, measure theory, and ...

, German mathematician, one of the founders of modern

topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformations, such ...

, known for the

Hausdorff space In topology and related branches of mathematics, a Hausdorff space ( , ), separated space or T2 space is a topological space where, for any two distinct points, there exist neighbourhoods of each which are disjoint from each other. Of the many ...

Bartel Leendert van der Waerden Bartel Leendert van der Waerden (; 2 February 1903 – 12 January 1996) was a Dutch mathematician and historian of mathematics. Biography Education and early career Van der Waerden learned advanced mathematics at the University of Amsterd ...

, Dutch mathematician *

Johann Samuel Traugott Gehler Johann Samuel Traugott Gehler (1 November 1751, in Görlitz – 16 October 1795, in Leipzig) was a German lawyer and physicist. He studied mathematics, natural sciences and law at the University of Leipzig, obtaining his habilitation for mathem ...

German mathematician, physicist and lawyer, author of 'Physikalisches Wörterbuch' *

Edgar Odell Lovett Edgar Odell Lovett (April 14, 1871 – August 13, 1957) was an American educator and education administrator. He was the first president of Rice Institute (now Rice University) in Houston, Texas. Lovett was recommended to the post by Woodr ...

, American mathematician * Eberhard Zeidler, German mathematician and first managing director of Max Planck institute of mathematics in the sciences *

Wei-Liang Chow Chow Wei-Liang (; October 1, 1911, Shanghai – August 10, 1995, Baltimore) was a Chinese mathematician and stamp collector born in Shanghai, known for his work in algebraic geometry. Biography Chow was a student in the US, graduating from the ...

, Chinese mathematician and stamp collector born in Shanghai, known for his work in algebraic geometry. *

Johann Heinrich Winckler Johann Heinrich Winckler (12 March 1703 – 18 May 1770) was a German physicist and philosopher. Biography Early life Winckler was born in Wingendorf, a village in Silesia.Klemme, Heiner F; Kuehn, Manfred. (2016). ''The Bloomsbury Dictionary of E ...

, German physicist *

Werner Heisenberg Werner Karl Heisenberg () (5 December 1901 – 1 February 1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the main pioneers of the theory of quantum mechanics. He published his work in 1925 in a breakthrough paper. In the subsequent series ...

, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics *

Felix Bloch Felix Bloch (23 October 1905 – 10 September 1983) was a Swiss-American physicist and Nobel physics laureate who worked mainly in the U.S. He and Edward Mills Purcell were awarded the 1952 Nobel Prize for Physics for "their development of ne ...

, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics *

Klaus Fuchs Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs (29 December 1911 – 28 January 1988) was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who supplied information from the American, British and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly aft ...

, German theoretical physicist and atomic spy *

Friedrich Hund Friedrich Hermann Hund (4 February 1896 – 31 March 1997) was a German physicist from Karlsruhe known for his work on atoms and molecules. Scientific career Hund worked at the Universities of Rostock, Leipzig, Jena, Frankfurt am Main, and Göt ...

, German physicist, discovered

quantum tunnelling Quantum tunnelling, also known as tunneling ( US) is a quantum mechanical phenomenon whereby a wavefunction can propagate through a potential barrier. The transmission through the barrier can be finite and depends exponentially on the barrier h ...

and is known for

Hund's rules In atomic physics, Hund's rules refers to a set of rules that German physicist Friedrich Hund formulated around 1927, which are used to determine the term symbol that corresponds to the ground state of a multi-electron atom. The first rule is e ...

Julius Edgar Lilienfeld Julius Edgar Lilienfeld (April 18, 1882 – August 28, 1963) was an Austro-Hungarian, and later American (where he moved in 1921) physicist and electrical engineer, who was credited with the first patent on the field-effect (FET) (1925). Be ...

, Austro-Hungarian physicist *

Ludwig Boltzmann Ludwig Eduard Boltzmann (; 20 February 1844 – 5 September 1906) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher. His greatest achievements were the development of statistical mechanics, and the statistical explanation of the second law of thermodyn ...

, Austrian physicist *

, Danish astronomer *

Gustav Hertz Gustav Ludwig Hertz (; 22 July 1887 – 30 October 1975) was a German experimental physicist and List of Nobel laureates in Physics, Nobel Prize winner for his work on inelastic electron collisions in gases, and a nephew of Heinrich Rudolf Hertz ...

, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics * Sin-Itiro Tomonaga, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics *

William Vermillion Houston William Vermillion Houston (January 19, 1900 – August 22, 1968) was an American physicist who made contributions to spectroscopy, quantum mechanics, and solid-state physics as well as being a teacher and administrator. He became the secon ...

, American physicist *

Edward Teller Edward Teller ( hu, Teller Ede; January 15, 1908 – September 9, 2003) was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist who is known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb" (see the Teller–Ulam design), although he did not care fo ...

, Hungaro-American nuclear scientist, member of the Manhattan Project *

Peter Debye Peter Joseph William Debye (; ; March 24, 1884 – November 2, 1966) was a Dutch-American physicist and physical chemist, and Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Biography Early life Born Petrus Josephus Wilhelmus Debije in Maastricht, Netherlands, D ...

, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry *

, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry *

Emil Kraepelin Emil Wilhelm Georg Magnus Kraepelin (; ; 15 February 1856 – 7 October 1926) was a German psychiatrist. H. J. Eysenck's ''Encyclopedia of Psychology'' identifies him as the founder of modern scientific psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychi ...

, German Psychiatrist *

Paul Ehrlich Paul Ehrlich (; 14 March 1854 – 20 August 1915) was a Nobel Prize-winning German physician and scientist who worked in the fields of hematology, immunology, and antimicrobial chemotherapy. Among his foremost achievements were finding a cure ...

, German doctor, Nobel Prize in Medicine *

, Nobel Prize in Medicine, currently teaches molecular evolutionary biology at the university * Felix Otto, German mathematician, currently teaches mathematical physics at the university *

Gustav Theodor Fechner Gustav Theodor Fechner (; ; 19 April 1801 – 18 November 1887) was a German physicist, philosopher, and experimental psychologist. A pioneer in experimental psychology and founder of psychophysics (techniques for measuring the mind), he inspired ...

, German psychologist, founder of Psychophysics *

Maximilian von Frey Maximilian (Max) Ruppert Franz von Frey (16 November 1852 – 25 January 1932) was an Austrian-German physiologist who was born in Salzburg. He received his doctorate from the University of Leipzig in 1877, and subsequently worked at Carl Ludwig's ...

, physiologist, inventor of the

esthesiometer An esthesiometer (British spelling aesthesiometer) is a device for measuring the tactile sensitivity of the skin (or mouth, or eye, etc.). The measure of the degree of tactile sensitivity is called aesthesiometry. The device was invented by Edwar ...

Ernst Heinrich Weber Ernst Heinrich Weber (24 June 1795 – 26 January 1878) was a German physician who is considered one of the founders of experimental psychology. He was an influential and important figure in the areas of physiology and psychology during his lif ...

, German physician and professor whose studies paved the way for the founding of

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

* Katja Werthmann, German ethnologist, regional focus

West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...

, full professor at Leipzig University *

Wilhelm Wundt Wilhelm Maximilian Wundt (; ; 16 August 1832 – 31 August 1920) was a German physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the fathers of modern psychology. Wundt, who distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and ...

, German psychologist, founded the first formal laboratory for psychological research *

Friedrich Trendelenburg Friedrich Trendelenburg (; 24 May 184415 December 1924) was a German surgeon. He was son of the philosophy, philosopher Friedrich Adolf Trendelenburg, father of the pharmacology, pharmacologist Paul Trendelenburg and grandfather of the pharmaco ...

, German surgeon, described surgical removal of

pulmonary emboli Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include shortness of breath, chest pain particularly upon breathing ...

Arch Klin Chir 86:686, 2908, 1908 * Dorothy Anna Hahn, American organic chemist, lifelong educator in organic chemistry at

Mount Holyoke College Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts women's college in South Hadley, Massachusetts. It is the oldest member of the historic Seven Sisters colleges, a group of elite historically women's colleges in the Northeastern United States. ...

Politics

Luo Gan Luo Gan (; born July 18, 1935) is a retired Chinese politician. Between 2002 and 2007, Luo was one of China's top leaders, serving as a member of the nine-man Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and as the Secretary of ...

, Chinese Politician, Member of the

Politburo Standing Committee The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Histori ...

Johann Major Johann Major (2 January 1533 – 6 March 1600) was a German Protestant theologian, humanist and poet. Life Major was born in Sankt Joachimsthal in the Kingdom of Bohemia. He matriculated in 1549 at the University of Wittenberg, and died in ...

, German

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

theologian, a principal author of the so-called

Leipzig Interim The Leipzig Interim was one of several temporary settlements between the Emperor Charles V and German Lutherans following the Schmalkaldic War. It was presented to an assembly of Saxon political estates in December 1548. Though not adopted by the a ...

, and author of the Majoristic Controversy *

, first female

German Chancellor The chancellor of Germany, officially the federal chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,; often shortened to ''Bundeskanzler''/''Bundeskanzlerin'', / is the head of the federal government of Germany and the commander in chief of the Ger ...

Hans-Dietrich Genscher Hans-Dietrich Genscher (21 March 1927 – 31 March 2016) was a German statesman and a member of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), who served as Federal Minister of the Interior from 1969 to 1974, and as Federal Minister for Foreign Affa ...

, German politician, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor *

Rudolph Sohm Gotthold Julius Rudolph Sohm (29 October 1841 in Rostock – 16 May 1917 in Leipzig) was a German jurist and Church history, Church historian as well as a Theology, theologian. He published works concerning Roman law, Roman and German law, C ...

, lawyer and

Church historian Church Historian and Recorder (usually shortened to Church Historian) is a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The role of the Church Historian and Recorder is to keep an accurate and comprehensive record of th ...

Cai Yuanpei Cai Yuanpei (; 1868–1940) was a Chinese philosopher and politician who was an influential figure in the history of Chinese modern education. He made contributions to education reform with his own education ideology. He was the president of Pek ...

, president of Peking University and leading thinker in the early Chinese communist movement *

Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2018 to 2022. She previously served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and 2014 to 201 ...

, first female

President of Chile The president of Chile ( es, Presidente de Chile), officially known as the President of the Republic of Chile ( es, Presidente de la República de Chile), is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Chile. The president is re ...

between 2006 and 2010 *

Selig Brodetsky Selig Brodetsky, זליג ברודצק (10 February 1888 – 18 May 1954) was a Russian-born English mathematician, a member of the World Zionist Executive, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, and the second president of the ...

, Israeli President of the

Hebrew University of Jerusalem The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Raila Amolo Odinga Raila Amolo Odinga (born 7 January 1945) is a Kenyan politician, former Member of Parliament (MP) for Langata and businessman who served as the Prime Minister of Kenya from 2008 to 2013. He is assumed to be the Leader of Opposition in Kenya sin ...

, Kenyan politician

Sports

Luz Long Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long (27 April 1913 – 14 July 1943) was a German Olympic Games, Olympic long jumper, notable for winning the silver medal in the event at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for his association with Jesse Owens, who went on ...

, German Olympic long-jumper, noted for his sportsmanship

Notes

References

Literature

*
Scholars and Literati at the University of Leipzig (1409–1800)
i
Repertorium Eruditorum Totius Europae/RETE.

External links

* of Leipzig University
History of the Leipzig University
* {{Authority control 1400s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1409 establishments in Europe Educational institutions established in the 15th century Tourist attractions in Leipzig Universities and colleges in Saxony