The Trier University (), in the German city of
Trier
Trier ( , ; ), formerly and traditionally known in English as Trèves ( , ) and Triers (see also Names of Trier in different languages, names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle (river), Moselle in Germany. It lies in a v ...
, was founded in 1473. Closed in 1798 by order of the then
French administration in Trier, the university was re-established in 1970 after a hiatus of some 172 years. The new university campus is located on top of the
Tarforst heights, an urban district on the outskirts of the city. The university has six faculties with around 470 faculty members. In 2006 around 14,000 students were matriculated, with 43.5% of the student body male and 56.5% female; the percentage of foreign students was approximately 15.5%.
History
Historical university
In 1455
Pope Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V (; ; 15 November 1397 – 24 March 1455), born Tommaso Parentucelli, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 6 March 1447 until his death in March 1455. Pope Eugene IV made him a Cardinal (Catholic Chu ...
granted the
Archbishop of Trier
The Diocese of Trier (), in English historically also known as ''Treves'' () from French ''Trèves'', is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic church in Germany.[Jesuits
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...]
in 1560. They emphasized the philosophical and
theological
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of an ...
faculties at the expense of medicine and law. In the 1580s
Peter Binsfeld
Peter Binsfeld (alternate spelling Peter of Binsfeld, lat. Petrus Binsfeldius; c. 1540 – 1598 or 1603) was president of the university. In the 1730s
Johann Nikolaus von Hontheim was also a faculty member. After the
French occupation of the Rhineland, the French administration ordered the universities of
Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
,
Mainz
Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
,
Bonn
Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...
and Trier closed, the last closing on 6 April 1798.
Modern university
After a hiatus of some 172 years the University of Trier was re-established in 1970 by the
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
as a constituent member of the twin University of Trier-
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...
, with 360 students matriculating in Trier on 15 October 1970. In 1975 the twin university was split into two independent universities. In 1977, the current university campus in
Tarforst was opened and during the 1990s a nearby former French military hospital complex (dating from the French military presence in Germany following 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 ...
) was acquired by the university and now forms a second campus, dubbed ''Campus II''.
University seal
The modern university still uses the seal of the historical university in its corporate design. It contains the Latin motto "" (God completes the favors of wisdom from the city of Trier). In 2000 an alternative logo incorporating that seal was introduced, but this met with resistance.
Faculties
The university is divided into six faculties ("Fachbereiche").
* FB I – Pedagogy, Philosophy, Psychology (c. 2300 students)
* FB II – Linguistics, Literature, Media (c. 2700 students)
* FB III – Egyptology, Papyrology, History, Archeology, Art history, Politics (c. 1700 students)
* FB IV – Economics, Business, Sociology, Mathematics, Computer Science (c. 3300 students)
* FB V – Law (c. 1800 students)
* FB VI – Geography, Geosciences (c. 1600 students)
There is also a Faculty of (Roman Catholic) Theology, affiliated to the university but administratively independent. It has about 300 students.
Student demographics
*
WS 2001/02: 11,867 students
* WS 2002/03: 12,660 students
* WS 2003/04: 13,082 students
* WS 2004/05: 13,327 students
* WS 2005/06: 13,755 students
* WS 2006/07: 13,932 students
* WS 2007/08: 13,982 students
* WS 2008/09: 14,639 students
* WS 2009/10: 14,612 students
* WS 2010/11: 14,931 students
* WS 2011/12: 15,260 students
* WS 2012/13: 15,165 students
While there is a considerable number of foreign students in Trier, a large majority of students hail from
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...
and the adjacent German states of
Saarland
Saarland (, ; ) is a state of Germany in the southwest of the country. With an area of and population of 990,509 in 2018, it is the smallest German state in area apart from the city-states of Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and the smallest in ...
and
Northrhine-Westphalia. This situation has been exacerbated by the introduction of
tuition fees
Tuition payments, usually known as tuition in American English and as tuition fees in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English, are fees charged by education institutions for instruction or other services. Besides public spen ...
in all German states except Rhineland-Palatine, with the University of Trier having experienced an increase in the number of students from other German states—especially the neighbouring states—matriculating or transferring there. The
SPD, the governing party in Rhineland-Palatinate, does not plan to introduce tuition fees.
Notable alumni
*
Mervat Seif el-Din – classical archaeologist and former director of the
Graeco-Roman Museum
The Graeco-Roman Museum is an archaeological museum located in Alexandria, Egypt. Its collection of over 40,000 objects includes sculptures, mosaics, woodwork, and coins.
History
Erected in 1892, it was first built in a five-room apartment, in ...
.
Karl-Marx-University of Trier
The
General Students Committee (German: ''Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss'', or ''AStA'' for short) put forward a proposal to change the university's official name to the ''
Karl Marx
Karl Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, political theorist, economist, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. He is best-known for the 1848 pamphlet '' The Communist Manifesto'' (written with Friedrich Engels) ...
University of Trier'' (German: ''Karl-Marx-Universität Trier''), in honour of perhaps the city's
most famous son. Although the proposal was rejected by university authorities, the General Students Committee still referred to the university as "''Karl-Marx-Universität Trier''", until a new coalition was formed in the students parliament in 2015.
See also
*
Institute for Environmental and Technology Law
*
List of medieval universities
The list of Medieval university, medieval universities comprises University, universities (more precisely, ''studium generale, studia generalia'') which existed in Europe during the Middle Ages.Rüegg 1992, pp. XIX–XX It also includes ...
References
External links
*
Places of interest near University of Trier and overnight accommodation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trier, University Of
Educational institutions established in the 15th century
University of Trier
Educational institutions established in 1970
1970 establishments in West Germany
Universities and colleges in Rhineland-Palatinate