Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt/Main

About the University
Frankfurt 's Goethe University, the largest in the state of Hessen and one of the top ten nationwide, was Germany’s first university entirely funded from private sources. In the late 19th century patronage from foundations related to the arts and sciences, which were established by Frankfurt citizens, primarily funded the school and its opening in 1914. Today, Johann Wolfgang Goethe-University offers 170 degrees programmes in 16 different departments, including: business administration, cultural studies, dentistry, economics, language, law, life sciences, medicine, and physical sciences. The diversity of the curriculum, interdisciplinary research centres and graduate schools provide students with the opportunity to study a variety of fields in an interdisciplinary environment.

The university is home to 16 graduate schools and ten special research areas, such as life sciences, physics, and economics. Additionally, the university hosts 45 Alexander von Humboldt Scholarship recipients, Fulbright Senior Lecturers and the Fulbright Distinguished Chair in German Studies, 2004–2009. The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) is applied in order to facilitate the international mobility of the students until the end of 2006 (bachelor’s degree) or 2008 (master’s degree).

About the City
Frankfurt is the hub of Europe and headquarters of the European Central Bank. International trade fairs have been held in Frankfurt since 1240, including the popular annual book, automobile, and computer fairs. The stock exchange was first established in 1585 and Frankfurt was home to the Rothschild family, who started the international banking empire. Frankfurt has long been a key destination for river, rail, and road traffic.

It is still the chief traffic hub for western Germany and has also been an important inland shipping port. The Frankfurt Airport, one of Europe’s busiest, is the largest airport in Germany. Important industrial production areas comprise automobiles, machinery, chemical and pharmaceutical products, and printing materials.

Departments

• Law
  
• Economics and Business Administration
  
• Social Sciences
• Educational Sciences
  
• Psychology and Sports Sciences
  
• Protestant Theology
  
• Roman Catholic Theology
  
• Philosophy and History
  
• Linguistics, Cultural and Civilization Studies, Art Studies
  
• Modern Languages
  
• Geosciences and Geography
  
• Computer Science and Mathematics
  
• Physics
  
• Biochemistry, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Studies
  
• Life Sciences
  
• Medical Science
  

Prominent teachers

• Max von Laue (1879-1960), theoretical physicist, professor in Frankfurt from 1914 to 1919, explanation of crystal structure, Nobel Prize in 1914
• Max Born (1882-1970), theoretical physicist, professor in Frankfurt from 1919 to 1921, statistical interpretation of quantum mechanics, Nobel Prize in 1954
• Franz Oppenheimer (1864-1943), economist and sociologist, professor in Frankfurt from 1919 to 1929, advocated a “liberal socialism“
• Hugo Sinzheimer (1875-1945), lawyer and social democratic politician, professor in Frankfurt from 1920 to 1933, emigrated to Amsterdam
• Friedrich Dessauer (1881-1963), physicist, philosopher and Zentrum politician, professor in Frankfurt from 1921 to 1934 and again from 1953 to 1963, founder of biophysics
• Carl Ludwig Siegel (1896-1981), mathematician, professor in Frankfurt from 1922 to 1937, Siegel´s module functions, great advances in number theory, winner of the Wolf Foundation prize in 1978
• Martin Buber (1878-1965), philosopher of religion, lecturer, later professor in Frankfurt from 1924 to 1933, leading zionist, translator of the Bible
• Karl Pribram (1877-1973), economist, professor in Frankfurt from 1928 to 1933, emigrated to Washington D.C., where he helped formulate U.S. economic policy as senior economist at the Tariff Commission
• Paul Tillich (1886-1965), protestant theologian and philosopher, professor in Frankfurt from 1929 to 1933, emigrated to the U.S.
• Max Wertheimer (1880-1943), psychologist, professor in Frankfurt from 1929 to 1933, co-founder of gestalt psychology, emigrated to New York
• Karl Mannheim (1893-1947), sociologist, professor in Frankfurt from 1930 to 1933, then lecturer in London, exponent of "Wissenssoziologie" (the sociology of knowledge)
• Max Horkheimer (1895-1973), philosopher, professor in Frankfurt from 1930 to 1933 and again from 1949 to 1963, exponent of the “Frankfurt School” of philosophy
• Adolph Lowe/Löwe (1893-1995), economist, professor in Frankfurt from 1931 to 1933
• Theodor W. Adorno (1903-1969), philosopher, sociologist, and composer, professor in Frankfurt, exponent of the “Frankfurt School” of philosophy

Statistics (2009)

• Year of foundation . . . . . . . . . . .   1914
• Students . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35,845
• Foreign students . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6,048
• Professors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .      444

Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität Frankfurt
International Office

Bockenheimer Landstrasse 133
D-60054 Frankfurt
Phone: +49 (0)69 / 798 7980
e-mail:international@em.uni-frankfurt.de

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