Albert, former
Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and first
Duke of Prussia since 1525, had purchased a piece of land behind
Königsberg Cathedral on the
Kneiphof island of the
Pregel River from the
Samland chapter, where he had an academic
gymnasium (school) erected in 1542. He issued the deed of foundation of the
Collegium Albertinum on 20 July 1544, after which the university was inaugurated on 17 August. The newly established Protestant duchy was a
fiefdom of the
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the university served as a
Lutheran counterpart to the
Catholic Kraków Academy. Its first
rector was the poet
Georg Sabinus, son-in-law of
Philipp Melanchthon.
Lithuanian scholars
Stanislovas Rapalionis and
Abraomas Kulvietis were among the first professors of university. All professors had to take an oath on the
Augsburg Confession. Since the Prussian lands lay beyond the borders of the
Holy Roman Empire, both Emperor
Charles V and
Pope Paul III withheld their approval, nevertheless the Königsberg academy was granted the royal
privilege by King
Sigismund II Augustus of Poland on 28 March 1560. From 1618 the Prussian duchy was ruled in
personal union by the
Margraves of Brandenburg and in 1657 the "Great Elector"
Frederick William of Brandenburg finally acquired full sovereignty over Prussia from Poland by the
Treaty of Wehlau. The
Albertina was the second oldest university (after the
University of Frankfurt (Oder)) and intellectual centre of Protestant
Brandenburg-Prussia. Initially it comprised four colleges:
Theology,
Medicine,
Philosophy and
Law, later also
natural sciences. Subsequent rectors included numerous
Hohenzollern Prussian royals (at last
Crown Prince William 1908–1918), who had never been to the university, usually represented by a
prorector in charge of academic affairs. The Prussian lands remained unharmed by the disastrous
Thirty Years' War, which gained the Königsberg university an increasing popularity among students. In the 17th century, it was known as a home to
Simon Dach, serving as rector in 1656/57, and his fellow poets. Tsar
Peter I of Russia visited the
Albertina in 1697, leading to increased contacts between Prussia and the
Russian Empire. Large numbers of Petrine officials trooped the university to cameralist theory and administrative practices which thus shaped Russia's government. Notable Russian students at Königbserg were
Kirill Razumovsky, later president of the
Russian Academy of Sciences and General
Mikhail Andreyevich Miloradovich. The university and the city had profound impact on the development of
Lithuanian culture. The first book in
Lithuanian language was printed here in 1547 and several important Lithuanian writers attended the
Albertina. The university was also the preferred educational institution of the
Baltic German nobility. The 18th century is known in cultural history as the "Königsberg Century" of
Enlightenment, a heyday initiated by the
Albertina student
Johann Christoph Gottsched and continued by the philosopher
Johann Georg Hamann and writer
Theodor Gottlieb von Hippel the Elder. Notable alumni were
Johann Gottfried Herder,
Zacharias Werner,
Johann Friedrich Reichardt,
E. T. A. Hoffmann, and foremost the philosopher
Immanuel Kant, rector in 1786 and 1788. These scholars laid the foundations for the later
Weimar Classicism and
German Romanticism movements. The
Albertina magnificent
botanical garden was inaugurated in 1811 during the
Napoleonic Wars. Two years later,
Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel established his outstanding
observatory next door to the garden. Other university professors included such giants of the science world as the philosopher
Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1806–07), the biologist
Karl Ernst von Baer (1817–34), the mathematician
Carl Gustav Jacobi (1829–42), the mineralogist
Franz Ernst Neumann (1828–76) and the physicist
Hermann von Helmholtz (1849–55). In the 19th and 20th centuries, the university was most famous for its school of
mathematics, founded by
Carl Gustav Jacob Jacobi, and continued by his pupils
Ludwig Otto Hesse,
Friedrich Richelot,
Johann G. Rosenhain and
Philipp Ludwig von Seidel. It was later associated with the names of
Hermann Minkowski (
Albert Einstein's teacher),
Adolf Hurwitz,
Ferdinand von Lindemann and
David Hilbert, who was one of the greatest modern mathematicians. The mathematicians
Alfred Clebsch and
Carl Gottfried Neumann (both born in Königsberg and educated under Ludwig Otto Hesse) founded the
Mathematische Annalen in 1868, which soon became the most influential mathematical journal of the time. Celebrating the university's 300 years jubilee on 31 August 1844, King
Frederick William IV of Prussia laid the foundation for the new main building of the
Albertina, which was inaugurated in 1862 by Crown Prince
Frederick William and Prorector
Johann Karl Friedrich Rosenkranz. The building on central
Paradeplatz was erected in a
neo-Renaissance style according to plans designed by
Friedrich August Stüler. The facade was adorned by an equestrian figure in relief of Albert of Prussia. Below it were niches containing statues of the Protestant reformers
Martin Luther and
Philipp Melanchthon. Inside was a handsome staircase, borne by marble columns. The Senate Hall contained a portrait of Emperor
Frederick III by
Lauchert and a bust of
Immanuel Kant by
Hagemann, a student of
Schadow. The adjacent hall ("Aula") was adorned with frescoes painted in 1870. The
university library was situated on
Mitteltragheim in 1901 and contained over 230,000 volumes. On Dritte Fliess Strasse was the
Palästra Albertina, established in 1898 for the encouragement of the higher forms of sport among the students and citizens. Nearby were the government offices, adorned with mural paintings by
Knorr and
Schmidt. In 1900, the university had 900 students. The
Albertina faculty and the
German Student Union after the territorial separation of the
Province of East Prussia by the
Treaty of Versailles stressed its affiliation with the
Reich, pushing intellectual life towards
German nationalism. On 10 July 1944, the university celebrated its 400th anniversary in presence of Reich Minister
Walther Funk. A few weeks later, during the nights of 26/27 and 29/30 August, Königsberg was
extensively bombed by the
Royal Air Force. From January to April 1945 the city was further devastated by the
East Prussian Offensive of the
Red Army and the final
Battle of Königsberg. When General
Otto Lasch signed the capitulation on 9 April, the historic inner city was destroyed by the attacks, and 80% of the university campus lay in ruins. The faculty had fled, many of them were received at the
University of Göttingen. In 1947, the university, already under new leadership, resumed work, but now as the Kaliningrad State Pedagogical Institute (KSPI). Which in 1967 received the status of a Kaliningrad State University.
Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University remembers its continuity from the University of Koenigsberg ("Albertina"), preserving the best traditions of the university. == Notable alumni and faculty ==