Heidelberg facts
Ruperto Carola, Germany's Oldest University
Founded in 1386 by Elector Ruprecht I, Heidelberg University is the oldest university on the territory of present-day Germany.
The oldest university in Germany
Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg was founded in 1386 by Ruprecht I, Elector Palatine, which makes it the oldest university on the territory of present-day Germany. Chartered with papal permission and modeled on the Sorbonne in Paris, Heidelberg became a center of learning early on.
The Latin name it still goes by, "Ruperto Carola," honors two men: the founder, Ruprecht I, and Karl Friedrich, the Elector (and later Grand Duke) of Baden, who reorganized the university at the beginning of the 19th century and put it on a sound financial footing.
Today it ranks among the most research-intensive universities in Europe, and it shapes daily life in the city in a way that is impossible to miss. In the Altstadt (Old Town), places like the Alte Universität (Old University), the university library and the Studentenkarzer (student jail) keep that long history visible.
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