Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich facts for kids
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Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
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| Latin: Universitas Ludovico-Maximilianea Monacensis | |
| Type | Public |
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| Established | 1472 |
| Budget | €734.9 million (2018) |
| President | Bernd Huber |
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Academic staff
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5,565 (2018) |
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Administrative staff
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8,208 (2018) |
| Students | 51,606 (WS 2018/19) |
| Location |
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Bavaria
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Germany
48°09′03″N 11°34′49″E / 48.15083°N 11.58028°E |
| Nobel Laureates | 43 (October 2020) |
| Colours | Green and white |
| Affiliations |
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The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (often called University of Munich or LMU) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It was first started as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut. This makes it Germany's sixth-oldest university that has been open continuously.
In 1800, King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria moved the university from Ingolstadt to Landshut because the city was in danger from the French army. Later, in 1826, King Ludwig I of Bavaria moved it to its current home in Munich. In 1802, King Maximilian I officially named it Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität to honor himself and Ludwig IX.
LMU is currently the second-largest university in Germany by student numbers. In the 2018/19 winter semester, it had over 51,600 students. About 8,800 of these students were from other countries, making up about 17% of the student body. In 2018, the university's budget was about 735 million euros, not including its hospital.
As of 2023, the University of Munich is linked to 44 Nobel laureates. Famous people like Wilhelm Röntgen, Max Planck, Werner Heisenberg, Otto Hahn, and Thomas Mann were connected to LMU. Other well-known people who studied or worked there include Pope Benedict XVI, Richard Strauss, Wolfgang Pauli, Bertolt Brecht, and Konrad Adenauer. LMU has been named a "University of Excellence" in Germany and is part of important university groups like U15 and LERU.
Exploring LMU's Past
Early Years: 1472–1800
The university started in 1472 as the University of Ingolstadt. It was approved by the Pope and founded by Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria. It had departments for philosophy, medicine, law, and theology. Its first leader was Christopher I Mendel of Steinfels.
During the time of German humanism, important thinkers like Conrad Celtes and Petrus Apianus taught here. The university was also strongly influenced by the Jesuits from 1549 to 1773. It became a key center for the Counter-Reformation, a movement to strengthen the Catholic Church.
Towards the end of the 1700s, the university was affected by the Age of Enlightenment. This led to a greater focus on natural science.
Moving and Growing: 1800–1933
In 1800, Prince-Elector Maximilian IV Joseph moved the university to Landshut. This happened because French forces threatened Ingolstadt during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1802, the university was renamed Ludwig Maximilian University. This honored its two founders, Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria and Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria.
In 1826, the university moved to Munich, the capital of Bavaria. It was first in the Old Academy until a new building was finished. People in Munich were sometimes worried about the number of Protestant professors invited to the university.
In the late 1800s, the university became very famous in the world of science. Many leading scientists came to work there. It also grew a lot during this time. From 1903, women were allowed to study at Bavarian universities. By 1918, about 18% of LMU students were women. In 1918, Adele Hartmann became the first woman in Germany to earn a higher doctorate at LMU.
During the Weimar Republic, the university remained one of the world's top universities. It had professors like Wilhelm Röntgen, Wilhelm Wien, Richard Willstätter, and Arnold Sommerfeld.
Challenging Times: 1933–1945
During the Third Reich, academic freedom was greatly limited. In 1943, a group of anti-Nazi students called the White Rose protested against the National Socialists at the university. One of their members, Kurt Huber, a professor, was removed from his job and had his doctorate taken away after he was arrested.
Modern Era: 1945–Present
The university has continued to be a leading university in West Germany during the Cold War and after Germany reunited. In the late 1960s, there were protests by students at the university.
Today, the University of Munich is part of many research projects. It hosts 13 Collaborative Research Centers and 12 Research Training Groups. It also has three international doctorate programs. The university gets an extra 120 million euros each year in outside funding.
LMU Munich offers a wide variety of study programs, with 150 subjects that can be combined in many ways. About 15% of its 45,000 students come from other countries.
In 2005, Germany started the German Universities Excellence Initiative. This program gives money to top research universities. LMU Munich was chosen to receive funding for three areas: a graduate school, three "excellence clusters" (groups doing cutting-edge research), and general funding for the university's future plans.
In January 2012, scientists at LMU created the most sensitive listening device known at the time. This achievement earned the college a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.
LMU's Campus and Buildings
LMU's buildings and research centers are located all over Munich. Some are in the suburbs of Oberschleissheim, Garching, Maisach, and Bad Tölz. The main university buildings are around Geschwister-Scholl-Platz and Professor-Huber-Platz on Ludwigstrasse. They also extend into nearby streets like Akademiestraße and Schellingstraße.
Other large campuses are in Großhadern (where the main hospital is), Martinsried (for chemistry and biotechnology), and the Ludwigsvorstadt (another hospital campus). There's also an institute in the Lehel area, across from the main buildings, near the Englischer Garten.
The university's main building is in Geschwister-Scholl-Platz. You can easily reach the main campus by using the Munich subway and getting off at the Universität station.
The Great Assembly Hall (Große Aula)
The Große Aula is in the main university building on Ludwigstraße in Munich. It was built by Friedrich von Gärtner and finished in 1840. The hall is on the first floor and reaches up to the second floor.
The Aula was not destroyed during World War II. This means it was one of the few places in Munich that could be used for events right after the war. It was used for the first concerts after the war. It also hosted the meeting where the current constitution for the state of Bavaria was created.
Today, the Aula is mainly used for concerts, talks, and lectures.
What You Can Study at LMU
Many Fields of Study
The University of Munich offers over 100 different areas of study. You can combine many of these subjects as your main focus or as smaller subjects.
To help students from other countries, more and more courses are now taught in English. This is especially true for advanced courses. Some subjects with English programs include different areas of psychology, physics, and business.
University Departments (Faculties)
The university has 18 main departments, called faculties. These faculties oversee many smaller departments and institutes. The numbers for the faculties might seem a bit odd (like missing 06 and 14). This is because some faculties have split or joined together in the past.
Here are some of the faculties:
- 01 Faculty of Catholic Theology
- 02 Faculty of Protestant Theology
- 03 Faculty of Law
- 04 Faculty of Business Administration
- 05 Faculty of Economics
- 07 Faculty of Medicine
- 08 Faculty of Veterinary Medicine
- 09 Faculty for History and the Arts
- 10 Faculty of Philosophy, Philosophy of Science and Study of Religion
- 11 Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
- 12 Faculty for the Study of Culture
- 13 Faculty for Languages and Literatures
- 15 Faculty of Social Sciences
- 16 Faculty of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics
- 17 Faculty of Physics
- 18 Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy
- 19 Faculty of Biology
- 20 Faculty of Geosciences and Environmental Sciences
Research Centers
Besides its faculties, LMU also has many research centers. These centers work on projects that involve different subjects and departments. Some centers are collaborations between the university and other famous partners. For example, the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society was created with the Deutsches Museum.
Some of the research centers include:
- Center for Integrated Protein Science Munich (CIPSM)
- Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences (GSN)
- Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health
- Nanosystems Initiative Munich (NIM)
- Parmenides Center for the Study of Thinking
- Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society
Costs to Study
Universities in Bavaria, where Munich is located, do not charge tuition fees. However, students must pay a required semester fee. This fee goes to the student union, which helps students with things like housing and food.
University Rankings
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59
2LMU Munich is considered one of the top universities in the world. The 2025 QS World University Rankings placed LMU Munich 59th globally and 2nd in Germany. It is highly ranked in subjects like arts, humanities, natural sciences, and life sciences.
The Times Higher Education Ranking for 2024 put LMU Munich 2nd in Germany and 38th in the world. In 2023, it was ranked first in Germany for arts, humanities, law, and psychology.
The Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked LMU Munich 2nd in Germany and 59th worldwide in 2023. It was ranked first in Germany for physics, education, communication, public administration, and hospitality.
In 2018 and 2019, LMU was ranked 1st based on how many of its graduates became members of the DAX (top German companies') management boards. According to a 2021 report, LMU Munich also ranked 1st among German universities for research funding.
Munich International Summer University
The Munich International Summer University (MISU at LMU) is a special program that happens every year. It invites students from all over the world to take short courses at LMU Munich. This helps them learn more even during their breaks from their home universities. MISU offers German language classes and 16 subject-specific Summer and Winter Schools. These cover many different academic areas. In 2019, about 1000 students from nearly 90 countries joined MISU programs.
Germany has a long history of hosting summer programs for international students. LMU Munich first organized its Summer University in 1927. It was called Sommerkurse für Ausländer (Summer Courses for Foreigners) and mainly taught German language. After a long break, it restarted as Internationaler Münchner Sommer. Since 2008, it has been known as the Munich International Summer University (MISU).
MISU aims to make LMU Munich more international in its research and teaching. These short programs give international students a deep look into LMU's research and campus. MISU also tries to combine excellent education with fun activities. Students learn about Munich's history, culture, and politics. The Summer University also helps LMU Munich work more closely with other universities around the world.
Famous People from LMU
Many people who studied or taught at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich played a big part in developing quantum mechanics. Max Planck, who created quantum theory and won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918, was a student here. Other founders of quantum mechanics, like Werner Heisenberg and Wolfgang Pauli, were also connected to the university.
More recently, the building for Physical Chemistry was named after Gerhard Ertl. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry and was a professor at the University of Munich from 1973 to 1986.
The Pakistani philosopher and poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal, known as the "Poet of the East," earned his PhD from LMU Munich in 1908. He wrote his doctoral paper on The Development of Metaphysics in Persia.
The anti-Nazi resistance group called the White Rose was based at this university.
Images for kids
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Pope Benedict XVI was a student and professor at LMU Munich.
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Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901.
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Ferenc Krausz received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2023.
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Theodor W. Hänsch received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2005.
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Otto Hahn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1944.
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Werner Heisenberg received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1932.
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Max Planck received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1918.
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Hans Bethe received the 1967 Nobel Prize in Physics.
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Nobel Prize-winning novelist Thomas Mann gave numerous lectures at LMU Munich.
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Karl Jaspers was a German-Swiss psychiatrist and philosopher.
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Philosopher, Persian and Urdu poet Sir Muhammad Iqbal studied philosophy at LMU Munich.
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Hans-Werner Sinn, professor of economics at LMU Munich.
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Blake Ragsdale Van Leer, United States Army officer and president of Georgia Institute of Technology.
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Konrad Adenauer was Chancellor of Germany from 1949 to 1963.
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Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania 1998–2003 and 2004–2009.
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Bertolt Brecht, poet, playwright and theatre director.
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The sociologist Max Weber was a professor at LMU Munich.
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Heinrich Brüning served as Chancellor of Germany during the Weimar Republic from 1930 to 1932.
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Theodor Heuss served as the first President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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See also
In Spanish: Universidad de Múnich para niños
- Education in Germany
- List of forestry universities and colleges
- List of modern universities in Europe (1801–1945)
- List of universities in Germany
