The history of universities is several hundred years old. They were originally created to preserve and transmit knowledge. The choice of subjects was limited in the early years to law/philosophy and theology. Many of the world’s oldest universities are still active today. Nowadays, there are of course more fields of teaching and research. Many of […]
The history of universities is several hundred years old. They were originally created to preserve and transmit knowledge. The choice of subjects was limited in the early years to law/philosophy and theology. Many of the world’s oldest universities are still active today. Nowadays, there are of course more fields of teaching and research.
Many of the cities are very proud of their old universities, which means that they often have and maintain historically magnificent buildings. A visit to one of these universities is always worth a trip:
The university of Bologna (Italy) is the oldest university of Europe. It was founded in 1088! Due to its status as the oldest university, it has fundamentally shaped the entire university system in Europe and the world. Since the early Middle Ages, it has always been a center of law. And the University of Bologna is still well-respected.
The shooting star among the old universities is probably Oxford, as it is the most famous one on this list. The exact date of its founding is not known but is estimated to be in 1096. Oxford was the first university in the English-speaking world and is nowadays worldwide known for its academic excellence.
Founded in the 12th century, the University of Paris was already making a name for itself, particularly in theology. The university was closed during the French Revolution and reopened later. So the university does not have an uninterrupted history since its foundation in the 115Os, but it still has a number of traditional institutes like the so-called Sorbonne.
The Charles University in Prague was founded and named by Emperor Charles IV in 1348. Therefore it is the first university in Central Europe. It quickly became the center of education in the Holy Roman Empire and is still one of the most prestigious universities in Europe today
This may come as a surprise to some, but the University of Vienna is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. All the well-known universities in Germany followed later. The University of Vienna was founded in 1365 and has had a continuous history as an educational center for various disciplines ever since.
