Universität Leipzig

Leipzig University

Universität Leipzig
Latin: Alma mater Lipsiensis
Motto	Aus Tradition Grenzen überschreiten - Crossing Boundaries out of Tradition
Type	Public
Established	December 2, 1409
President	Beate Schücking
Administrative staff	3,246 (2010)
Students	28,125 (winter 2011/12)
Location	Leipzig, Saxony, Germany
Campus	Urban
Website	www.uni-leipzig.de

Leipzig University (German: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. Famous alumni include Leibniz, Goethe, Ranke, Nietzsche, Wagner, Angela Merkel, Raila Odinga, Tycho Brahe, and nine Nobel laureates are associated with the university.

The university was founded on December 2, 1409 by Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and his brother William II, Margrave of Meissen, and originally comprised the four scholastic faculties. Since its inception, the university has engaged in teaching and research for over 600 years without interruption.

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.