The University of Münster (German Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, WWU) is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany.
With more than 40,000 students and over 130 fields of study it is one of Germany's largest universities and one of the foremost centers of German intellectual life. The University of Münster is an internationally renowned university and one of the leading research universities in Germany and Europe.
History
The University has its roots in the Jesuiten-Kolleg Münster, which was founded in
1588. But today's University of Münster was founded in
1780 with four faculties:
Law,
Health Science (
Medicine),
Philosophy and
Theology. The ceremony of constitution was performed by
Franz Freiherr von Fürstenberg. In
1805 the university was extended to the
Prussian University of Westphalia.
It got its current name from Emperor
Wilhelm II in
1907: Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (WWU).
Organisation
Student life
The
University of Münster offers a very active student life. Student organisations such as
AIESEC,
AEGEE,
MOVE,
MTP and many more are well represented and usually have a high number of members. A wide range of language courses is also offered (
UNIcert). The city of
Münster itself has a very active night life with over 1.000 bars, discotheques and clubs and the city of the
Peace of Westphalia also has - of course - a very rich cultural life. At the moment its students are protesting against the introduction of tuition fees.
Notable alumni
Students
- Wolfgang Clement, Politician
- Gabriele Behler, Politician
- Johannes Georg Bednorz, Nobel Prize winner (1987)
- Prof. Dr. Hans-Jürgen Ewers, Economist
- Prof. Dr. Gerd Faltings, Mathematician, Fields Medal
- Prof. Dr. Dieter Fenske, Chemist
- Birgit Fischer, Politician
- Erich Gutenberg, Economist, Inventor of Business Administration and Management in Germany
- Wolf-Michael Catenhusen, Politician
- Kai Diekmann, Reporter
- Prof Dr. Hans-Jürgen Ewers, President of the TU Berlin
- Dr. August Hanning, President of the Bundesnachrichtendienst
- Dr. Dr. Gustav Heinemann, Politician
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Friedrich Hirzebruch, Mathematician
- Jens Lehmann, Soccerplayer (goal keeper) of the German Soccer Team
- Niklas Luhmann, Sociologist
- Dr. Thomas Middelhoff, Board of Directors Bertelsmann
- Prof. Dr. Georg Milbradt, Prime Minister of Saxony
- Walter Momper, Politician
- Ruprecht Polenz, Politician
- Prof. Dr. Dr. Gerhard Roth, Neurobiology
- Dr. Winfried Scharlau, Journalist
- Dr. Kurt Schumacher, Politician
- Dr. h.c. Rudolf Seiters, Politician
- Prof. Dr. Hans-Werner Sinn, student, President of the leading Institution for Economic Research (Instituts für Wirtschaftsforschung, IFO).
- Burkhard Spinnen, Author
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c.mult. Hans Tietmeyer, Economist
- Dr. Berthold Tillmann, Politician
- Klaus Töpfer, UNO-Commissar
- Ernst Tugendhat, Philosopher
- Prof. Dr. Karl Weierstrass, Mathematician
- Harald Weinrich, Classical Scholar
- Arthur Wieferich, Mathematician
- Heinrich August Winkler, Historican
- Dr. Klaus Zumwinkel, Board of Directors Deutsche Post World Net
University lecturer
- Pope Benedict XVI: Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. mult. Joseph Kardinal Ratzinger
- Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Metzger, Psychologist
- Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Ackermann, Mathematican
- Prof. Dr. Karl Barth, Theologian
- Prof. Dr. Hans Blumenberg, (1920-1996) Philosopher
- Prof. Dr. Klaus Hildebrand, Historican
- Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Killing, (1847-1923) Mathematican
- Prof. Dr. Frido Mann, Psychologist and Writer, Grandson of Thomas Mann
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Heribert Meffert, Inventor of Marketing in Germany
- Prof. Dr. Alfred Müller-Armack (1901-1978), Economist, Inventor of the Social Market Economy
- Prof. Dr. Paul Kirchhof, Jurist
- Prof. Dr. Dr. Johann Baptist Metz, Theologian
- Prof. Dr. Friedrich Münzer, Classical Scholar
- Prof. Dr. Josef Pieper (1904-1997), Philosopher
- Prof. Dr. Karl Rahner (1904-1984), Theologian
- Prof. Dr. Bernhard Rensch (1900-1990), Biologist
- Prof. Dr. Helmut Schelsky (1912-1984), Soziologist
- Prof. Dr. Ulrich van Suntum, Economist, former member of the German Council of Economic Advisers
- Prof. Dr. Hans Wehr (1909-1981), Islam Scientist and Author of the leading arabian-english dictionary (also used for Wikipedia guidelines).
Honorary Doctor
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Jan Assmann (D. theol. h.c. Faculty of Proestant Theology (1998))
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Arnold L. Demain, Biotechnology (2003 Department of Biology, Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics)
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Ernst-Wolfgang Böckenförde, Judge, Bundesverfassungsgericht (2001 Faculty of Law)
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. David A. O. Edward, Judge (2001 Faculty of Law)
- Prof. Dr. h.c. Gilberto Freyre Ph.D.
- Dr. h.c. Mikhail Gorbachev
- Dr. h.c. Manfred Gotthardt (2003 Faculty of Health Science (Medicine))
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Tomas Hammar, Political Scientist (2002 Faculty of Philosophie)
- Dr. h.c. Wim Kok, Prime Minister (Netherlands) (2003 Faculty of Philosophie)
- Dr. h.c. Hanna-Renate Laurien, Theologian (1996 Faculty of Catholic Theology)
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Robert Leicht, Reporter (2003 Faculty of Protestant Theology)
- Dr. h.c. Reinhard Mohn, Director Bertelsmann (2001 Faculty of Economics (Münster School of Business Administration and Economics))
- Dr. h.c. Rupert Neudeck
- Dr. h.c. Jean-Claude Juncker, Prime Minister (Luxembourg)
- Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hubert Schmidbaur, Chemist (2005 Department of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Faculty of Natural Science and Mathematics)
- Dr. h.c. Erich Schumann, Jurist (2002 Faculty of Law)
- Dr. h.c. Wolfgang Thierse, Politician
See also
External links
Universities and colleges in Germany | Münster
Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität | Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität | Universidad de Münster | دانشگاه مونستر | Université de Münster | Università di Münster | אוניברסיטת מינסטר | Universiteit van Münster | ミュンスター大学 | Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität | Universidade de Münster | Вестфальский университет им. Вильгельма | Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität | 明斯特大学