University of Cologne

University of Cologne
Universität zu Köln

University seal of 1392
Latin: Universitatis Coloniensis
Established 1388/1919
Closed 1798—1919
Rector Axel Freimuth
Academic staff
 482
Administrative staff
 4,557
Students 48,179 (2014/15)[1]
Postgraduates 3,718
Location Cologne, NRW, Germany
Website www.uni-koeln.de

The University of Cologne (German: Universität zu Köln) was the sixth university to be established in Central Europe[2] and, although it closed in 1789 before being re-established in 1919, it is now one of the largest universities in Germany with more than 48,000 students. The university has been part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative since 2012, and as of 2015 it ranks 156th globally according to Times Higher Education,[3] 305th according to QS World University Rankings[4] and between 151 and 200 according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities.[5]

History

1388–1798

The University of Cologne was established in 1388 as the fourth university in the Holy Roman Empire, after the Charles University of Prague (1348), the University of Vienna (1365) and the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (1386). The charter was signed by Pope Urban VI. The university began teaching on January 6, 1389. In 1798, the university was abolished by the French, who had invaded Cologne in 1794, because under the new French constitution, universities were abolished all over France.The last rector Ferdinand Franz Wallraf was able to preserve the university’s Great Seal, now once more in use.

1919–today

Main building, by architect Adolf Abel, 1934

In 1919, the Prussian government endorsed a decision by the Cologne City Council to re-establish the university. On May 19, 1919, the Cologne Mayor Konrad Adenauer signed the charter of the modern university.

At that point, the new university was located in Neustadt-Süd, but relocated to its current campus in Lindenthal on 2 November 1934. The old premises are now being used for the Cologne University of Applied Sciences.

Initially, the university was composed of the Faculty of Commerce, Economics and Social Sciences (successor to the Institutes of Commerce and of Communal and Social Administration) and the Faculty of Medicine (successor to the Academy of Medicine). In 1920, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts were added, from which latter the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences was split off in 1955 to form a separate Faculty. In 1980, the two Cologne departments of the Rhineland School of Education were attached to the university as the Faculties of Education and of Special Education. In 1988, the university became a founding member of the Community of European Management Schools and International Companies (CEMS), today's Global Alliance in Management Education.

The University is a leader in the area of economics and is regularly placed in top positions for law and commerce, both for national and international rankings.

Organization

University campus between main building and mensa (the university canteen)

The University of Cologne is a statutory corporation (Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts), operated by the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Faculties

The university is divided into six faculties, which together offer 200 fields of study. The faculties are those of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, Law, Medicine (with the affiliated University clinic), Arts, Mathematics and Natural Sciences and Human Sciences.

faculty students website
Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences ca. 10,000 German English
Faculty of Law ca. 5,000 German
  Faculty of Medicine with University Hospital of Cologne ca. 3,200 German English
  Faculty of Arts and Humanities ca. 16,500 German
  Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences ca. 7,500 German English
      Faculty of Human Sciences ca. 2,800 German

Rectors

Axel Freimuth, 2007

On November 24, 2004, Axel Freimuth was elected as the Rector of the University. His four-year term began on April 1, 2005. He succeeded Tassilo Küpper and is the 49th Rector since 1919. He was previously Dean of Mathematics and Natural Sciences.

Students and faculty

In 2005, the University enrolled 47,203 students, including 3,718 graduate students. In 2003, the number of post-doctoral students was 670.

The number of international students was 6,157 in the Summer Semester of 2005. This amounts to approximately 13% of the total students. Those from developing countries made up about 60%, representing a total of 123 nations. The largest contingents came from Bulgaria (10.5%), Russia (8.8%), Poland (7.4%), China (6.2%) and Ukraine (5.7%).

There are 508 professors at the university, including 70 women. In addition, the university employs 1,549 research assistants, with an additional 765 at the clinic, and 1,462 other assistants (3,736 at the clinic).

Partner universities

Campus of the Cologne University Hospital in Lindenthal

The University of Cologne maintains twenty official partnerships[6] with universities from ten countries. Of these, the partnerships with Clermont-Ferrand I and Pennsylvania State are the oldest partnerships. In addition, Cologne has further cooperations[7] with more than 260 other universities.

  • Universidade Federal do Ceará, Fortaleza (since 1990)
  • Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski, Sofia (since 1985)
  • Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou (since 2005)
  • Fudan University, Shanghai (since 2010)
  • Université d'Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand I (since 1962)
  • Université Blaise Pascal, Clermont-Ferrand II (since 1980)
  • Aristotelio Panepistimo, Thessaloniki (since 1992)
  • National Law School of India University, Bangalore
  • Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo (since 1987)
  • Keio University, Tokyo (since 1981)

Notable alumni and professors

Albertus Magnus Monument in front of the main building

Over the centuries, scholars from Cologne have been among the most prominent in their fields, beginning with Albertus Magnus and his pupil Thomas Aquinas (both 13th century). Notable alumni of the 20th century include among others Kurt Alder (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1950), Peter Grünberg (Nobel Prize in Physics 2007), Heinrich Böll (Nobel Prize for Literature), Karl Carstens (president of the Federal Republic of Germany 1979–1984), Gustav Heinemann (president of the Federal Republic of Germany 1969 to 1974), Karolos Papoulias (former president of the Hellenic Republic), and Erich Gutenberg (founder of modern German business studies).

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Statistics". uni-koeln.de. Retrieved 2015-05-28.
  2. ↑ Prague (1348), Kraków (1364), Vienna (1365), Pécs (1367), Heidelberg (1386), Cologne (1388)
  3. ↑ "World University Rankings". Times Higher Education. 2016.
  4. ↑ "QS Top Universities Ranking 2014-2015".
  5. ↑ "Academic Ranking of World Universities 2014". Archived from the original on January 19, 2015.
  6. ↑ "University of Cologne, partner universities" (in German). www.portal.uni-koeln.de. Retrieved 2013-02-01.
  7. ↑ University of Cologne, cooperation agreements (German)

Further reading

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Coordinates: 50°55′41″N 6°55′43″E / 50.92806°N 6.92861°E / 50.92806; 6.92861

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