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Short Introduction to the University of Hamburg

as of May, 2001



The University's Main Building

History

On March 28, 1919, the parliament of the city-state of Hamburg, which had just been democratically constituted after the end of World War I, passed the resolution to establish the University of Hamburg. The roots of the University, however, date back to the beginning of the 17th century. From 1613 to 1883, Hamburg had had an intermediate level of education between school and university (Akademisches Gymnasium); and from 1885 on an organisation of general lectures (Allgemeines Vorlesungswesen) had existed, with both already possessing professorial chairs. Alongside these institutions, a number of state scientific institutes developed (the Botanical Garden, the Observatory, the State Chemical and Physics Laboratory and the State Zoological Institute and Museum), and in 1907 the Colonial Institute was founded, which also had had professorial chairs. The demands for higher education of returning, young veterans generated the final impulse needed to combine all existing scientific institutions into a university.

The start of the young University in the 1920's was outstanding; names such as Ernst Cassirer (Philosophy), Erwin Panofsky (Art History), Otto Stern (Physical Chemistry), William Stern (Psychology) testify to this. Correspondingly deep was the University's fall when these and many other scholars had to leave Germany in 1933.

After the conclusion of World War II, the student body increased rapidly, from 3,000 in 1940 to 17,000 in 1964. In back of the University's old Main Building, a campus arose on what had previously been a park (Von-Melle-Park). In 1969 Hamburg's parliament passed a new body of laws governing the University. The far-reaching reforms manifested themselves on the one hand in the extension of academic self-administration, the participation of all members of the university in the governing process of academic affairs, and on the other hand in the creation of a continuous central authority, the office of the President of the University.

The University Today

With approximately 38,500 students, the University of Hamburg ranges fifth in size among the institutions of higher learning in the Federal Republic of Germany. Corresponding to Hamburg's view of itself as the "gateway to the world" the University with its diversity and traditions of subjects and educational offerings, sees itself as the "gateway to the world of knowledge". It has about 890 professors engaged in teaching and research, as well as an additional fulltime academic staff numbering 2,700. There are also approximately 6,800 technical and administrative employees. About 1,000 part-time academic instructors teach at the University, and an equal number of additional academic and other employees are engaged in individual research projects financed by parties outside the University. (Statistics as of 1999.)

The University is an institution of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, and it is financially maintained by the city. It has an annual budget of about 613 million euro, of which about 398 million are allotted to the University Clinic, which in turn has earnings amounting to 271 million euro as a result of the medical care it provides. Moreover, the University receives funds from outside parties (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft/German Research Association, ministries of the federal government, foundations, industry) totalling 77 million euro annually. (Statistics as of 1999.)

The University is spread over 270 buildings (alone 120 occupied by the Faculty of Medicine). The centre of the University is its campus at Von-Melle-Park, which is situated close to the lake in the heart of Hamburg, the Außenalster, and which adjoins parts of the district of Hamburg-Eimsbüttel. Many more facilities belonging to the University are located in other parts of Hamburg.

Faculties: Protestant Theology, Law, Economics and Business Administration, Medicine, Social Sciences, Education, Languages, Literature and Media, Philosophy and History, Cultural History and Contemporary Culture, Oriental Studies, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Earth Sciences, Psychology, Informatics and Sports Science and Human Movement.

Senate Institutions: Interdisciplinary Centre for Higher Education Didactics; Institute of Theatre, Musical Theatre and Film; International Tax Institute; Regional Computer Centre; Centre for Academic Further Education; Research Centre for Biotechnology, Society and the Environment; Centre for Marine and Climate Research.

Campus mit 'Philosophenturm'

Von-Melle-Park Campus
with its "Philosophenturm"
Pyrolysis Plant

Pyrolysis Plant
Institute of Technical and Macromolecular Chemistry

Research

The research being conducted at the University is both broad and diverse in scope – parallel to the wide range of fields of study offered. In characteristic features, this centre of research reflects the tradition and interests of Hamburg as a cosmopolitan centre of commerce. Very prominent is the large sector devoted to Languages and Cultural Studies, which has its roots in the "Colonial Sciences". It is a segment of an intensive academic occupation with the world outside Germany, which is evident in other fields of study, e.g., History, Law and Economics or in interdisciplinary regional studies, e.g., Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe. As a result of Hamburg's proximity to the ocean, very extensive research is being done in the areas of Marine and Climate Research with the research vessel "Meteor". These fields of research can in turn be classified as belonging to the more comprehensive field of Ecology and Sustained Environmental Development, to which numerous other fields of study (Soil Science, Forestry and Wood Science, Technical Chemistry, and also Law, Economics, Mathematics and Informatics) make main contributions.

Further areas of focus with a promising future at the University of Hamburg are Molecular Biology ( Medicine and Applied Botany), Material Sciences (Microstructure and Nanostructure Research, Laser Physics), Information Technology (e.g., "Artificial Intelligence") and Media Research.

Basic research - the strong suit of university research - does not exclude the availability of practice-oriented know-how. A central Office of Technology Transfer is engaged in conveying knowledge to where it can find direct application, and thus provide economic returns.

Detailed information can be found in the "Research Report of the University of Hamburg" and the "Technology Transfer Services" of the University available on CD-ROM and on the Internet.

At this time the University offers the following special areas of research:

The following DFG Research Groups are also anchored here: Hypertriglyceridemia and Arteriosclerosis, Molecular Pathomechanisms of Alzheimer Dementia, Intracellular RNA Transport.

University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf

The University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), founded in 1889 as a general hospital, took charge of training medical students when the University was founded in 1919 and officially became the University Hospital in 1934. With its 1,435 beds, the clinic is today one of Hamburg's largest hospitals. Despite numerous additions, its grounds, which are approximately one square kilometre in size, have retained the character of a park.

The UKE has 16 clinics (Anaesthesiology; Dentistry; Dermatology; Ear, Nose and Throat; Endoscopy; Gynaecology; Internal Medicine; Neurology; Neurosurgery; Ophthalmology; Orthopaedics; Paediatrics; Psychiatry/ Psychotherapy; Radiology; Surgery; Urology;) and 15 theoretical institutes (Anatomy; Biophysics/Radiobiology; Cellular Biochemistry /Clinical Neurobiology; Forensic Medicine; History of Medicine; Human Genetics; Immunology; Mathematics and Data Processing in Medicine; Medical Biochemistry and Molecular Biology; Medical Microbiology/ Immunology; Medical Sociology; Centre for Molecular Neurobiology; Pathology; Pharmacology/Toxicology; Physiology).

The interplay of modern medical research and its clinical application ensures medical care of the highest standard at the University Clinic. Every year it provides medical care for 52,000 in-patients, an additional 200,000 outpatients and 50,000 out-patient emergency cases. Of the more than 6,000 employees at the University Clinic, approximately 1,300 are on the medical and scientific staff, 3,000 are on the nursing staff, 1,000 work in laboratories and about 1,000 work in administration and services. Around 3,100 students of medicine and 580 students of dentistry receive their medical training at the University Clinic. (Statistics as of 1999.)

 Universitätsklinikum Eppendorf

Entrance to the University Clinic Hamburg-Eppendorf

Courses of Study
Egyptology Mathematics
African Languages and Cultures Media Culture
African Studies Meteorology
Ancient American Languages and Cultures Mineralogy
Ancient Oriental Languages and Cultures Musical Theatre Direction
Anthropology Eastern Slavonic Studies (Russian Studies)
Astronomy Oceanography
Business Administration Pharmacy
Biochemistry/Molecular Biology Philosophy
Biology Phonetics
Byzantine and Modern Greek Philology Physics
Chemistry Political Science
German Language and Literature Portuguese
English Language, Literature and Culture Psychology
Education Law
Protestant Theology Theatre Direction
Finno-Ugric Languages and Literature Semitics
French Sinologie I (Language and Literatur)
Sign Language Interpreting Sinologie II (State and Society)
Sign Language Scandinavian Studies
Geography (and Economic Geography) Social and Economic History
Geology Soziology
Geophysics Spanish
History Sports Science
History of the Natural Sciences Language, Literature and Culture of North America
Greek Philology Language and Culture of Ancient and Medieval India
Historical Musicology Language and Culture of Modern India
Wood Science Language and Culture of Tibet
Medicine Languages and Cultures of Austronesia
Indogermanic Studies Languages and Cultures of the Southeast Asian Continent
Informatics Language Teaching Research
Iranian Language and Literature Southern Slavonic Studies
Islamic Studies Systematic Musicology
Italian Technomathematics
Japanese Turkish Studies
Journalism Ethnologie
Classical Archaeology Folklore Studies
Korean Studies Economics
Latin American Studies Prehistory and Early History
Latin Philology Western Slavonic Studies
Food Chemistry Business Computing
Teacher Training for Elementary and Middle Levels Industrial Engineering
Teacher Training for Upper Level/General Education Schools Business Mathematics
Teacher Training for Upper Level/Vocational Schools Dentistry
Teacher Training for Special Education Schools
   
Postgraduate Courses of Study
   
Teaching Foreigners Teaching Qualification
European Studies Law and Economics
Film Molecular Biology
Criminology Economic Law
   
ICGS (International Center for Graduate Studies) Courses of Study:
   
Intercultural Studies Life Sciences
Environmental Sciences Structure of Matter
Law and Economics

Academic Further Education

Career-oriented further education:

General academic further education:

Distance Studies

Distance Studies courses for professional qualification and further education are offered by the Centre for Distance Studies in cooperation with the FernUniversität Hagen and the British Open University.

Additional information can be obtained from the Centre for Academic Further Education.

academic work

Graduate Colleges

(DFG-funded research programmes for graduate students)

The University of Hamburg also pursues academic research on a regular basis with a large number of other local and national research institutions.

Exhibits

Various institutes of the University have made portions of their large and widely unique collections accessible to the public in four natural science exhibits, which succeed the Natural History Museum destroyed during the war. They can be viewed during regular opening hours at: The University's New Botanical Garden is located in Hamburg-Klein Flottbek. As a part of the Institute of General Botany, the garden, with its 53 acres and more than 20,000 plant species, serves teaching and research purposes; simultaneously, it provides an attractive public park with high recreational value for both Hamburg's population and visitors. Here one may also visit the Herbarium Hamburgense and the Algal Culture Collection of the Institute of General Botany.		 Exhibit of the Institute of Zoology and Museum

Exhibit of the Institute of Zoology and Museum
Reading room at the State and University Library

Reading room at the State and University Library

Libraries

The University has approximately 92 individual libraries. They range from the library at the Institute of Geography (88,000 volumes) to the library at the Institute of Biogeochemistry and Marine Chemistry (2,400 volumes).The total number of volumes to be found in the university's libraries is four million.

Moreover, students and scholars can use the State and University Library - Carl von Ossietzky with its more than 2.8 million volumes. It is Hamburg's main academic library and has the character of a universal libraray and bibliothecarian information centre. As an archive, it is where all the literature published in Hamburg is kept. Among its resources are manuscripts dating back to the Middle Ages, autographs and letters, as well as complete literary legacies of Hamburg writers and scholars (e.g. Jungius, Klopstock, Liliencron, Jahnn, Borchert). The medical department of the State and University Library is the Central Medical Library and it is located at the University Clinic Eppendorf.

A guide to all of Hamburg's 258 public libraries can be found on the Internet at the following address: http://allegro.sub.uni-hamburg.de/bibfuehrer. Two important local EDP-catalogues can be accessed on the Internet: the Campus Catalogue and the Union Hamburg Catalogue. Addresses: www.rrz.uni-hamburg.de/biblio/biblio-homepage.html ("Libraries") und www.sub.uni-hamburg.de.

International Contacts

The University of Hamburg has contacts with over 40 foreign universities in the form of agreements pertaining to the regular exchange of teaching staff and students.
   
Western Europe
   
University of Bordeaux III University of Strathclyde, Glasgow
University of Bradford University of East Anglia, Norwich
University of Southampton
   
Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe:
   
University of Belgrade Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
University of Economics, Budapest      University of Bucharest
Technical University of Gdansk Aegean University, Izmir
9th of September University, Izmir St. Petersburg University
St. Petersburg Shipbulding University Charles University, Prague
Kliment Ohridski University, Sofia University of Sopron
University of Tartu University of Warsaw
University of Zagreb
   
USA
   
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore University of Kansas, Lawrence
University of California, Berkeley Tulane University, New Orleans
Indiana University, Bloomington Smith College, Northampton
Southern Illinois University, Carbondale Temple University, Philadelphia
University of Cincinnati Washington University, St. Louis
Ohio State University, Columbus Purdue University, West Lafayette
   
Other countries:
   
University of Concepción/Chile Tel Aviv University
University of Damascus University of Cape Town
University of Guadalajara/Mexico Stellenbosch University
University of Nuevo León/Mexico Osaka University
University of Nicaragua, León University of Khartoum
Hebrew University of Jerusalem University of Foreign Studies, Beijing
National Taiwan University

There are approximately 3,700 foreign students from over 100 different countries studying at the University of Hamburg. Their needs are looked after by the Foreign Students Office.

 The University Observatory

The University Observatory
Studentenhaus Cafeteria
Studentenhaus Cafeteria

Student Services

Student Services Hamburg (Studentenwerk) is responsible for the social welfare and health of the students. It works in close cooperation with the University and other institutions of higher education in Hamburg.

Student Services itself has 18 dormitories; in addition, there are another 14 dormitories belonging to confessional and other non-profit organisations. All told, there are approximately 5,000 student dormitory places in Hamburg. The Student Services Living Quarters Registry (Info-Zentrum Wohnen) also assists in obtaining living quarters offered by private landlords.

Inexpensive meals are provided students in Hamburg at the 12 cafeterias (Mensabetriebe) operated by Student Services. The largest cafeteria is in the "Studentenhaus", on the campus grounds Von-Melle-Park. Student Services also looks after the student's financial assistance (BaföG) and operates a health service.

In the brochure "Essen, Wohnen, BaföG, Soziales" Student Services reports in detail about its work.

At the University there is also a Centre for Academic and Psychological Counselling. It not only provides information concerning general questions involving studies, e.g., registration requirements and subject contents, but also help through psychological counselling for personal problems. Students desiring information about studies abroad can obtain this from the University's Foreign Students Office.

General Information

University of Hamburg
Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1, 20146 Hamburg
Phone: 040/42838-0, Fax: 040/42838-2449
E-mail: presse@rrz.uni-hamburg.de
Internet: http://www.uni-hamburg.de

Registrar's Office, Phone: 42838-4429 / 4171, Fax: 42838-4486
Centre for Academic and Psychological Counselling, Phone: 42838-2522 / 2510, Fax: 42838-2318
Foreign Students Office, Phone: 42838-3310 / 3305, Fax: 42838-2142
Press Office, Phone: 42838-2968/ 4480
Office of Technology Transfer, Phone: 42838-4104
(all Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1)

University Clinic Eppendorf
Martinistraße 52, 20246 Hamburg
Phone: 040/42803-0, Fax: 040/42803-6878
E-mail: pressestelle@uke.uni-hamburg.de
Internet: http://www.uke.uni-hamburg.de/
Press Office University Clinic Phone: 42803-4747, Fax: 42803-4932

Centre for Academic Further Education
Vogt-Kölln-Straße 30, 22527 Hamburg
Further Education, Phone: 040/42883-2472, Fax: 42883-2651
Distance Studies, Phone: 040/42883-2473, Fax: 42883-2652
E-mail: aww@aww.uni-hamburg.de
Internet: www.aww.uni-hamburg.de/

Student Services Hamburg
Von-Melle-Park 2, 20146 Hamburg
Phone: 040/41902-0
Internet: www.studentenwerk-hamburg.de/english/index.html

State and University Library - Carl von Ossietzky
Von-Melle-Park 3, 20146 Hamburg
Phone: 040/42838-2233 / 2213, Fax: 42838-3352
Internet: www.sub.uni-hamburg.de

University Guest House
Rothenbaumchaussee 34, 20148 Hamburg
Phone: 040/42838-5354
E-mail: gaestehaus@uni-hamburg.de
Internet: www.uni-hamburg.de/Dienste/Gasthaus/index_e.html

Campus life in front of the cafeteria

University of Hamburg, Sept. 18, 2001. Impressum.

University of Hamburg
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