Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg | |
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| Motto | Zukunft mit Tradition |
|---|---|
Motto in English | Future with Tradition |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 18 October 1502; 523 years ago (18 October 1502) |
| Budget | €182.9 million[1] |
| Rector | Claudia Becker |
Academic staff | 663[1] |
Administrative staff | 710[1] |
| Students | 19,319[2] |
| Location | ,, Germany 51°29′11″N11°58′08″E / 51.48639°N 11.96889°E /51.48639; 11.96889 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Emerald green |
| Affiliations | Global Compact |
| Mascot | Lions |
| Website | uni-halle.de |
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Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (German:Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to asMLU, is apublicresearch university in the cities ofHalle andWittenberg. It is the largest and oldest university in the Germanstate ofSaxony-Anhalt. MLU offers German and international (English) courses leading to academic degrees such asBA,BSc,MA,MSc,doctoral degrees, andhabilitation.
The university was created in 1817 through the merger of the University of Wittenberg (founded in 1502) and the University of Halle (founded in 1694). MLU is named afterProtestant reformerMartin Luther, who was a professor in Wittenberg. Today, the university campus is located in Halle, whileLeucorea Foundation in Wittenberg serves as MLU's convention centre.
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University of Wittenberg (Universität Wittenberg) was founded in 1502 byFrederick the Wise,Elector of Saxony to propagate the principles ofRenaissance humanism.[3] The foundation of the university was heavily criticized, especially when Martin Luther'sNinety-five Theses reachedAlbert of Brandenburg, theArchbishop of Mainz. Ecclesiastically speaking,the Electorate of Saxony was subordinate to Albert. He criticized the elector for Luther's theses, viewing the recently founded university as a breeding ground for heretical ideas. Under the influence ofPhilipp Melanchthon, building on the works of Martin Luther, the university became a centre ofProtestant Reformation, even incorporating, at one point in time, Luther's house in Wittenberg, theLutherhaus, as part of the campus. Notable alumni includeGeorge Müller,Georg Joachim Rheticus and – in fiction –William Shakespeare'sPrince Hamlet andHoratio andChristopher Marlowe'sDoctor Faustus.
University of Halle (Universität Halle) was founded in 1694 by Frederick III,Elector of Brandenburg, who becameFrederick I,King in Prussia, in 1701. In the late 17th century and early 18th century, Halle became a centre forPietism within Prussia.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the universities were centers of theGerman Enlightenment.Christian Wolff was an important proponent ofrationalism. He influenced many German scholars, such asImmanuel Kant.Christian Thomasius was at the same time the first philosopher in Germany to hold his lectures not inLatin, but German. He contributed to a rational programme in philosophy but also tried to establish a more common-sense point of view, which was aimed against the unquestioned superiority of aristocracy and theology.
The institutionalisation of the local language (German) as the language of instruction, the prioritisation ofrationalism over religious orthodoxy, new modes of teaching, and the ceding of control over their work to the professors themselves, were among various innovations which characterised the University of Halle, and have led to its being referred to as the first "modern" university, whose liberalism was adopted by theUniversity of Göttingen about a generation later, and subsequently by other German and then most North American universities.[3]
The University of Wittenberg was closed in 1813 during theNapoleonic Wars. The town of Wittenberg was granted to Prussia in theCongress of Vienna in 1815, and the university was then merged with the Prussian University of Halle in 1817. It took its present name on 10 November 1933.
Under the Nazi regime, more than a dozen professors were expelled. Others were shifted to Halle-Wittenberg from universities regarded as "better" at the time, which led to the university being called anacademicVorkuta (after the largest center of theGulag camps inEuropean Russia).
Following the continental European academic tradition, MLU has 9faculties, regrouping academic staff and students according to their field of studies (as opposed to the Anglo-Saxoncollegiate university model):
MLU is enclosed by a variety of research institutions, which have either institutional or personal links with the university or cooperate occasionally in their respective fields of studies:
Even though MLU is an academic, research oriented institution, not anacademy of music orconservatory, the university has an academic orchestra, founded in 1779, and a rather prestigious[4] choir, founded in 1950, which together constitute the so-calledCollegium musicum. Members are mostly gifted students of all faculties, but also academic staff andalumni. The university choir regularly performs at the internationalHandel Festival inGeorge Frideric Handel's birthplace, Halle.
MLU's international partner universities include:
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The university is recognized in severaluniversity ranking systems. In the 2024 QS World University Rankings, it was placed in the 611–620 bracket worldwide and ranked 36th nationally.[5] Similarly, the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) positioned the university within the 601–700 range globally and between 37th and 40th at a national level in its 2023 edition.[6]
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Given the history[7] and reputation of MLU, numerous notable personalities attended the institution, such as Nobel laureatesEmil Adolf von Behring,Gustav Ludwig Hertz,Hermann Staudinger andKarl Ziegler, as well asGeorg Cantor (mathematician known for set theory and the theory of infinity),Hermann Ebbinghaus (psychologist who pioneered the experimental study of memory),Anton Wilhelm Amo (the first colouredSub-Saharan African known to have attended a European university),Dorothea Erxleben (the first female medical doctor in Germany),Henry Melchior Muhlenberg, the Patriarch of the Lutheran Church in America, and his son,Frederick Muhlenberg (the firstSpeaker of the House of Representatives of the United States), andHans Dietrich Genscher (Germany's longest serving Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor).
The University of Wittenberg is the alma mater ofPrince Hamlet (as well as his acquaintancesRosencrantz and Guildenstern andHoratio) inWilliam Shakespeare's playHamlet, and of the titular magician inChristopher Marlowe's playDoctor Faustus.
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