About Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University is one of Europe’s foremost research universities and the oldest in Germany.
In 1386, Ruprecht I, Elector Palatine, received the Pope’s permission to establish a university in his city of residence, Heidelberg. The Dutch scholar Marsilius of Inghen became the new university’s first rector.
At the beginning of the 19th century, Baden’s first grand duke Karl Friedrich reorganised the university, whereupon his name was appended to that of its founder, and the university became known thereafter as Ruprecht-Karls-Universität (Ruperto Carola University).
Today, more than 30,000 students study at Heidelberg University in more than 160 different study programs. The university enjoys an excellent academic reputation and was successful in both rounds of Germany’s Excellence Initiative in 2006/07 and in 2012. Fifty-six Nobel Laureates share a connection with Heidelberg University or the city of Heidelberg, ten of whom have taught there as professors.
Heidelberg is a member of the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and is regularly ranked among the top universities in Germany, Europe and the world.
Further information:
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/history/history.html
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/history/old_university.html
http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/university/history/chronology.html
The Slavic Institute
The Slavic Institute at Heidelberg University was founded in 1931 and was first headed by scholar Nikolai von Bubnoff (1880-1962), who had been giving lectures in Russian philology at Heidelberg University since the 1920s. When von Bubnoff resigned in 1956, the famous Slavic scholar and founding member of the Prague Linguistic Circle Dmitrij Tschiževskij (1894-1977) became the second director of the Slavic Institute. The institute prospered under the guidance of Tschiževskij and his successors Horst-Jürgen Gerigk (chair of Slavic literary studies) and Baldur Panzer (chair of Slavic linguistics). In 2002 and 2003 respectively, Jadranka Gvozdanović (chair of Slavic linguistics), and Urs Heftrich (chair of Slavic literary studies) became the new directors of the Slavic Institute.
The Slavic Institute has roughly 400 students in various study programs at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level. The Slavic Institute offers courses in Russian, Polish, Czech, Serbian, Croatian, and Bulgarian literature, linguistics, and language.
Further information:
http://www.slav.uni-heidelberg.de/forschung/
http://www.slav.uni-heidelberg.de/profil.html
http://www.aatseel.org/about/prizes/recent-recipients/book-prize-winners-for-2010
