University of Wrocław facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
University of Wrocław

Uniwersytet Wrocławski
Latin: Universitas Wratislaviensis
Former names	German: Leopoldina, Universität Breslau, Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau (before 1945)
Type	Public
Established	21 October 1702; 322 years ago (1702-10-21) (reorganised 1945)
President	Robert Olkiewicz
Administrative staff	3,569
Students	23,297
Location	Wrocław , Lower Silesian Voivodeship , Poland
Campus	Urban
Colors	Blue

The University of Wrocław (Polish: Uniwersytet Wrocławski, UWr; Latin: Universitas Wratislaviensis) is a large public research university located in Wrocław, Poland. It is the biggest place for higher education in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship region. Since 1945, more than 100,000 students have graduated from this university. Many of its 1,900 researchers have received important awards for their scientific discoveries.

The university was officially started in 1945. It took the place of the older German University of Breslau. After World War II, Poland's borders changed. Many professors from the Jan Kazimierz University in Lviv helped rebuild the university. Its buildings were badly damaged during the Battle of Breslau in 1945.

History

Early Beginnings: Leopoldina

An old design for the Leopoldina university from 1760. It was never fully built this way.

The idea for a university in Wrocław is very old. The first mention was in 1505. King Vladislaus II of Hungary wanted to create a school called Generale litterarum Gymnasium. However, this plan did not happen. The Pope said no for political reasons. Also, many wars and opposition from the Jagiellonian University in Kraków stopped it.

The first successful start happened much later. On October 1, 1702, Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I signed a special paper. This paper, called the Aurea bulla fundationis Universitatis Wratislaviensis, officially created the university.

Before this, there was a Jesuit school in Wrocław since 1638. This school was turned into the university in 1702. Emperor Leopold I named it Leopoldina. It started as a school for philosophy and Catholic theology. The university opened on November 15, 1702. It was a Catholic school in a mostly Protestant city. This made it important for the Counter-Reformation in Silesia. Later, when Silesia became part of Prussia, the university changed. It became a religious school for training Catholic priests in Prussia.

Silesian Friedrich Wilhelm University in Breslau

The University of Breslau in the 19th century.

A modern view of the Collegium Maximum building.

After Napoleon defeated Prussia, the Prussian state was reorganized. On August 3, 1811, the Leopoldina university joined with the Protestant Viadrina European University. This other university was in Frankfurt (Oder). The new combined university was called the Königliche Universität zu Breslau – Universitas litterarum Vratislaviensis. In 1911, its name changed to Schlesische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität zu Breslau. This honored its founder, Frederick William III of Prussia.

At first, the university had five main study areas, called faculties. These were philosophy, medicine, law, Protestant theology, and Catholic theology. The university also had many scientific institutes and clinical centers. In 1842, it added a special area for Slavic Studies. By 1884, the university had 1,481 students and 131 teachers.

The beautiful Aula Leopoldina hall.

The university's library was very large. In 1885, it had about 400,000 books. These books came from older universities and monasteries. The university also had an observatory, a large botanical garden, and several museums. These included a botanical museum, a zoological garden, and a natural history museum.

Many famous scholars taught at the University of Breslau in the late 1800s. Some of them were Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet, Ferdinand Cohn, and Gustav Kirchhoff.

In 1817, about 16% of the students were Polish. By the late 1800s, about 10% were Polish and 16% were Jewish. This showed that the university had students from many different backgrounds. Polish and Jewish students, along with German students, formed their own student groups.

When Germany came under Nazi rule, the university was affected by Nazi ideas. Polish students were treated badly just for speaking Polish. In 1939, all Polish students were forced to leave. The university even said that no Polish person would ever enter the university again. During World War II, some German scholars from the university worked on ideas to justify German control over Polish areas.

In January 2015, the university did something important. It gave back 262 PhD degrees that were taken away during the Nazi period. These degrees belonged to Jewish and other scholars who the Nazis did not like.

University of Wrocław

The ceiling of the University Church.

After the Siege of Breslau in May 1945, the Red Army took control of the city. Breslau became Wrocław and was part of Poland. The first Polish professors arrived in Wrocław in May 1945. They found the university buildings 70% destroyed. Some parts of the university library were burned by soldiers in 1945.

Workers quickly repaired some buildings. Many new professors came, especially from the pre-war Polish Jan Kazimierz University in Lwów and Stefan Batory University in Wilno. After the war, thousands of people from these areas moved to Wrocław. By 1948, over 60% of professors at the Wrocław University were from these eastern Polish regions. Stanisław Kulczyński from the University of Lwów became the first president of the new Polish universities in Wrocław.

The University of Wrocław was officially re-established as a Polish state university on August 24, 1945. The first lecture was given on November 15, 1945. Between 1952 and 1989, the university was named after Bolesław Bierut, who was the President of Poland.

In 2015, the university again restored academic degrees. These were degrees taken from German Jews by the Nazis almost 80 years earlier. The university believes about 262 people had their degrees taken away in this way.

Faculties

The Collegium Maximum building of the University of Wrocław, seen from the Old Town.

The Collegium Anthropologicum building on Kuźnicza Street.

The Stanisław Baranowski Spitsbergen Polar Station, connected to the university.

The Astronomical Institute of the Wrocław University.

The University of Wrocław has 10 main departments, called faculties. These faculties offer 44 different areas of study. Most classes are taught in Polish, but some are in English. The university offers Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. Degrees from the University of Wrocław are recognized all over the world.

• Faculty of Biotechnology (studying living things and how to use them)
• Faculty of Chemistry (studying chemicals and how they react)
• Faculty of Philology (studying languages and literature)
• Faculty of Physics and Astronomy (studying how the universe works)
• Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science (studying numbers, logic, and computers)
• Faculty of Biological Sciences (studying living organisms)
• Faculty of History and Pedagogy (studying the past and how to teach)
• Faculty of Earth and Environmental Sciences (studying the Earth and its environment)
• Faculty of Social Sciences (studying human society and relationships)
• Faculty of Law, Administration and Economics (studying laws, government, and money)

Rectors

The Rector is the head of the university, like a president or principal. Here is a list of the Rectors of the University of Wrocław since 1945:

Notable People

Many famous and important people have studied or taught at the University of Wrocław. Here are some of them:

See also

In Spanish: Universidad de Breslavia para niños

• Wrocław University of Technology
• List of early modern universities in Europe
• List of Jesuit sites
• Academic Festival Overture