Leipzig University

Founding and development until 1900

The university was modelled on the University of Prague, from which the German-speaking faculty members withdrew to Leipzig after the Jan Hus crisis and the Decree of Kutná Hora. The Alma mater Lipsiensis opened in 1409, after it had been officially endorsed by Pope Alexander V in his Bull of Acknowledgment on (September 9 of that year). Its first rector was Johann von Münsterberg. From its foundation, the Paulinerkirche served as the university church. After the Reformation, the church and the monastery buildings were donated to the university in 1544.

As many European universities, the university of Leipzig was structured into colleges (Collegia) responsible for organising accommodation and collegiate lecturing. Among the colleges of Leipzig were the Small College, the Large College, the Red College (also known as the New College), the College of our Lady and the Pauliner-College. There were also private residential halls (Bursen, see engl. bursaries). The colleges had jurisdiction over their members. The college structure was abandoned later and today only the names survive.

During the first centuries, the university grew slowly and was a rather regional institution. This changed, however, during the 19th century when the university became a world-class institution of higher education and research. At the end of the 19th century, important scholars such as Bernhard Windscheid (one of the fathers of the German Civil Code) and Wilhelm Ostwald (viewed as a founder of modern physical chemistry) taught at Leipzig.

Leipzig University was one of the first German universities to allow women to register as "guest students". At its general assembly in 1873, the Allgemeiner Deutscher Frauenverein thanked the University of Leipzig and Prague for allowing women to attend as guest students. This was the year that the first woman in Germany obtained her JD, Johanna von Evreinov.

Until the beginning of the Second World War, Leipzig University attracted a number of renowned scholars and later Nobel Prize laureates, including Paul Ehrlich, Felix Bloch, Werner Heisenberg and Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. Many of the university's alumni became important scientists.

Nazi period

Under Nazi rule many Jews' degrees were cancelled; some were later reinstated as Karl-Marx University degrees by the GDR.

The university was kept open throughout World War II, even after the destruction of its buildings. During the war the acting rector, Erich Maschke, described the continuation of the university in a memo on May 11, 1945, announcing the vote for a new rector:

Since 4 December 1943 a fixed determination not to abandon the Leipzig University in the most difficult hour of its more than five-hundred-year history has bonded the professors with each other and with the students. The special task of repairing the damage caused by air attacks has now broadened out to the more general duty to save the continuity of our university and preserve its substance, at the very least its indestructible kernel, through the crisis that has now reached its fullest stage. After the destruction of most of the buildings and the majority of its libraries, this kernel is represented by the professoriate alone. This is what must be preserved as the great repository of value in the university.

By the end of the war 60 per cent of the university's buildings and 70 per cent of its books had been destroyed.

The University under the German Democratic Republic

The university reopened after the war on February 5, 1946, but it was affected by the uniformity imposed on social institutions in the Soviet occupation zone. In 1948 the freely elected student council was disbanded and replaced by Free German Youth members. The chairman of the Student Council, Wolfgang Natonek, and other members were arrested and imprisoned, but the university was also a nucleus of resistance. Thus began the Belter group, with flyers for free elections. The head of the group, Herbert Belter, was executed in 1951 in Moscow. The German Democratic Republic was created in 1949, and in 1953 the University was renamed by its government the Karl Marx University, Leipzig after the German communist philosopher Karl Marx. In 1968, the partly damaged Augusteum, including Johanneum and Albertinum and the intact Paulinerkirche, were demolished to make way for a redevelopment of the university, carried out between 1973 and 1978. The dominant building of the university was the University Tower (now City-Hochhaus Leipzig), built between 1968 and 1972 in the form of an open book.

After the reunification of Germany

In 1991, following the reunification of Germany, the University's name was restored to the original Leipzig University (Alma mater lipsiensis). The reconstruction of the University Library, which was heavily damaged during the war and in the GDR barely secured, was completed in 2002.

In 2008 the university was able to prevail in the nationwide "Initiative of Excellence" of Germany and it was granted the graduate school "BuildMoNa: Leipzig School of Natural Sciences – Building with Molecules and Nano-objects". In addition the university was able to receive grants from the Saxon excellence initiative for the "Life" project – a project that tries to explore common diseases more effectively. Also in 2008 the "Bach Archive" was associated with the university.

With the delivery of the University Tower to a private user, the university was forced to spread some faculties over several locations in the city. It controversially redesigned its historical centre at the Augustusplatz. In 2002, Behet Bonzio received the second prize in the architectural competition; a first prize was not awarded by the jury. A lobby with partial support of the provincial government called for the rebuilding of St. Paul's Church and Augusteum. This caused the resistance of the university leadership, the majority of the students and population of Leipzig.

These disputes led to a scandal in early 2003; the Rector Volker Bigl, and the pro-rectors resigned in protest against the government. This was exacerbated by severe tensions that built up because of the Saxon university treaty on the future funding of higher education. As a compromise a second competition was agreed upon, which only covered the Augustusplatz front of the university.

On March 24, 2004 a jury chose a design by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat, which was well received by almost all parties. He recalls the outer form of the St. Paul's Church and Augusteum, and abstracted the original building complex. Renovations began in the summer of 2005.

In 2009, the Leipzig University celebrated its 600th anniversary with over 300 scientific and cultural lectures and exhibitions, reflecting the role of the university's research and teaching from its beginning.

Library

The University Library of Leipzig was established in 1543. It is one of the oldest German university libraries and it serves as a source of literature and information for the Leipzig University as well as the general public in the region. Its extensive historical and special collections are nationally and internationally recognized. The library consists of the main building "Bibliotheca Albertina" and forty branches situated near their respective academic institutions. The current stock comprises 5 million volumes and about 7,700 periodicals. Collections range from important medieval and modern manuscripts to incunabula, papyri, autographs, ostraka and coins. The Apel Codex, a manuscript of 16th century music, is housed in the Leipzig University library, as well as the Papyrus Ebers.

Campus

The university's urban campus comprises several locations. All in all, the university is spread across 38 locations in Leipzig. The main buildings in the city center are still located on the same land plots as the earliest university buildings in 1409. The university's buildings in the center of Leipzig underwent substantial reconstruction from 2005, the new university's main building being drafted by Dutch architect Erick van Egeraat. The estimated total cost for the renovation project is 140 million euros. The new buildings were scheduled to be completed in 2009/2010, in time for the university's 600th anniversary celebrations.

Besides the faculties and other teaching institutions, several other bodies serve the university: the University Library, a university archive and administration, numerous museums (e.g. the Museum for Music Instruments and the Museum of Ancient Egypt) and the university hospital. The university's Leipzig Botanical Garden, the second-oldest botanical garden in Europe. was established in 1542. The University's Musical Instrument Museum includes one of the world's three surviving pianos built by Bartolomeo Cristofori, the piano's inventor. Five other Cristofori instruments are included in the Museum's collections.

Academics

Today, the university has 14 faculties. With over 29,000 students, it is Saxony's second-largest university. There are now more than 150 institutes and the university offers 190 study programs leading to Bachelor's degrees, Master's degrees, Staatsexamen, Diplom and Ph.D.s, for which there are no charges for tuition. The university offers a number of courses in English and other foreign languages, and there are several programs allowing foreign students to study at the university. Exchange partner universities include the universities of Arizona, Oklahoma, Houston, Alberta, Ohio, and Edinburgh. Traditionally contacts to universities in Eastern Europe and the Far East are strong as well, e.g. there are cooperations with leading institutions such as Moscow's Lomonosov University and Renmin University in Beijing.

There are several International Master's programs: American Studies, Global Studies, SEPT (MBA in SME Promotion) and one Bachelor/Master's/Ph.D. program (International Physics Studies Program) taught in English. American Studies Leipzig was awarded three international professorships: The Fulbright-Leipzig Chair for American Studies, the DAAD Professorship for American and International Studies, and the Picador Guest Professorship for Literature. It is also the home of aspeers:emerging voices in american studies, a graduate-level peer-reviewed scholarly journal for American studies. Erasmus Mundus Global Studies is an interdisciplinary, research-based Master offered by a consortium of five European universities: Leipzig University, the London School of Economics, University of Vienna, University of Wroclaw and Roskilde University. Since 2008 the university is also home to one of Germany's few Confucius Institutes. The Institute is based on an agreement of June 2006 between the university administration and representatives of the Chinese Embassy to establish a Confucius Institute in cooperation with the Renmin University and the "National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language". Leipzig University has been the home of the first German chair for Chinese and East Asian Languages in the 19th century, which later became the Institute of East Asian Studies, which still exists today (see Georg von der Gabelentz).

Rankings

The university is ranked second in Germany, twentieth in Europe, and 105th in the world by the web-based Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, a ranking evaluating universities' scientific online publications. The 2010 ARWU-Ranking ranks the university in the 201–300 tier of world universities, and within the top 25 in Germany. The 2016 ARWU ranking sees Leipzig climbing up to the 151-200 tier being among the top 14 German universities. Leipzig has constantly been ranked among the German top 10 in various university sport disciplines over the past decades.

Faculties

The original four facilities were the Faculty of Arts, Theology, Medicine, and Law. Today, the university comprises the following 14 faculties:

The following institutes are affiliated with the university:

Student life

Leipzig has a thriving student life with a large number of student run bars, sports clubs and recreational facilities for students. The student body in Leipzig is diverse, not only due to the broad spectrum of subjects at the university but also because of the other higher education institutions in the city. The Moritzbastei is the largest student club in Germany, it is part of the historic city fortifications of Leipzig and is famous for its atmosphere and large number of cultural events.

The university is home to the Leipzig Academic Orchestra and the University Choir of Leipzig. There are numerous courses offered in performing arts every semester and a dance festival is organised by students once a year. In the field of sports, the university offers training opportunities and courses in almost all disciplines. During the annual Leipzig book fair, the university library and other university institutions organise public events for authors.

People associated with the Leipzig University

Leipzig University has produced many notable individuals. Some famous people affiliated with Leipzig include:

Campus Radio

The local campus radio station of the University is "mephisto 97.6" and is receivable in the Leipzig area on FM 97.6 MHz and is also fed into the cable network of Leipzig at 93.6 MHz (both on a shared frequency with radio "R.SA"). It can be received Monday to Friday from 10 to 12am and 6 to 8pm. Therefore, it can be received by over a million people in the broadcasting area.

2015 internship controversy

In March 2015, Professor Annette Beck-Sickinger, the head of the biochemistry department at Leipzig University, caused anger in India by allegedly rejecting an internship application from a male Indian student as result of India's 'culture of rape' and alluding to the existence of a growing Europe-wide embargo on Indian male students.

The president of Leipzig University, Professor Beate Schücking tried to explain away the incident by offering support for Beck-Sickinger's apology:

Her comments on the issue of violence against women in India were not her first answer but were made in reply to a provocative e-mail which followed the initial e-mail. To say it clearly: I do not tolerate these comments. However, I accept Professor Beck-Sickinger's excuse. And I can say: the published e-mail has obviously been faked.

Schücking played down the internship boycott as an isolated case.

On 9 March 2015, The German ambassador to India, Michael Steiner, framed Beck-Sickinger's opinions as oversimplified and discriminative.

On 11 March 2015, the BBC World Service revealed that Beck-Sickinger had previously rejected a PhD candidate (who remains anonymous) in early 2014 and published excerpts:

[T]hanks a lot for your application. Unfortunately I do no longer accept any male Indian guests, trainees, doctorial students or PostDocs due to the severe rape problem in India. I cannot support a society which is not able to respect females in any aspects. I think cultured people cannot close their eyes

Questioned by the BBC about the second set of e-mails, Leipzig University claimed that Beck-Sickinger had deleted that particular email exchange, but continued to argue that Beck-Sickinger never answered an application in that way.

Employment and racial discrimination is illegal under German anti-discrimination legislation (General Equal Treatment Act of 2006, Germany) and a possible violation of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Alleged boycott of Indian male students

The incident gained increased media attention after the appearance of e-mails sent by Beck-Sickinger referencing an organized 'vigilante-style' embargo on Indian male students by female professors in Germany and other organizations in Europe.

On the subject of the alleged embargo on male Indian students, Beck-Sickinger wrote:

Many female professors in Germany decided to no longer accept male Indian students for these reasons, and currently other European female association are joining

She also explained the retaliatory nature of the boycott: “Of course we cannot change or influence the Indian society, but only take our consequences here in Europe”.

Beck-Sickinger implied that a male Indian student would put the female students of her research group at risk:

Unfortunately, I don't accept any Indian male students for internships. We hear a lot about the rape problem in India which I cannot support. I have many female students in my group, so I think this attitude is something I cannot support, ...

The incident made other students come forward and allege that they too had been victims of Beck-Sickinger's 'vigilante' actions and had their internship applications rejected for similar reasons.

Social media called upon university authorities in Germany to offer an unconditional apology and for action against the professor. Widespread news coverage and television debates prompted suggestions that legal action be taken against the Leipzig University since the discriminatory e-mails were sent by Beck-Sickinger in her capacity as a senior university official.

The University declined to publish e-mails between Prof. Dr. Annette Beck-Sickinger and the student from India. However, according to a statement released by the rector of the university, Prof. Dr. Beate ScHücking, the students council of the university was said to have had the opportunity to review all relevant e-mails. The statement also restated that the student was declined for formal reasons.