The University of Salzburg is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year
The Paris Lodron University of Salzburg has two reasons to celebrate today. 400 years ago – on October 4, 1622 – the imperial privilege arrived that finally made Salzburg a university town after lengthy negotiations. In 1810, under Bavarian rule, Salzburg’s university was over again. Only 60 years ago – on July 5, 1962 – the Austrian National Council passed the law for the reestablishment of the Salzburg Alma Mater.
Traditional university in front of a historic backdrop
“In the late Middle Ages there were numerous initiatives to found a university in the Prince Archdiocese, but they all fell through,” explains Christoph Brandhuber, head of the university archives, in an interview with APA. Sometimes there was a lack of money, then there was a lack of staff, then you couldn’t agree on the location. Because there were many monasteries in the prince-archdiocese, but classic school orders such as the Jesuits, Archbishop Markus Sittikus Graf von Hohenems (1574-1619) finally took matters into his own hands and did not win over the Benedictines of St. Peter for the project. It was also possible to get other Benedictine monasteries in German-speaking countries on board. “A monastery alone could not support an entire university,” Brandhuber explained this necessary cooperation. Teachers and students from other monasteries were needed.
Beginnings as a high school
In a first step, a grammar school was established in Salzburg in 1617 as a preliminary stage to the university. From 1620, by imperial decree, one was allowed to study philosophy; the only possible title was the Magister. In tough negotiations, Archbishop Paris Count von Lodron (1586-1653) was finally able to wrest the full university from the emperor, and in 1625 approval also came from Rome. You could study theology, law and philosophy in Salzburg. The medical university failed at that time due to a lack of students, so there was a medical-surgical school instead.
Studying in Salzburg was very popular back then, says Brandhuber. The nobility in particular valued the amusements the city offered: the proximity to the archbishop’s court, the large riding school and the famous theater play. “The Salzburg University Theater had a very strong impact,” says the archivist. There were famous actors and musicians here. Among other things, eleven-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart wrote his opera “Apollo and Hyacinthus” for the university theater. The Benedictine University was at its peak around 1700, when the university church built by Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach was built, which bears witness to the importance that the High School had attained in Salzburg. In 1810, however, it was over for the time being: when Salzburg fell to Bavaria, the university was downgraded to a lyceum, but the right to award doctorates remained. In 1850 a theological faculty was established again.
Reestablished in 1962
But it was still a long time before Salzburg could call itself a university town again. It was not until 1962 that Salzburg’s numerous support for the reestablishment of the university in Vienna was successful. On July 5, 1962, the National Council passed the federal law for the reestablishment of the university. Originally, Vienna only wanted to set up philosophy and theology as faculties in Salzburg. But after protests in Salzburg it was finally possible – at least on paper – to achieve a full university. In 1964, studies began at the philosophical and theological faculties, and the law students were able to start in 1965. The – state – medical faculty remained an unfulfilled wish. The fact that Salzburg has been the location of a medical university since 2003 is thanks to the founding of the Paracelsus Medical Private University (PMU).
Today, the Paris Lodron University of Salzburg has around 18,000 students – a good quarter of them from countries of the European Union – and 2,900 employees. Following a structural reform, it has been divided into six faculties since January 1 of this year: Catholic theology, law and economics, cultural studies, social sciences, natural and life sciences and the newly created faculty for digital and analytical sciences.
In the city, the university is primarily visible through its buildings. Beginning in the 1980s, the old town university was realized as part of an extensive investment program – the Tuscany wing of the residence and the old trade school were renovated for teachers and students. A large building for the faculty of natural sciences was built in the outdoor hall, and a location for computer science in Itzling. One of the youngest university buildings is the Unipark Nonntal, where, among other things, the language studies are located.
(APA/red, photo: APA/Kay Müller)