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Founding
Founding of Kiel University
university in Germany
- 1665
- Europe
Founding
university in Germany
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Kiel University (German: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu 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. 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 second-largest university of Denmark. After the Danish-German war, Kiel came under Prussian administration which later led to being part of the German Empire and today the Federal Republic of Germany. Kiel is the capital of Schleswig-Holstein, and Kiel University is the largest and only comprehensive university in the federal state.
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 and existed until 2019, has been internationally recognized.
Since 2018, Kiel University has had two Clusters of Excellence. "Precision Medicine in Chronic Inflammation (PMI)" deals with chronic inflammatory diseases and is closely tied to the University Medical Center Schleswig Holstein, the University of Lübeck, the Research Centre Borstel – Leibniz Lung Centre, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology, the Muthesius Academy of Art, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy and the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education at Kiel University. "ROOTS - Social, Environmental, and Cultural Connectivity in Past Societies" explores the roots of social, environmental, and cultural phenomena and processes that substantially marked past human development. It is an interdisciplinary research network involving scientists from 15 institutes at six faculties of Kiel University. There are also project partners in Germany and abroad. 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.
The university works closely with the internationally renowned GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and the Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW), which is associated with the university. Through a number of joint appointments, the CAU also has close personnel ties with both institutions.
In 2024, 24,925 students were enrolled at Kiel University. The university is organised into eight faculties, where over 400 professors teach. The university offers more than 190 degree programmes.
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 duchies. 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 Franciscan monastery with four lecture halls and a library. At that time, 17 professors taught theology, medicine, law, and the liberal arts.
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. After the death of her husband, who had been born in Kiel, Catherine commissioned the architect Ernst Georg Sonnin to construct a new university building This plain brick building with rusticated articulation was ready for occupation in 1768 after a two-year construction period. Lectures were held here until 1876. From 1877 until its destruction during World War II, the building served as a museum. 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. With the Second Schleswig War, the rule of the Kingdom of Denmark over the Duchy of Schleswig and the Duchy of Holstein came to an end. After the Austro-Prussian War, the two former duchies became the Prussian Province of Schleswig-Holstein in 1867. Kiel also came under Prussian administration. The Kiel University lost its legal privileges and was now the smallest of the ten universities in Prussia. From 1870, student numbers began to rise again, and 38 years later, women were also admitted.
Acceptance of Nazism was high from an early stage, not only among professors but also among students in Kiel: as early as 1927, Joachim Haupt, an official of the National Socialist German Students' League, was elected chairman of the Kiel Student League. During the Nazi regime starting in 1933, the university experienced Gleichschaltung, the expulsion of Jewish professors, and the persecution of dissenters. According to recent studies, 36 out of 222 members of the teaching staff in Kiel were expelled (17.1%) or dismissed (16.2%) during the Nazi era for racial or political reasons.
In World War II, many buildings were destroyed by Allied air raids, including the university library in 1942. By the end of the war, 60–61% of Kiel University had been destroyed.
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.
In the 2014/2015 winter semester, more than 25,000 students were enrolled at CAU for the first time.
In 2015, Kiel University celebrated its 350th anniversary. To mark the anniversary, the Institute of Prehistory and Early History erected a reconstruction of the Neolithic megalithic tomb Wangels LA 69 on campus, using methods faithful to the original.
Since 2016, buildings on the campus of Kiel University have been gradually renovated or rebuilt. In addition to work on the main campus, new buildings have been constructed for individual departments, including the Agricultural Sciences, which now house a computer centre. At the Bremerskamp site, a new quarter was developed that combines university facilities with residential accommodation. Among other things, a new building for evolutionary research, known as the Amöbe, was constructed there. Two new research and laboratory buildings were built for the Faculty of Medicine.
In 2020, the Academic Senate approved the establishment of the interdisciplinary Master School of Marine Sciences (iMSMS). It evolved from the previously existing Ocean Education Initiative and combines interdisciplinary teaching programmes in the field of marine sciences.
In March 2023, a decision was also taken to renovate the Kunsthalle Kiel, at a cost of around 49.5 million euros. The Kunsthalle is a university institution. The renovation work mainly involves technical and structural upgrades, as well as the modernisation of the exhibition and educational areas.
In November 2025, the university, together with eight European partner universities, signed the legal framework for the establishment of the SEA-EU Association. The European University of the Seas (SEA-EU) alliance, which has existed since 2019 as part of the Erasmus+ programme, was thus given its own legal structure. This is intended to enable the partner universities to continue their collaboration beyond the current funding period.
The Chancellor oversees the administration of the university under the responsibility of the President. The executive board consists of Chancellor Claudia Ricarda Meyer and Vice-presidents Catherine Cleophas, Markus Hundt, Ralph Schneider and Eckhard Quandt. The position of President has been vacant since early 2025.
Central Administration is divided into several service centres: the Student Affairs and International Relations Service Centre, the Strategy, Research and Integrated Transfer Service Centre, and the Resources Service Centre.
Christian-Albrechts-Universität currently consists of the following eight faculties:
In the 2024/25 winter semester, 24,925 students were enrolled; 54.75% of these were female (13,647 students). The majority of students come from Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Lower Saxony.
In the 2024 academic year, 6,446 people began their studies, of whom 3,689 were women and 2,757 were men. In the same year, 3,826 students graduated, including 2,241 women and 1,585 men. The number of doctorates awarded was 401, of which 192 were completed by women and 209 by men. In the calendar year 2024, 23 postdoctoral qualifications were recorded (6 by women and 17 by men).
In 2024, 3,870 people were employed at the university; 1,932 of them were women and 1,938 were men. The number of university professors was 431. State funding amounted to €223.7 million in 2024, whilst expenditure from third-party funding was €77.5 million.
As of April 2025, 1,303 students are enrolled across the faculties at Kiel University.
Central facilities of Kiel University include the University Library (newly opened in 2001), the Computing Centre (RZ), the Sports Centre, the Digital Science Centre, the Interdisciplinary Multimedia Centre, the Research and Technology Centre, West Coast (FTZ) in Büsum, the Graduate Centre, the Postdoc Centre and the Institute for Inclusive Education.
Kiel University Library is located on the campus on Leibnizstraße and opened in 2001 in a new building. As of 2024, its collection includes around 2.5 million printed books and journals, as well as more than 135,000 e-books and over 33,000 electronic journals. In addition, it provides access to more than 600 databases and contains extensive historical collections, including over 6,000 manuscripts and autographs. Alongside the central library, there are several departmental libraries. In total, more than 1,100 study spaces are available to users within the library buildings.
Kiel University includes other independent institutions which, in accordance with Section 35 of the Schleswig-Holstein Higher Education Act (HSG), assume the status of a university institution:
Further centres at Kiel University:
The university offers more than 190 degree programmes leading to different types of qualifications, including bachelor's, master's and state examination programmes, as well as PhD opportunities. The degree programmes are organised across the university's eight faculties.
Teacher training takes place within teacher training programmes designed for different school types. In the field of teacher education, the university collaborates with, amongst others, the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN). Institutions such as the Institute for Inclusive Education are also involved in teacher training and qualification. The university participates in the Alliance for Teacher Training in Schleswig-Holstein.
In addition, there are interdisciplinary study programmes and international degree courses, including a number of English-language Master's programmes. The cross-faculty programmes include, amongst others, the interdisciplinary Master School of Marine Sciences, which combines teaching modules on marine science topics from different disciplines, as well as the Kiel School of Sustainability, which organises Master's programmes and courses on sustainable development.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Kiel University”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.