University of Würzburg

See also DIOCESE OF WÜRZBURG and WÜRZBURG ABBEYS ;

John I of Egloffstein (1400-1411), Bishop of Wurzburg, obtained from Pope Boniface IX a charter, dated 10 December, 1492, for the university. The university was designed after that of Bologna, and gave special attention to the faculties of theology and canon and civil law. After the death of its founder it began to decay, as the cathedral chapter, which was composed of members of the nobility, withdrew its means of support. More than a century later, Bishop Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn re-established it, and on 28 March, 1575, Pope Gregory XIII issued the Bull granting the charter to the new university, which was to have the privileges of the universities of Paris and Bologna. The buildings were erected during 1582-91, and the university was opened on 2 January, 1582. The Julius Hospital came into close connection with the university, and thus gave the medical faculty a large field for observation and practice. In the eighteenth century the bishops who did most for the encouragement of learning were Frederick Charles Count von Schönborn, Adam Frederick Count von Seinsheim, and Francis Louis von Esthal. At the close of the eighteenth century the university was characterized as "the best Catholic university in the whole of Germany " by Magister F.C. Laukhard, a man who was well known in the universities both of Germany and of foreign countries. In its subsequent development also the university sought to maintain this reputation. The faculties of theology and philosophy were entrusted to the Jesuits until the suppression of the Society ; from that time the Jesuit professors remained as secular priests. In 1803 the ecclesiastical principality of Wurzburg was secularized, and after a short period, during which it was ruled by the Grand Duke of Tuscany (1806-14), it was united with Bavaria. The reputation of the university grew, especially of the medical faculty, which ranked very high. Since the middle of the nineteenth century separate buildings have been built for the departments of medicine and natural sciences ; in 1897 the new academic building was erected. The theological faculty also has included names of note; of those in modern times mention may be made of Cardinal Joseph Hergenröther, Francis Seraph Hettinger, Anton Scholz, and Hermann Schell. The Bishops of Wurzburg during 1840-1898 (von Stahl, von Reissmann, and von Stein) had all been members of the theological faculty of the university. In the summer of 1911 the students numbered 1509.