Georg-August University of Göttingen
Encyclopedia
The University of Göttingen , known informally as Georgia Augusta, is a university
in the city of Göttingen
, Germany.
Founded in 1734 by King George II
of Great Britain and the Elector of Hanover
, it opened for classes in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity. Göttingen
is a historic university city, with a high student and faculty population.
The University of Göttingen is one of the highest-ranked universities in Germany. It is associated with 45 Nobel laureates
.
The university has a sound international reputation and was ranked 1st in Germany, 9th in Europe and 43rd in the world in 2010 by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
. At the same time, it was ranked 4th in Germany, 30th in Europe and 93rd in the world in 2010 by the Academic Ranking of World Universities
. The 2011 QS World University Rankings
ranked the university at 149th, 25 places higher than the year previous.
In 1734, King George II
of Great Britain, and the Elector of Hanover
, gave his Prime Minister, Gerlach Adolph von Münchhausen, the order to establish a university in Göttingen to propagate the ideas of academic freedom and enlightenment at the times of the European Enlightenment
.
In the first years of the University of Göttingen it became known for its faculty of law. In the 18th century Johann Stephan Pütter
, the most prestigious scholar of public law at that time, taught jus publicum here for half a century. The subject had attracted students such as Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich, later diplomat and Prime Minister of Austria, and Wilhelm von Humboldt
, who later established the University of Berlin. In 1809 Arthur Schopenhauer
, the German philosopher best known for his work The World as Will and Representation, became a student at the university, where he studied metaphysics
and psychology
under Gottlob Ernst Schulze
, who advised him to concentrate on Plato
and Kant
.
By the university's centenary in 1837, it was known as the "university of law", as the students enrolled by the faculty of law often made up more than half of the university's students. Göttingen became a Mecca for the study of public law in Germany. Heinrich Heine
, the famous German poet, studied law and was awarded the degree of Dr.iur..
However, political disturbances, in which both professors and students were implicated, lowered the attendance to 860 in 1834. The expulsion in 1837 of the seven professors – Die Göttinger Sieben – the Germanist, Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht
(1800–1876); the historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann
(1785–1860); the orientalist Georg Heinrich August Ewald (1803–1875); the historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus
(1805–1875); the physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber
(1804–1891); and the philologists, the brothers Jakob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm
(1786–1859), for protesting against the revocation by King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
of the liberal constitution of 1833, further reduced the prosperity of the university. Prior to this, the Brothers Grimm
had taught here and compiled the first German Dictionary.
In the 19th century, Gustav von Hugo, the forerunner of the historical school of law, and Rudolf von Jhering
, a jurist who created the theory of "culpa in contraendo" and wrote Battle for Right, taught here and maintained the reputation of the faculty of law. Otto von Bismarck
, the main creator and the first Chancellor of the second German Empire
, had also studied law in Göttingen in 1833: he lived in a tiny house on the "Wall", now known as "Bismarck Cottage". According to oral tradition, he lived there because his rowdiness had caused him to be banned from living within the city walls.
Göttingen also had a focus on natural science, especially mathematics. Carl Friedrich Gauss
taught here in the 19th century. Bernhard Riemann
, Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
and a number of significant mathematicians made their contributions to mathematics here. By 1900, David Hilbert
and Felix Klein
had attracted mathematicians from around the world to Göttingen, which made Göttingen a world mecca of mathematics at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1903, its teaching staff numbered 121 and its students 1529. Ludwig Prandtl joined the university in 1904, and developed it into a leader in fluid mechanics
and in aerodynamics
over the next two decades. In 1925, Prandtl was appointed as the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
for Fluid Mechanics. Many of Prandtl's students went on to make fundamental contributions to aerodynamics.
To date, 45 Nobel Prize
laureates have studied, taught or made contributions here. Most of these prizes were given in the first half of the 20th century, which was called the "Göttingen Nobel prize wonder".
Social studies and the study of humanities continued to flourish. Edmund Husserl
, the philosopher and known as the father of phenomenology, taught here. Max Weber
, the sociologist studied here for one term.
crackdown on "Jewish physics", as represented by the work of Albert Einstein
. In what was later called the "great purge" of 1933
, academics including Max Born
, Victor Goldschmidt
, James Franck
, Eugene Wigner, Leó Szilárd
, Edward Teller
, Emmy Noether
, and Richard Courant
were expelled or fled. Most of them fled Nazi Germany
for places like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
, the University of Göttingen was the first university in the western Zones
to be re-opened under British control in 1945. Jürgen Habermas
, a German philosopher and sociologist, pursued his study here in Göttingen. Later, Richard von Weizsäcker
, the former President of Germany
, earned his Dr.Jur. here. Gerhard Schröder
, the former Chancellor of Germany, also graduated from the school of law here in Göttingen, and he became a lawyer thereafter.
Besides, the *Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
, formerly Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy is closely linked and has cooperation with the university.
(German: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen, or SUB Göttingen; English short form: Goettingen SUB). With its more than 4 million volumes and precious manuscripts, the library is designed for Göttingen University as well as the central library for the German State of Lower Saxony (with its central catalogue) and for the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, originally founded as the 'Royal Society for Sciences'.
, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
, and Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
.
, the seismologist Beno Gutenberg
, the endocrinologist Hakaru Hashimoto, who studied there before World War I
, and several notable Nobel laureates like Max Planck
and Werner Heisenberg
.
"Ancient university towns are wonderfully alike. Göttingen is like Cambridge in England or Yale in America: very provincial, not on the way to anywhere - no one comes to these backwaters except for the company of professors. And the professors are sure that this is the centre of the world. There is an inscription in the Rathskeller
there which reads 'Extra Gottingam non est vita', 'Outside Göttingen there is no life'. This epigram, or should I call it epitaph, is not taken as seriously by the undergraduates as by the professors."(Bronowski, 1973, The Ascent of Man, p. 360)
The university is spread out in several locations around the city:
The central university complex with the main library and Mensa (dining hall) is located right next to the inner city and comprises the faculties for Theology, Law, Economics/Business Administration and Linguistics. The departments of Ancient History, Classics, various languages, and Psychology are nearby. Elsewhere in the city are the departments of Anthropology, Mathematics and Educational Sciences as well as the Medical Faculty with its associated hospitals.
Just north of the city a new scientific center has been built in which most of the natural sciences (Chemistry, Microbiology, Plant Pathology, Agronomy, Forestry, Geology, Physics, Computer Science) are now located, including the GZMB. Other institutes are set around the inner city.
The University offers eight snack shops and six Mensas serving lunch at low prices for the students. One Mensa also provides dinner for students.
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
in the city of Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
, Germany.
Founded in 1734 by King George II
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
of Great Britain and the Elector of Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, it opened for classes in 1737. The University of Göttingen soon grew in size and popularity. Göttingen
Göttingen
Göttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
is a historic university city, with a high student and faculty population.
The University of Göttingen is one of the highest-ranked universities in Germany. It is associated with 45 Nobel laureates
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
.
The university has a sound international reputation and was ranked 1st in Germany, 9th in Europe and 43rd in the world in 2010 by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...
. At the same time, it was ranked 4th in Germany, 30th in Europe and 93rd in the world in 2010 by the Academic Ranking of World Universities
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The Academic Ranking of World Universities , commonly known as the Shanghai ranking, is a publication that was founded and compiled by the Shanghai Jiaotong University to rank universities globally. The rankings have been conducted since 2003 and updated annually...
. The 2011 QS World University Rankings
QS World University Rankings
The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....
ranked the university at 149th, 25 places higher than the year previous.
Inauguration
George II of Great Britain
George II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
of Great Britain, and the Elector of Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, gave his Prime Minister, Gerlach Adolph von Münchhausen, the order to establish a university in Göttingen to propagate the ideas of academic freedom and enlightenment at the times of the European Enlightenment
Age of Enlightenment
The Age of Enlightenment was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe that sought to mobilize the power of reason in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted intellectual interchange and opposed intolerance and abuses in church and state...
.
18th – 19th centuries
Throughout the remainder of the 18th century the University of Göttingen was in the top rank of German universities, with its free spirit and atmosphere of scientific exploration and research. By 1812, Göttingen had become an internationally acknowledged modern university with a library of more than 250,000 volumes. Napoleon had studied law here and remarked that "Göttingen belongs to the whole Europe".In the first years of the University of Göttingen it became known for its faculty of law. In the 18th century Johann Stephan Pütter
Johann Stephan Pütter
Johann Stephan Pütter was a German law lecturer and publicist. He was professor of law at the university of Göttingen from 1746 until his death. He exerted great influence on the law institutions of his time...
, the most prestigious scholar of public law at that time, taught jus publicum here for half a century. The subject had attracted students such as Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich, later diplomat and Prime Minister of Austria, and Wilhelm von Humboldt
Wilhelm von Humboldt
Friedrich Wilhelm Christian Karl Ferdinand Freiherr von Humboldt was a German philosopher, government functionary, diplomat, and founder of Humboldt Universität. He is especially remembered as a linguist who made important contributions to the philosophy of language and to the theory and practice...
, who later established the University of Berlin. In 1809 Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer
Arthur Schopenhauer was a German philosopher known for his pessimism and philosophical clarity. At age 25, he published his doctoral dissertation, On the Fourfold Root of the Principle of Sufficient Reason, which examined the four separate manifestations of reason in the phenomenal...
, the German philosopher best known for his work The World as Will and Representation, became a student at the university, where he studied metaphysics
Metaphysics
Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world, although the term is not easily defined. Traditionally, metaphysics attempts to answer two basic questions in the broadest possible terms:...
and psychology
Psychology
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
under Gottlob Ernst Schulze
Gottlob Ernst Schulze
Gottlob Ernst Schulze was born in Heldrungen . Schulze was a professor at Wittenberg, Helmstedt, and Göttingen...
, who advised him to concentrate on Plato
Plato
Plato , was a Classical Greek philosopher, mathematician, student of Socrates, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world. Along with his mentor, Socrates, and his student, Aristotle, Plato helped to lay the...
and Kant
KANT
KANT is a computer algebra system for mathematicians interested in algebraic number theory, performing sophisticated computations in algebraic number fields, in global function fields, and in local fields. KASH is the associated command line interface...
.
By the university's centenary in 1837, it was known as the "university of law", as the students enrolled by the faculty of law often made up more than half of the university's students. Göttingen became a Mecca for the study of public law in Germany. Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
, the famous German poet, studied law and was awarded the degree of Dr.iur..
However, political disturbances, in which both professors and students were implicated, lowered the attendance to 860 in 1834. The expulsion in 1837 of the seven professors – Die Göttinger Sieben – the Germanist, Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht
Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht
Wilhelm Eduard Albrecht was a German constitutional lawyer, jurist, and docent. Albrecht was most notable as a member of the Göttingen Seven, a group of academics who in 1837 protested the abrogation of the constitution of the Kingdom of Hanover by Ernest Augustus I.Albrecht was born in Elbing ,...
(1800–1876); the historian Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann
Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann
Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann was a German historian and politician.He came of an old Hanseatic family of Wismar, then controlled by Sweden...
(1785–1860); the orientalist Georg Heinrich August Ewald (1803–1875); the historian Georg Gottfried Gervinus
Georg Gottfried Gervinus
Georg Gottfried Gervinus was a German literary and political historian.-Biography:Gervinus was born in Darmstadt. He was educated at the gymnasium of the town, and intended for a commercial career, but in 1825 he became a student of the university of Giessen...
(1805–1875); the physicist Wilhelm Eduard Weber
Wilhelm Eduard Weber
Wilhelm Eduard Weber was a German physicist and, together with Carl Friedrich Gauss, inventor of the first electromagnetic telegraph.-Early years:...
(1804–1891); and the philologists, the brothers Jakob (1785–1863) and Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Grimm
Wilhelm Carl Grimm was a German author, the younger of the Brothers Grimm.-Life and work:...
(1786–1859), for protesting against the revocation by King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
Ernest Augustus I was King of Hanover from 20 June 1837 until his death. He was the fifth son and eighth child of George III, who reigned in both the United Kingdom and Hanover...
of the liberal constitution of 1833, further reduced the prosperity of the university. Prior to this, the Brothers Grimm
Brothers Grimm
The Brothers Grimm , Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm , were German academics, linguists, cultural researchers, and authors who collected folklore and published several collections of it as Grimm's Fairy Tales, which became very popular...
had taught here and compiled the first German Dictionary.
Rudolf von Jhering
Rudolf von Jhering was a German jurist. He is known for his 1872 book Der Kampf ums Recht , as a legal scholar, and as the founder of a modern sociological and historical school of law.Jhering was born in Aurich, Kingdom of Hanover...
, a jurist who created the theory of "culpa in contraendo" and wrote Battle for Right, taught here and maintained the reputation of the faculty of law. Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck
Otto Eduard Leopold, Prince of Bismarck, Duke of Lauenburg , simply known as Otto von Bismarck, was a Prussian-German statesman whose actions unified Germany, made it a major player in world affairs, and created a balance of power that kept Europe at peace after 1871.As Minister President of...
, the main creator and the first Chancellor of the second German Empire
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
, had also studied law in Göttingen in 1833: he lived in a tiny house on the "Wall", now known as "Bismarck Cottage". According to oral tradition, he lived there because his rowdiness had caused him to be banned from living within the city walls.
Göttingen also had a focus on natural science, especially mathematics. Carl Friedrich Gauss
Carl Friedrich Gauss
Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss was a German mathematician and scientist who contributed significantly to many fields, including number theory, statistics, analysis, differential geometry, geodesy, geophysics, electrostatics, astronomy and optics.Sometimes referred to as the Princeps mathematicorum...
taught here in the 19th century. Bernhard Riemann
Bernhard Riemann
Georg Friedrich Bernhard Riemann was an influential German mathematician who made lasting contributions to analysis and differential geometry, some of them enabling the later development of general relativity....
, Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet
Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet was a German mathematician with deep contributions to number theory , as well as to the theory of Fourier series and other topics in mathematical analysis; he is credited with being one of the first mathematicians to give the modern formal definition of a...
and a number of significant mathematicians made their contributions to mathematics here. By 1900, David Hilbert
David Hilbert
David Hilbert was a German mathematician. He is recognized as one of the most influential and universal mathematicians of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Hilbert discovered and developed a broad range of fundamental ideas in many areas, including invariant theory and the axiomatization of...
and Felix Klein
Felix Klein
Christian Felix Klein was a German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, function theory, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the connections between geometry and group theory...
had attracted mathematicians from around the world to Göttingen, which made Göttingen a world mecca of mathematics at the beginning of the 20th century.
End of the 19th century – beginning of the 20th century
During this period, the University of Göttingen achieved its academic peak.In 1903, its teaching staff numbered 121 and its students 1529. Ludwig Prandtl joined the university in 1904, and developed it into a leader in fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics
Fluid mechanics is the study of fluids and the forces on them. Fluid mechanics can be divided into fluid statics, the study of fluids at rest; fluid kinematics, the study of fluids in motion; and fluid dynamics, the study of the effect of forces on fluid motion...
and in aerodynamics
Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics is a branch of dynamics concerned with studying the motion of air, particularly when it interacts with a moving object. Aerodynamics is a subfield of fluid dynamics and gas dynamics, with much theory shared between them. Aerodynamics is often used synonymously with gas dynamics, with...
over the next two decades. In 1925, Prandtl was appointed as the director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
Kaiser Wilhelm Institute
The Kaiser Wilhelm Society for the Advancement of Science was a German scientific institution established in 1911. It was implicated in Nazi science, and after the Second World War was wound up and its functions replaced by the Max Planck Society...
for Fluid Mechanics. Many of Prandtl's students went on to make fundamental contributions to aerodynamics.
To date, 45 Nobel Prize
Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...
laureates have studied, taught or made contributions here. Most of these prizes were given in the first half of the 20th century, which was called the "Göttingen Nobel prize wonder".
Social studies and the study of humanities continued to flourish. Edmund Husserl
Edmund Husserl
Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl was a philosopher and mathematician and the founder of the 20th century philosophical school of phenomenology. He broke with the positivist orientation of the science and philosophy of his day, yet he elaborated critiques of historicism and of psychologism in logic...
, the philosopher and known as the father of phenomenology, taught here. Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
, the sociologist studied here for one term.
The "great purge" of 1933
In the 1930s, the university became a focal point for the NaziNazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
crackdown on "Jewish physics", as represented by the work of Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
. In what was later called the "great purge" of 1933
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service
The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service , also known as Civil Service Law, Civil Service Restoration Act, and Law to Re-establish the Civil Service, was a law passed by the National Socialist regime on April 7, 1933, two months after Adolf...
, academics including Max Born
Max Born
Max Born was a German-born physicist and mathematician who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics and supervised the work of a number of notable physicists in the 1920s and 30s...
, Victor Goldschmidt
Victor Goldschmidt
Victor Moritz Goldschmidt was a mineralogist considered to be the founder of modern geochemistry and crystal chemistry, developer of the Goldschmidt Classification of elements.-Early life & career:Goldschmidt was born in Zürich...
, James Franck
James Franck
James Franck was a German Jewish physicist and Nobel laureate.-Biography:Franck was born to Jacob Franck and Rebecca Nachum Drucker. Franck completed his Ph.D...
, Eugene Wigner, Leó Szilárd
Leó Szilárd
Leó Szilárd was an Austro-Hungarian physicist and inventor who conceived the nuclear chain reaction in 1933, patented the idea of a nuclear reactor with Enrico Fermi, and in late 1939 wrote the letter for Albert Einstein's signature that resulted in the Manhattan Project that built the atomic bomb...
, Edward Teller
Edward Teller
Edward Teller was a Hungarian-American theoretical physicist, known colloquially as "the father of the hydrogen bomb," even though he did not care for the title. Teller made numerous contributions to nuclear and molecular physics, spectroscopy , and surface physics...
, Emmy Noether
Emmy Noether
Amalie Emmy Noether was an influential German mathematician known for her groundbreaking contributions to abstract algebra and theoretical physics. Described by David Hilbert, Albert Einstein and others as the most important woman in the history of mathematics, she revolutionized the theories of...
, and Richard Courant
Richard Courant
Richard Courant was a German American mathematician.- Life :Courant was born in Lublinitz in the German Empire's Prussian Province of Silesia. During his youth, his parents had to move quite often, to Glatz, Breslau, and in 1905 to Berlin. He stayed in Breslau and entered the university there...
were expelled or fled. Most of them fled Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
for places like the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.
Renovation after War
After World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the University of Göttingen was the first university in the western Zones
Allied Occupation Zones in Germany
The Allied powers who defeated Nazi Germany in World War II divided the country west of the Oder-Neisse line into four occupation zones for administrative purposes during 1945–49. In the closing weeks of fighting in Europe, US forces had pushed beyond the previously agreed boundaries for the...
to be re-opened under British control in 1945. Jürgen Habermas
Jürgen Habermas
Jürgen Habermas is a German sociologist and philosopher in the tradition of critical theory and pragmatism. He is perhaps best known for his theory on the concepts of 'communicative rationality' and the 'public sphere'...
, a German philosopher and sociologist, pursued his study here in Göttingen. Later, Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard von Weizsäcker
Richard Karl Freiherr von Weizsäcker , known as Richard von Weizsäcker, is a German politician . He served as Governing Mayor of West Berlin from 1981 to 1984, and as President of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1984 to 1994...
, the former President of Germany
President of Germany
The President of the Federal Republic of Germany is the country's head of state. His official title in German is Bundespräsident . Germany has a parliamentary system of government and so the position of President is largely ceremonial...
, earned his Dr.Jur. here. Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
, the former Chancellor of Germany, also graduated from the school of law here in Göttingen, and he became a lawyer thereafter.
Current status
Today the university consists of 13 faculties and about 24,000 students are enrolled. More than 2,500 professors and other academics work at the University, assisted by a technical and administrative staff of over 10,000. The post-war expansion of the University led to the establishment of a new, modern 'university quarter' in the north of the town. The architecture of the old university can still be seen in the Auditorium Maximum (1826/1865) and the Great Hall (1835/1837) on the Wilhelmsplatz.Associated institutions
The university is organizationally and personally interlinked with the following independent and semi-independent institutions. There are four Max Planck Institutes situated in Göttingen:- Max Planck Institute for Biophysical ChemistryMax Planck Institute for Biophysical ChemistryThe Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Currently, 812 people work at the Institute, 353 of them are scientists....
(Karl Friedrich Bonhoeffer Institute) - Max Planck Institute for Experimental MedicineMax Planck Institute for Experimental MedicineThe Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine is located in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded as Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research in 1947, and was renamed in 1965. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....
- Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-OrganizationMax Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-OrganizationThe Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organisation in Göttingen, Germany, is a research institute for investigations of complex non-equilibrium systems, particularly in physics and biology....
, formerly Max Planck Institute for Flow Research - Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic DiversityMax Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic DiversityThe Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity is located in Göttingen, Germany. It is one of 80 institute in the Max Planck Society ....
, formerly Max Planck Institute for History - German Primate CenterGerman Primate CenterThe German Primate Centre is a non-profit independent research and service institute. It is a member of the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Scientific Community and funded by the federal government and by the states of Germany...
– Leibniz Institute for Primate Research
Besides, the *Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research
The Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research is a research institute in Astronomy/Astrophysics, located in Lindau , Germany; 20 km north east of Göttingen. The exploration of our solar system is the central theme for the scientific research done at this Institute...
, formerly Max Planck Institute for Aeronomy is closely linked and has cooperation with the university.
Library
Closely linked with the university is the Göttingen State and University LibraryGöttingen State and University Library
The Göttingen State and University Library is the library for Göttingen University as well as the central library for the German State of Lower Saxony , and the library for the Göttingen Academy of Sciences...
(German: Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen, or SUB Göttingen; English short form: Goettingen SUB). With its more than 4 million volumes and precious manuscripts, the library is designed for Göttingen University as well as the central library for the German State of Lower Saxony (with its central catalogue) and for the Göttingen Academy of Sciences, originally founded as the 'Royal Society for Sciences'.
Research
Four research institutes of the Max Planck Society for the Promotion of Science are located in Göttingen, which are associated and have maintained cooperation with the University of Göttingen. They are Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic DiversityMax Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
The Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity is located in Göttingen, Germany. It is one of 80 institute in the Max Planck Society ....
, Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization
The Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organisation in Göttingen, Germany, is a research institute for investigations of complex non-equilibrium systems, particularly in physics and biology....
, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry
The Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry in Göttingen is a research institute of the Max Planck Society. Currently, 812 people work at the Institute, 353 of them are scientists....
, and Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
The Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine is located in Göttingen, Germany. It was founded as Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Medical Research in 1947, and was renamed in 1965. It is one of 80 institutes in the Max Planck Society ....
.
Gardens
- The university maintains three botanical gardenBotanical gardenA botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
s: the Alte Botanische Garten der Universität GöttingenAlte Botanische Garten der Universität GöttingenThe Old Botanical Garden of Göttingen University , with an area of 4.5 hectares, is an historic botanical garden maintained by the University of Göttingen...
, the Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität GöttingenNeuer Botanischer Garten der Universität GöttingenThe Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen , also known as the Experimenteller Botanischer Garten, is a research botanical garden maintained by the University of Göttingen...
, and the Forstbotanischer Garten und Pflanzengeographisches Arboretum der Universität GöttingenForstbotanischer Garten und Pflanzengeographisches Arboretum der Universität GöttingenThe Forstbotanischer Garten und Pflanzengeographisches Arboretum der Universität Göttingen, often called the Forstbotanischer Garten und Arboretum, is a arboretum and botanical garden maintained by the University of Göttingen...
.
People
Apart from the academics already mentioned, notable people that have studied and taught at Georg-August University include the American banker J. P. MorganJ. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
, the seismologist Beno Gutenberg
Beno Gutenberg
Beno Gutenberg was a German-American seismologist who made several important contributions to the science...
, the endocrinologist Hakaru Hashimoto, who studied there before World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and several notable Nobel laureates like Max Planck
Max Planck
Max Karl Ernst Ludwig Planck, ForMemRS, was a German physicist who actualized the quantum physics, initiating a revolution in natural science and philosophy. He is regarded as the founder of the quantum theory, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.-Life and career:Planck came...
and Werner Heisenberg
Werner Heisenberg
Werner Karl Heisenberg was a German theoretical physicist who made foundational contributions to quantum mechanics and is best known for asserting the uncertainty principle of quantum theory...
.
Tradition
The most famous tradition of the university is that every PhD student who has just passed her/his rigorosum (oral doctoral test) shall sit in a wagon – decorated with flowers and balloons and accompanied by relatives and friends, drive around the inner city and arrive at the Marktplatz – the central square where the old town hall and the Gänseliesel statue are located. The "newly born doctor" shall climb up to the statue of Gänseliesel (a poor princess in an old fairy tale who was compelled to keep geese by a wicked woman and later regained her identity), kiss the Gänseliesel and give bouquets to her.Campus life
There is an old saying about life in Göttingen, still inscribed in Latin nowadays on the wall of the entrance to the Ratskeller (the restaurant located in the basement of the old town hall): Extra Gottingam non est vita, si est vita, non est ita (There is no life outside Göttingen. Even if it is life, it is no life like here)."Ancient university towns are wonderfully alike. Göttingen is like Cambridge in England or Yale in America: very provincial, not on the way to anywhere - no one comes to these backwaters except for the company of professors. And the professors are sure that this is the centre of the world. There is an inscription in the Rathskeller
Rathskeller
Ratskeller is a name in German-speaking countries for a bar or restaurant located in the basement of a city hall or nearby...
there which reads 'Extra Gottingam non est vita', 'Outside Göttingen there is no life'. This epigram, or should I call it epitaph, is not taken as seriously by the undergraduates as by the professors."(Bronowski, 1973, The Ascent of Man, p. 360)
The central university complex with the main library and Mensa (dining hall) is located right next to the inner city and comprises the faculties for Theology, Law, Economics/Business Administration and Linguistics. The departments of Ancient History, Classics, various languages, and Psychology are nearby. Elsewhere in the city are the departments of Anthropology, Mathematics and Educational Sciences as well as the Medical Faculty with its associated hospitals.
Just north of the city a new scientific center has been built in which most of the natural sciences (Chemistry, Microbiology, Plant Pathology, Agronomy, Forestry, Geology, Physics, Computer Science) are now located, including the GZMB. Other institutes are set around the inner city.
The University offers eight snack shops and six Mensas serving lunch at low prices for the students. One Mensa also provides dinner for students.
See also
- GöttingenGöttingenGöttingen is a university town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Göttingen. The Leine river runs through the town. In 2006 the population was 129,686.-General information:...
- Göttinger DigitalisierungszentrumGöttinger DigitalisierungszentrumThe Center for Retrospective Digitization in Göttingen is an online system for archiving academic journals.- See also :*JSTOR* List of retrodigitized Mathematics Journals and Monographs...
- Nobel laureates by university affiliation
- Education in GermanyEducation in GermanyThe responsibility for the German education system lies primarily with the states while the federal government plays only a minor role. Optional Kindergarten education is provided for all children between three and six years of age, after which school attendance is compulsory, in most cases for...
- List of early modern universities in Europe
- List of universities in Germany
- List of forestry universities and colleges
External links
- The University of Göttingen – home page
- The "Göttingen Nobel prize wonder"; the 44 Nobel prize laureates affiliated with Göttingen
- Shame at Göttingen, detailing the 1933 purge.