Heidelberg University

Founded 1386. Germany's oldest university, shaped by Hegel, Bunsen, and modern medical research.

Overview

Founded at the request of Count Palatine Rupert I with papal approval, Heidelberg is Germany's oldest university. Its student prison, where rowdy scholars served days with graffiti-lined walls, ran until 1914. Hegel taught philosophy here, Bunsen and Kirchhoff did spectroscopy that unlocked chemistry, and eight Nobel laureates tie to the medical faculty alone. The old town campus and castle ruins overlook the Neckar river. About 40,000 students study in a city where one in five residents is a student.