Leibniz University Hannover (), also known as the University of Hannover, is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are "the key sites of Knowledge production modes, knowledge production", along with "intergenerational ...

located in

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

, Germany. Founded on 2 May 1831 as Higher Vocational School, the university has undergone six periods of renaming, its most recent in 2006. Leibniz University Hannover is a member of TU9, an association of the nine leading

Institutes of Technology An institute of technology (also referred to as technological university, technical university, university of technology, polytechnic university) is an institution of tertiary education that specializes in engineering, technology, applied science ...

in Germany. It is also a member of the

Conference of European Schools for Advanced Engineering Education and Research CESAER is a non-profit association of universities of science and technology in Europe. CESAER was founded on 10 May 1990, seated in the Castle of Arenberg in Leuven, Belgium. The association has 58 universities of science and technology in 28 co ...

, a non-profit association of leading engineering universities in Europe. The university sponsors the

German National Library of Science and Technology The German National Library of Science and Technology (), abbreviated TIB, is the national library of the Federal Republic of Germany for all fields of engineering, technology, and the natural sciences. It is jointly funded by the Federal Mini ...

, the largest science and technology library in the world.Profile of the TIB at Leibniz University Hannove
online
(English) retrieved 26 May 2012

History

The roots of the university begin in the Higher Vocational College/Polytechnic Institute (), founded on 2 May 1831. In 1879 the Higher Vocational School moved into the historic Guelph palace (), which was specially converted for the purpose. On 1 April 1879, the Higher Vocational School became the Royal College of Technology (). In 1899

Kaiser Wilhelm II Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as the Hohenzollern dynasty ...

granted the College of Technology a status equal to that of universities and the right to confer doctorates. The college was reconstructed in 1921 with the financial support of the College Patrons' Association. As of 1 July 1922, there were three faculties: Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Civil Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. In 1968 the Faculty of Humanities and Political Science were founded and the ('Technical College' or 'Technical University') became the ('Technical University Hannover'). Between 1973 and 1980 the faculties of Law, Business and Economics, and the formerly independent Teachers Training College were added to the university and in 1978 the was renamed ('University of Hannover'). Student numbers exceeded 30,000 for the first time in 1991. On the 175th anniversary of the institution in 2006, the 'University of Hannover' was given the name , or for short. While 64 students first attended the Vocational School, today the university has around 27,200 students, more than 3,400 academics and scientists, and 160 departments and institutes.

Namesake

The Senate of the university voted in April 2006 to rename the University of Hannover to . Following agreement by the Leibniz Academy on the use of the name, the received its name on the 360th anniversary of

Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in addition to ...

's birth. The brand of the university is . The old logo of the university was inspired by the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

. The current logo, adopted in 2008, is a stylised excerpt from a letter to Duke Rudolf August of Wolfenbüttel, in which Leibniz presented

binary numbers A binary number is a number expressed in the base-2 numeral system or binary numeral system, a method for representing numbers that uses only two symbols for the natural numbers: typically "0" (zero) and "1" (one). A ''binary number'' may also ...

for the first time.

Faculties and staff

Nine faculties with more than 190 first-degree full-time and part-time degree courses make the university the second-largest institution of higher education in

Lower Saxony Lower Saxony is a States of Germany, German state (') in Northern Germany, northwestern Germany. It is the second-largest state by land area, with , and fourth-largest in population (8 million in 2021) among the 16 ' of the Germany, Federal Re ...

. The university staff comprises 3438 research and teaching staff, of whom 357 are professors. It has 1838 additional employees in administrative functions, 58 apprentices and some 1900 staff funded by third parties. * Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Sciences * Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodetic Science * Faculty of Economics and Management * Faculty of

Electrical Engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

and

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

* Faculty of

Humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture, including Philosophy, certain fundamental questions asked by humans. During the Renaissance, the term "humanities" referred to the study of classical literature a ...

* Faculty of Law * Faculty of Mathematics and

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

* Faculty of Mechanical Engineering * Faculty of

Natural Sciences Natural science or empirical science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer ...

* QUEST Leibniz Research School * Leibniz School of Education * Leibniz School of Optics and Photonics

Facilities

Office building Leibniz Universitaet Hannover Conti-Campus Koenigsworther Platz Mitte Hannover Germany 03

The campus of the university is spread over 160 buildings occupying of floor space.uni-hannover.de
Die Leibniz Universität Hannover in Stichworten
; retrieved, 18 December 2014

Budget

The university's overall budget was approximately in 2013, broken down as follows: * Income of according to the annual report * External funding amounting to * Special funds from the State of

amounting to * from other income * from student contributions

Rankings

As per the QS World 2024, the university is placed 481st globally and holds the 30th position nationally. In the

THE World The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...

2024 rankings, the university is placed within the 351–400 range globally, and holds a national rank within the 34–36 range. According to the ARWU World 2022, the university's global position is within the 501–600 range, while nationally it ranks between 32nd and 36th. Measured by the number of top managers in the German economy, Leibniz University Hannover ranked 7th in 2019. Leibniz University Hannover ranked 34th place worldwide in the THE Impact Rankings 2023SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and between 101–200 in the SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) rankings.

University library and TIB

German National Library of Science and Technology TIB university library Hannover UB Am Welfengarten 1b Nordstadt Hannover Germany 04

The library was established on the founding of the in 1831. It expanded into an important collection as the institution evolved from a vocational/technical college into the full University. The removal of the books into storage during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

secured valuable old stocks that became a unique national collection of scientific and technical literature in postwar Germany. This was the basis on which the library of the Institute of Technology () was established in 1959. Today the collection forms the heart of the

, which is the largest institution of its kind in the world.

GISMA School of Business

GISMA Business School in Hannover, Germany, was launched in 1999 as a joint initiative by the state of Lower Saxony and visionary private-sector enterprises. The school was closely affiliated with the

Krannert School of Management The Purdue University Daniels School of Business (formerly known as Krannert School of Management) is the school of business at Purdue University, a Public university, public research university in West Lafayette, Indiana. It offers instruction ...

at Purdue University (Indiana, USA) until 2011 when the Leibniz University Hannover briefly became its parent. In 2013 the association with Leibniz ended, and GISMA became part the for-profit education company

Global University Systems Global University Systems B.V. (GUS) is a for-profit private limited company registered in the Netherlands. As a corporate group, it owns and operates several private for-profit colleges and universities in the UK, Canada, Israel and Europe, as w ...

Notable people

Faculty

Friedrich Bergius Friedrich Karl Rudolf Bergius (, 11 October 1884 – 30 March 1949) was a German chemist known for the Bergius process for producing synthetic fuel from coal, Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1931, together with Carl Bosch) in recognition of contribu ...

(1884–1949), chemist,

Nobel Prize in Chemistry The Nobel Prize in Chemistry () is awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences to scientists in the various fields of chemistry. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outst ...

(1931) *

Helmut Bley Helmut Bley (born 26 February 1935 in Hamburg) is a German historian. He is professor emeritus for modern and History of Africa, African history at the historical seminar of the Leibniz University Hannover. Biography Bley studied educational ...

(born 1935), German historian, professor *

Constantin Carathéodory Constantin Carathéodory (; 13 September 1873 – 2 February 1950) was a Greeks, Greek mathematician who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He made significant contributions to real and complex analysis, the calculus of variations, ...

(1873–1950), mathematician, professor *

Lothar Collatz Lothar Collatz (; July 6, 1910 – September 26, 1990) was a German mathematician, born in Arnsberg, Province of Westphalia, Westphalia. The "3''x'' + 1" problem is also known as the Collatz conjecture, named after him and still unsolved. The Col ...

(1910-1990), chair in applied mathematics at the technical university of Hanover (1943-1952) * Horst Dreier (born 1954), lawyer *

Gerhard Ertl Gerhard Ertl (; born 10 October 1936) is a German physicist and a Professor emeritus at the Department of Physical Chemistry, Fritz-Haber-Institut der Max-Planck-Gesellschaft in Berlin, Germany. Ertl's research laid the foundation of modern sur ...

(born 1936), physicist and chemist,

(2007) *

J. Hans D. Jensen Johannes Hans Daniel Jensen (; 25 June 1907 – 11 February 1973) was a German nuclear physicist. During World War II, he worked on the German nuclear energy project, known as the Uranium Club, where he contributed to the separation of uranium ...

(1907–1973), German physicist,

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

(1963) *

Wilhelm Jordan Wilhelm Jordan may refer to: * Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Jordan (1819–1904), known as Wilhelm Jordan, German writer and politician * Wilhelm Jordan (geodesist) (1842–1899), German scientist, noted for the Gauss–Jordan elimination algorithm {{hn ...

, (1842–1899), professor of geodesy and practical geometry, known for the Gauss-Jordan Elimination * Karl Karmarsch (1803–1879), engineer, educationalist *

Theodor Lessing Karl Theodor Richard Lessing (8 February 1872 – 31 August 1933) was a German philosopher. He is known for opposing the rise of Hindenburg as president of the Weimar Republic and for his classic on Jewish self-hatred (''Der jüdische Selbsth ...

(1872–1933), philosopher * Herbert Lindinger (born 1933), industrial designer * Konrad Meyer (1901–1973), SS-Oberführer and an architect of

Generalplan Ost The (; ), abbreviated GPO, was Nazi Germany's plan for the settlement and "Germanization" of captured territory in Eastern Europe, involving the genocide, extermination and large-scale ethnic cleansing of Slavs, Eastern European Jews, and o ...

for the Germanization of Eastern Europe. Later served as a professor of agriculture and regional planning at the University of Hanover The Nuremberg Medical Trial 1946/47 – Guide to the Microfiche Edition: With an Introduction to the Trial's History by Angelika Ebbinghaus and Short Biographies of the Participants, 2001, Walter de Gruyter, , p. 119 *

Oskar Negt Oskar Reinhard Negt (; 1 August 1934 – 2 February 2024) was a German philosopher and critical social theorist. He was a professor of sociology in Hanover from 1972 to 2002, regarded as one of Germany's most prominent social scientists. A mem ...

(1934–2024), social philosopher *

Werner Osenberg Werner Oskar Ewald Osenberg (April 26, 1900, Zeitz–December 14, 1974 Renningen) was a German materials scientist, organizer of German armaments research and armaments developer during the Second World War. Among other things, Osenberg researched ...

(1900–1974), materials scientist *

Eduard Pestel Eduard Kurt Christian Pestel (29 May 1914 – 19 September 1988) was a German industrial designer, economist, professor of mechanics and politician who was born in Hildesheim and died in Hannover. He was coauthor with Mihajlo Mesarovic of ''Manki ...

(1914–1988), engineer and politician *

Ludwig Prandtl Ludwig Prandtl (4 February 1875 – 15 August 1953) was a German Fluid mechanics, fluid dynamicist, physicist and aerospace scientist. He was a pioneer in the development of rigorous systematic mathematical analyses which he used for underlyin ...

(1875–1953), physicist and engineer in fluid- and aerodynamics, professor. * Friedrich Schwerd (1872–1953), professor for machinery and operations research, inventor of the WW I. German army

Stahlhelm The ''Stahlhelm'' (German for "''steel helmet''") is a term used to refer to a series of German steel combat helmet designs intended to protect the wearer from common battlefield hazards such as shrapnel. The armies of the great powers began ...

* Fritz Sennheiser, (1912–2010), electronics engineer, entrepreneur: Honorary professorship. *

Klaus Töpfer Klaus Töpfer (29 July 1938 – 8 June 2024) was a German politician ( CDU) and environmental politics expert. From 1998 to 2006 he was executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Personal life Töpfer was born in ...

(born 1938), German politician ( Christian Democratic Union)

Alumni

Carl F. W. Borgward Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Borgward (10 November 1890 in Altona, Hamburg – 28 July 1963 in Bremen (city), Bremen) was a German engineer and designer and the creator of the Borgward group, based in Bremen. Biography He was of modest origin, the so ...

(1890–1963), entrepreneur, car manufacturer, engineer, non-graduate guest auditor. *

Walter Bruch Walter Bruch (2 March 1908 – 5 May 1990) was a German electrical engineer and pioneer of German television. He was the inventor of closed-circuit television. He invented the PAL colour television system at Telefunken in the early 1960s. In ad ...

(1908–1990), electronics and television engineer, honorary doctorate. *

Alfred Bucherer Alfred Heinrich Bucherer (* 9 July 1863 in Cologne; † 16 April 1927 in Bonn) was a German physicist, who is known for his experiments on relativistic mass. He also was the first who used the phrase "theory of relativity" for Einstein's theory o ...

(1863–1927), physicist *

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

(1832–1908), poet and artist * Rento Hofstede Crull (1863–1938), electrical pioneer * Gustav Doetsch (1892–1977), German mathematician gained his

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

here * Luise Druke (born 1948), German scholar and United Nations practitioner *

Irmgard Flügge-Lotz Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, née Lotz (16 July 1903 – 22 May 1974) was a German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer. She was a pioneer in the development of the theory of discontinuous automatic control, which has found wide application ...

(1903–1974), German-American mathematician and engineer *

Henrich Focke Henrich Focke (8 October 1890 – 25 February 1979) was a German aviation pioneer from Bremen and also a co-founder of the Focke-Wulf company. He is best known as the inventor of the Focke-Wulf Fw 61, Fw 61, the first successful, practical, ...

(1890–1979), German aviation pioneer *

Erich Gutenberg Erich Gutenberg (13 December 1897 in Herford – 22 May 1984 in Cologne) was an influential German economist. He is considered the founder of modern German business studies after World War II. Gutenberg used microeconomy to explain the functioni ...

(1897–1984), German economist. * Maximilian Emil Hehl (1861–1916), German Architect who emigrated to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

and designed the

Neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

São Paulo Cathedral The Metropolitan Cathedral of Our Lady Assumption and Saint Paul (), also known as the See Cathedral (), is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of São Paulo, Brazil. Its current and seventh metropolitan archbishop is Dom Odil ...

Pascual Jordan Ernst Pascual Jordan (; 18 October 1902 – 31 July 1980) was a German theoretical and mathematical physicist who made significant contributions to quantum mechanics and quantum field theory. He contributed much to the mathematical form of matri ...

(1902–1980), theoretical and mathematical physicist, politician ( CDU) *

Wolfgang Jüttner Wolfgang Jüttner (born 21 March 1948 in Lüdersfeld) is a German politician, representative of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He was his party's candidate for position of chief of state of Lower Saxony in 2008. After his election defeat, he ...

(born 1948), German politician (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

) * Carola Lentz (born 1954), German social anthropologist *

David McAllister David James McAllister (born 12 January 1971) is a German politician who has been a member of the European Parliament since 2014. He is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), part of the European People's Party. He is the current vi ...

(born 1971), German politician ( CDU) *

Christian Otto Mohr Christian Otto Mohr (8 October 1835 – 2 October 1918) was a German civil engineer. He is renowned for his contributions to the field of structural engineering, such as Mohr's circle, and for his study of stress. Biography He was born on 8 Oct ...

(1835–1918), civil and structural engineer *

Carl Adam Petri Carl Adam Petri (12 July 1926 in Leipzig – 2 July 2010 in Siegburg) was a German mathematician and computer scientist. Life and work Petri created his major scientific contribution, the concept of the Petri net, in 1939 at the age of 13, for ...

(1926–2010), mathematician, logician and computer scientist * Frank Pohlmann (born 1959), American politician and businessman *

Reinhold Rudenberg Reinhold Rudenberg (or Rüdenberg) was a German-American electrical engineer and inventor, credited with many innovations in the electric power and related fields. Aside from improvements in electric power equipment, especially large alternating ...

(1883–1961), Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Graduate School of Engineering, inventor of i.e. carrier current communications

Panorama

Notes

References

External links

*
Leibniz Alliance Hannover
(LEAH) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hannover Universities and colleges in Lower Saxony Technische Universitäten in Germany Educational institutions established in 1831 Buildings and structures in Hanover 1831 establishments in the Kingdom of Hanover Tourist attractions in Hanover 1831 establishments in the German Confederation