!!!Universität Wien
University of Vienna (Vienna University), Alma Mater Rudolphina,
founded 1365 by Duke Rudolf IV and his brothers,
Albrecht III and Leopold III, on the example of Paris;
oldest still existing university in the German-speaking countries. At
first it was only permitted to have 3 faculties (Arts, Law, and
Medicine); in 1384 under Albrecht III ( Heinrich Heinbuche von
Langenstein) it obtained papal confirmation permitting it to establish
a faculty of theology. The University of Vienna reached a high point
of academic achievement during the period of Humanism (K. Celtis)
around 1500 (between 1451 and 1518 almost 30,000 students enrolled);
plague epidemics, the Turkish advance up to Vienna (1529) and the
spread of Protestantism in the 1%%sup st/% half of the 16%%sup th/%
century were preludes to a decline, which could not even be completely
halted by state intervention ("Reformatio nova" by
Ferdinand I, 1554). In 1623 ("Sanctio pragmatica") the
Faculties of Theology and of Philosophy were assigned to the Jesuits (
Jesuit School and Educational Organisation), and the number of
students started to rise considerably. Empress Maria Theresia and
Emperor Joseph II eliminated the influence of the Catholic church
and the last self-governing institutions at the University of Vienna,
converting it into a state institution and giving special prominence
to the Medical Faculty. Restructured after 1848 (L. Thun-Hohenstein),
it gained fresh impetus and won international attention ( Vienna
School of Medicine, Nobel Laureates), which waned again after the
decline of the Habsburg Monarchy. In 1922 the Protestant Theological
Faculty, which had existed since 1850, was incorporated into the
University of Vienna, which was subdivided into 8 faculties in
1975: Catholic Theology, Protestant Theology, Legal Sciences, Social
and Economic Sciences, Medicine, Fundamental and Interdisciplinary
Studies, Liberal Arts, and Formal and Natural Sciences. More than one
third of all Austrian students attend the University of Vienna.
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Lectures were first given in the Buergerschule zu St. Stephan
school, then the University of Vienna moved to the Collegium ducale
(1384/85) and Collegium iuristarum (Schulerstrasse street 14)
endowed by Albrecht III; the Nova Structura was also established
(1423/25) - all buildings were located near the Dominican Monastery in
Vienna's 1%%sup st/% district. From 1624 on the university quarter
was altered in Baroque style with the construction of the Academic
College (Jesuit College); in 1756 it was enlarged by attaching the new
Aula ("Alte Universitaet"/"Old University", since 1857 seat
of the Academy of Sciences); after 1848 most lectures were given in
the Theresianum or in the Josephinum. In 1873-1884 the new
university building was erected on Ringstrasse boulevard by H.
Ferstel; numerous department buildings were erected in its vicinity
(1872-1915); the Neues Institutsgebaeude ("New University Building")
and the Universitaets-Sportzentrum ("University Sports Centre")
Schmelz (15%%sup th/% district of Vienna) were built in 1962 and
1973, respectively, the Biologiezentrum ("Biology Centre") in Vienna's
9%%sup th/% district was opened in 1982; the Faculty of Legal
Sciences moved into the newly constructed "Juridicum" in the
1%%sup st/% district in 1984; since 1997 the old General Hospital
building in Vienna´s 9th district has been used as a campus for
the Faculty of Arts and Cultural Sciences.
!Literature
J. Aschbach, Geschichte der Wiener Universitaet,
3 vols., 1865-1888; F. Gall, Alma Mater Rudolphina 1365-1965,
%%sup 3/%1965; G. Hamann et al. (eds.), Das Alte
Universitaetsviertel in Wien, 1385-1985, 1985; P. Uiblein,
Mittelalterliches Studium an der Wiener Artistenfakultaet, 1987.
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