Kiel University, officially the Christian Albrecht University of Kiel, (, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a public research university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in 1665 as the Academia Holsatorum Chiloniensis by Christian Albert, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp and has approximately 27,000 students today. It is the largest, oldest, and most prestigious university in the state of Schleswig-Holstein.
Until 1866, it was not only the northernmost university in Germany but at the same time the 2nd largest university of Denmark. Faculty, alumni, and researchers of Kiel University have won 12 Nobel Prizes. Kiel University has been a member of the German Universities Excellence Initiative since 2006. The Cluster of Excellence The Future Ocean, which was established in cooperation with the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in 2006, is internationally recognized. The second Cluster of Excellence "Inflammation at Interfaces" deals with chronic inflammatory diseases. The Kiel Institute for the World Economy is also affiliated with Kiel University. The university has a great reputation for its focus on public international law. The oldest public international law institution in Germany and Europe – the Walther Schuecking Institute for International Law – is based in Kiel.
History
Founding of the University in Kiel
The origins of the university in Kiel trace back to the increasing need for well-educated priests during the
Reformation. Additionally, the growing involvement of citizens in significant administrative roles contributed to the idea of establishing a university in the
Duchy. However, wars in the early 17th century and political conflicts between dukes and the king initially delayed these plans. Eventually, Duke Friedrich III commissioned his son, Christian Albrecht, to advance the founding of the university. In 1660, Christian Albrecht succeeded in realizing these plans and selected Kiel as the university's location. On October 5, 1665, the university was inaugurated under the name
Christiana Albertina in a former
Franciscans monastery with four lecture halls and a library. At that time, 17 professors taught theology, medicine, law, and the liberal arts.
Periods of Growth and Stagnation
A significant growth period for the university occurred a century later under Russian Empress Catherine the Great, from whom it received its colors, purple and white. Following the unification of the duchies in 1773, the university continued to flourish as the northernmost German and southernmost Scandinavian university. Nearly 100 years later, the university's development stagnated, particularly after Schleswig-Holstein became part of Prussia. From 1870, student numbers began to rise again, and 38 years later, women were also admitted.
During and after WWII
During the
Nazi Germany starting in 1933, the university experienced
Gleichschaltung, the expulsion of Jewish professors, and the persecution of dissenters. In World War II, many buildings were destroyed by Allied air raids, including the university library in 1942.
Post-War Reconstruction and Expansion
With the support of the British, teaching resumed as early as November 1945, initially on ships. In the 1960s, a new campus was developed on the Kiel Westring. The student protests of the late 1960s led to a modernization of the university's structure. The campus was expanded in 1972 with buildings on Olshausenstraße and new sports facilities, and in 1991, the Faculty of Engineering opened in Kiel-Gaarden. The number of students steadily increased and now stands at about 25,000 to 30,000. The Christian-Albrecht University has not only become an internationally respected university but also one of the largest employers in Kiel.
Faculties
-Albrechts-Universität currently consists of the following eight faculties:
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Faculty of Theology
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Faculty of Law
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Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences
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Faculty of Medicine
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Faculty of Arts and Humanities
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Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences
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Faculty of Agricultural Science and Nutrition
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Faculty of Engineering
Notable people
Alumni
- See also University of Kiel alumni
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Franz Boas (1858–1942), anthropologist
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Alice Bota (born 1979), journalist
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Georg von Dadelsen (1918–2007), musicologist, Neue Bach-Ausgabe
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Matthias von Davier, psychometrician, academic, inventor, and author
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Gerhard Domagk, bacteriologist, Nobel laureate
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Andre Franke, geneticist
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Maren Gaulke (born 1955), herpetologist
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Johanna Hellman (1889–1982), surgeon
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Mareile Höppner, television presenter
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Doris König, current judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany
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Wolfgang Kubicki, politician, vice chairman of the FDP in Germany, from 1992 to 1993 and since 1996 he is faction leader of the FDP in the Landtag, the parliament of Schleswig-Holstein, member of the Bundestag
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Oswald Pohl (1892–1951), Nazi SS officer executed for war crimes
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Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff (1944–2013), German art historian and professor
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Gerhard Stoltenberg, politician, former prime minister of Schleswig-Holstein, former finance minister of Germany
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Peer Steinbrück, politician, former prime minister of North Rhine Westphalia, former finance minister of Germany
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Erich Walter Sternberg, composer
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Sibylle Kessal-Wulf, current judge of the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, Germany's highest court
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Surya Hermawan, lecturer at Petra Christian University, Indonesia
Academics
Nobel Prize winners
|
| Theodor Mommsen | 1817 Garding | 1903 Charlottenburg | 1838–1844 | Law student, Dr. jur. | Literature, 1902 |
| Philipp Lenard | 1862 Bratislava | 1947 Messelhausen | 1898–1907 | Ordinarius, Physics | Physics, 1905 |
| Eduard Buchner | 1860 Munich | 1917 Focsani | 1893–1896 | Privatdozent, Biochemistry | Chemistry, 1907 |
| Max Planck | 1858 Kiel | 1947 Göttingen | 1885–1889 | associate professor, theoretical physics | Physics, 1918 |
| Otto Meyerhof | 1884 Hannover | 1951 Philadelphia | 1912–1924 | Postdoc, a.o. Prof., Physiology | Medicine , 1922 |
| Gerhard Domagk | 1895 Lagow | 1964 Burgberg | 1914–1921 | Study of medicine with degree in Kiel | Medicine, 1939 |
| Walter Rudolf Hess | 1881 Frauenfeld, CH | 1973 Muralto, CH | | Student of Medicine | Medicine, 1949 |
| Otto Diels | 1876 Hamburg | 1954 Kiel | 1916–1945 | Ordinarius, Organic Chemistry | Chemistry , 1950 |
| Kurt Alder | 1902 Königshütte | 1958 Cologne | 1924–1936 | Associate Professor, Organic Chemistry | Chemistry , 1950 |
| Wassily Leontief | 1905 Munich | 1999 New York, USA | 1927–1928 | Scientific Assistant, Economics | Economics, 1973 |
| Wolfgang Paul | 1913 Lorenzkirch | 1993 Bonn | 1937–1942 | Scientific Assistant, Physics | Physics , 1989 |
| Günter Blobel | 1936 Waltersdorf | 2018 New York, USA | | Student of Medicine | Medicine, 1999 |
Rankings
Kiel University is recognized in several university ranking systems. According to the 2024
QS World University Rankings, the institution is globally positioned at 530 and holds the 33rd place nationally.
In the 2024
THE World University Rankings, it is placed within the 301–350 bracket worldwide and ranks between 32nd and 33rd nationally.
The
ARWU World Rankings for 2023 presents the university within the global 201–300 range, while its national rank is within the 10th to 19th positions.
Academic publishing
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The Ethnographisch-Archaeologische Zeitschrift (EAZ)
[Ethnographisch-Archäologische Zeitschrift. Band 1, Nr. 1, 1960 (eaz-journal.org retrieved).][Otto, Karl-Heinz (1960). "Editorial". EAZ – Ethnographisch-Archäologische Zeitschrift . 1 (1): 2.] First published at Humboldt University Berlin in 1960,
Holstein Study Award
CAU's most renowned award is the Holstein Study Award (Holsteiner Studienpreis), which is awarded to the university's top three students each year since 2001.
The award's criteria include extraordinary academic achievements, a broad intellectual horizon and political or social involvement.
It is endowed with a prize money of €500 for the 2nd and 3rd prize and €1000 for the 1st prize.
The Holstein Study Award is funded by the association 'Iuventus Academiae Holsatorum'. The award's expert jury includes professors of various faculties and the prizes are awarded by the university's president or vice-president in a formal ceremony in the top floor of the skyscraper on campus.
Points of interest
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Botanischer Garten der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, the university's botanical garden
=== Gallery ===
See also
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List of early modern universities in Europe
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Lists of universities and colleges
External links
