University of Erfurt

Universität Erfurt
Established	1392/1994 (closed 1815—1993)
Type	Public
President	Dr. Wolfgang Bergsdorf
Staff	528
Students	4,676
Location	Erfurt, Germany
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	EUniCult
Website	http://www.uni-erfurt.de
Data as of May 2009[update]

The University of Erfurt (German: Universität Erfurt) is a public university located in Erfurt, Germany. Originally founded in 1392, the university was closed in 1816 for the next 177 years. The university was re-established in 1994, three years after Thuringia reunified with the Federal Republic.

History

1392—1816

The University of Erfurt was founded in 1392 as the third university in the territory which is now Germany; for some time, it was the largest university in the country. When the town of Erfurt became part of Prussia in 1816, the university was closed.

1994—today

In December 1993, the Landtag of Thuringia voted to reestablish the university. The university was officially re-founded on January 1, 1994. Lectures began in the winter term from 1999 to 2000. Shortly afterwards, the rector who had overseen the founding, Peter Glotz, a politician in the SPD party, left the university. The position was taken over by Wolfgang Bergsdorf, a friend of Bernhard Vogel, Thuringia's Minister-president.

In 2001, the Erfurt University of Pedagogy (Pädagogische Hochschule Erfurt), founded in 1969, became part of the university.

On January 1, 2003, a fourth faculty was added to the university in the form of the Roman Catholic Theological Faculty, previously the Erfurt Philosophical and Theological Centre, Philosophisch-Theologisches Studium Erfurt.

In 2003, a chronic lack of financing meant that there were many redundancies and that vacancies were left unfilled: this led to student protests all over Thuringia. The university management and committees were reformed and the situation was stabilized.

Institutions of particular note are the Max Weber College for Cultural and Social Sciences and the , Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, the former Erfurt School of Public Policy (ESPP), named after the former Chancellor of Germany , Willy Brandt, in November 2009, which is partly financed by tuition fees. The Erfurt-Gotha Research Library houses the famous Amploniana collection of scripts from the Middle Ages.

University maxim

The University of Erfurt is sometimes thought of as a reformist university. Martin Luther once attended it in 1502, receiving his bachelor's degree. Its main focuses are multidisciplinarity, internationality and a strong mentoring system, although in fact the student body is largely regional. All new courses lead to the new Bachelor of Arts or Master's degree rather than the traditional German Diplom, which makes Erfurt one of the first German universities to completely implement the Bologna process.

An especially important faculty is that of Staatswissenschaften (Government Studies), the only one in Germany to offer integrated courses in economics, social sciences and law.

Courses

B.A. and Masters courses

• Science of history
• Communication studies
• Literature
• Philosophy
• Religious studies
• Linguistics
• English language and literature
• German language and literature
• French language and literature
• Slavic languages and literature
• Law
• Social Sciences
• Economics
• Master of Public Policy
• Pedagogy
• Psychology of teaching and training
• Movement pedagogy
• Evangelic religious studies
• Art
• Mathematics for primary and secondary school teachers
• Music teaching
• Pedagogy of childhood
• Roman Catholic religious studies
• Education management
• Psychology
• Primary school teaching
• Secondary school teaching for the Regelschule

Diplom courses

• Roman Catholic Theology

Projects

In the summer semester of 2003, a project group was formed at the university to take part in the National Model United Nations (NMUN) in New York City in April 2004. The pilot project has become a regular, student-organized seminar at the university. The various groups received several awards for their participation at the conference in 2006, 2007, and 2008.

Well-known alumni

• Martin Luther
• Ulrich von Hutten
• Johannes Gutenberg (debated)
• Christoph Martin Wieland