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Leipzig University (german: 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 ...
in Saxony,
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
, 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 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 wi ...
, 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 Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Leopold von Ranke, Friedrich Nietzsche, Robert Schumann, Richard Wagner, Tycho Brahe, Georgius Agricola,
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 Op ...
and ten Nobel laureates associated with the university.


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 crisis and the Decree of Kutná Hora. The ''Alma mater Lipsiensis'' opened in 1409, after it had been officially chartered by Pope Alexander V 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 i ...
, 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
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 ...
(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 (one of the fathers of the German Civil Code) and Wilhelm Ostwald (viewed as a founder of modern physical chemistry) taught at 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 Anna Mikhaylovna Yevreinova, also referred to as Johanna von Evreinov (russian: А́нна Миха́йловна Евре́инова; 1844–1919), was a Russian feminist writer, lawyer and literary editor. Following her study at the University o ...
. During the decline and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire 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 states (
Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, a ...
,
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 wit ...
,
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 Mac ...
and
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...
) 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, Leipzig University attracted a number of renowned scholars and later Nobel Prize laureates, including Paul Ehrlich, Felix Bloch, Werner Heisenberg and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. Many of the university's alumni became important scientists.


Nazi period

Under Nazi rule many degrees of
Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
were cancelled. Some were later reinstated as Karl-Marx University degrees by the GDR. Noteworthy Nazis, such as 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, 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. In 1948 the freely elected student council was disbanded and replaced by Free German Youth members. The chairman of the Student Council,
Wolfgang Natonek Wolfgang is a German male given name traditionally popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The name is a combination of the Old High German words ''wolf'', meaning "wolf", and ''gang'', meaning "path", "journey", "travel". Besides the regula ...
, 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, was executed in 1951 in Moscow. The German Democratic Republic was created in 1949, and in 1953 for Karl Marx Year 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, 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), built between 1968 and 1972 in the form of an open book.


After the reunification of Germany

In 1991, following the reunification of Germany, 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. 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 Augusteum. 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, 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: 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) 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 Erick van Egeraat. 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 second-oldest botanical garden in Europe. was established in 1542. The university's Musical Instrument Museum includes one of the world's three surviving
piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a musica ...
s built by Bartolomeo Cristofori, 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 * Deutsches Literaturinstitut Leipzig/DLL * 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 * Saxon Preparatory Courses (Studienkolleg Sachsen) * 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 Polyphony ( ) is a type of musical texture consisting of two or more simultaneous lines of independe ...
, 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 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 ...
. 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 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 of 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 * 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 * 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 * German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) * 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 degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.
s, Staatsexamen, Diplom (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 U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States. It is the list of U.S. states and territories by area, 6th largest and the list of U.S. states and territories by population, 14 ...
, Oklahoma,
Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...
,
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 U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...
, 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 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.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. 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 mill ...
, University of Vienna, University of Wroclaw and Roskilde University. In the field of anthropology, the university is cooperating with the Leipzig
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 ...
. In 1995, the Leibniz-Institute for Jewish History and Culture named after Simon Dubnow was formed as a research institution related to the university. Since 2008 the university is also home to one of Germany's few Confucius Institutes. 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).


Rankings

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. The 2018 ARWU ranking sees Leipzig climbing in the 151–200 tier being among the top 14 German universities. Leipzig has constantly been ranked among the German top 10 in various university sport disciplines over the past decades.


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 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, 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, Th ...
, 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 wo ...
* Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German composer, 3rd famous son of Johann Sebastian Bach * Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, 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 physician, historian, printer, mathematician, Baroque music composer, and precursor of the Enlightenment ...
, German composer and music theorist, pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach * Friedrich Blume, German music theorist * Robert Schumann, German music composer * Christoph Graupner, German composer * Johann Kuhnau, German composer, Thomaskantor * Johann David Heinichen, German composer and music theorist, Royal Polish and Electoral Saxon Kapellmeister * Richard Wagner, German composer * Georg Philipp Telemann, German composer, godfather to Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach


Humanities

* Theodor Mommsen, German historian, Nobel Prize in Literature * Franz Delitzsch, German Theologian and Hebrew Scholar * Michael Ranft, German historian and theologian. * Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher * Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German poet and polymath * Max Muller, philologist and Orientalist who wrote authoritative works on Indology. * Leonard Bloomfield, 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. * Hans-Georg Gadamer, German philosopher and rector of the university * Johann Christoph Gottsched, 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, German philosopher and writer * Lin Yutang, Chinese author and linguist * Nathan Söderblom, Swedish clergyman, Nobel Peace Prize *
C. F. W. Walther Carl Ferdinand Wilhelm Walther (October 25, 1811 – May 7, 1887) was a German-American Lutheran minister. He was the first president of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS) and its most influential theologian. He is commemorated by that ...
, first President of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and its most influential theologian. * Ferdinand de Saussure, linguist, founder of structuralism


Sciences

* Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, German Mathematician who developed
calculus Calculus, originally called infinitesimal calculus or "the calculus of infinitesimals", is the mathematics, mathematical study of continuous change, in the same way that geometry is the study of shape, and algebra is the study of generalizati ...
, philosopher, polymath * Felix Klein, German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, complex analysis and non-Euclidean geometry * Sophus Lie, Norwegian mathematician who developed
Lie algebra In mathematics, a Lie algebra (pronounced ) is a vector space \mathfrak g together with an operation called the Lie bracket, an alternating bilinear map \mathfrak g \times \mathfrak g \rightarrow \mathfrak g, that satisfies the Jacobi iden ...
*
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 ...
, German mathematician and theoretical astronomer, known for the Möbius strip. * Karl Mollweide, German mathematician and astronomer, known for the
Mollweide projection file:Mollweide projection SW.jpg, 400px, Mollweide projection of the world file:Mollweide with Tissot's Indicatrices of Distortion.svg, 400px, The Mollweide projection with Tissot's indicatrix of deformation The Mollweide projection is an Equal-a ...
* Hermann Hankel, German mathematician, known for the Hankel transform * Felix Hausdorff, German mathematician, one of the founders of modern
topology In mathematics, topology (from the Greek words , and ) is concerned with the properties of a geometric object that are preserved under continuous deformations, such as stretching, twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing ho ...
, known for the Hausdorff space * Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, 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 Wo ...
, American mathematician * Wei-Liang Chow, Chinese mathematician and stamp collector born in Shanghai, known for his work in algebraic geometry. * Johann Heinrich Winckler, German physicist * Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics * Felix Bloch, Swiss physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics * Friedrich Hund, German physicist, discovered quantum tunnelling 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 ...
* Julius Edgar Lilienfeld, Austro-Hungarian physicist * Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist * Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer * Gustav 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 seco ...
, American physicist * Edward Teller, 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 chemistry, physical chemist, and List of Nobel laureates in Chemistry, Nobel laureate in Chemistry. Biography Early life Born Petr ...
, Dutch-American physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry * Wilhelm Ostwald, German chemist, Nobel Prize in Chemistry * Paul Ehrlich, German doctor, Nobel Prize in Medicine * Svante Pääbo, Noble Prize in Medicine, currently teaches molecular evolutionary biology at the university * Gustav Theodor Fechner, 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 *
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 li ...
, 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 ...
* Wilhelm Wundt, German psychologist, founded the first formal laboratory for psychological research * Friedrich Trendelenburg, German surgeon, described surgical removal of pulmonary emboliArch Klin Chir 86:686, 2908, 1908


Politics

* Luo Gan, Chinese Politician, Member of the Politburo Standing Committee * Johann Major, German Lutheran theologian, a principal author of the so-called Leipzig Interim, and author of the Majoristic Controversy *
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 Op ...
, first female German Chancellor * Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German politician, Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor * Rudolph Sohm, lawyer and Church historian *
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, 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, Israeli President of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem *
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, German Olympic long-jumper, noted for his sportsmanship


See also

*
Handelshochschule Leipzig (HHL) HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, formerly known as Handelshochschule Leipzig, is a private business school based in Saxony, Germany. Established in 1898, it is one of the world's oldest business schools. The school is accredited intern ...
*
Leipzig school (sociology) The Leipzig school was a branch of sociology developed by a group of academics led by philosopher and sociologist Hans Freyer at the University of Leipzig, Germany in the 1930s. Freyer saw Nazism as an opportunity; many of his followers were politi ...
* List of medieval universities * List of universities in Germany


Notes


References


Literature

* Anne-Kathleen Tillack-Graf: ''Institute of Communication and Media Studies (University of Leipzig).'' The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Mass Media and Society. SAGE Publications, 2019, ISBN 978-14833-7553-3.


External links


Leipzig University Website

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