The year 2027 marks the 550th anniversary of the founding of the Old University of Mainz. Unlike other universities established in the 15th century, the university in Mainz cannot point to a continuous history. However, that is precisely what makes its history all the more interesting.
The “Electoral Mainz School of Higher Education” (kurfürstlich-mainzische hohe Schule) was founded by Archbishop of Mainz and Elector Diether von Isenburg (1412–1482, elector from 1459–1461 and again from 1475). His predecessor, Archbishop Adolf II of Nassau (1423–1475, Elector from 1461), had already made an earlier attempt to establish a university in Mainz. The desire for an institution of higher learning on the Rhine was rooted not only in humanist ideals but also in practical necessity: The Electorate of Mainz was territorially fragmented, and its only university, in Erfurt, lay far to the east. Because the university in Erfurt had been established by the city itself, it was only partially subject to the Archchancellor’s direct influence. A new higher education institution on the Rhine was intended to serve the electoral territories closer to Mainz, including the Rheingau and the part of Franconia belonging to Mainz between Aschaffenburg and Amorbach, areas that would later become key recruitment regions for students and faculty. In the 15th century, founding a university required a papal or imperial charter. Diether petitioned Pope Paul II (1417–1471, elected pope in 1464), and received approval on July 31, 1469. Adolf II’s earlier efforts had failed due to the turmoil following the Mainz Diocesan Feud (1459–1463) and, above all, a lack of financial resources.
Following the death of Adolf II of Nassau, the canons of Mainz Cathedral elected Diether von Isenburg Archbishop once again, despite the explicit opposition of Pope Sixtus IV (1414–1484, pope from 1471). The following year, Diether revived his predecessor’s plans to found a university. He dispatched a delegation to Rome bearing a formal petition explaining that the studia litterarum were intended to promote the Catholic faith, foster justice, and advance the common good and private welfare. The founding charter was issued while the archiepiscopal delegation was still in Rome, and Diether von Isenburg was accordingly able to invite guests to the opening of the university in Mainz on October 1, 1477. The university initially received 14 chairs, the same number as the studium generale founded that same year in Tübingen. Seven of these chairs went to the School of Arts, which covered the seven “liberal arts”: grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Four chairs were assigned to the School of Law, two to the School of Theology, and only one to the School of Medicine.
In addition to theology, medicine, and canon and Roman law, the course offerings of the newly founded university also included the seven “liberal arts”: grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. The university gained recognition beyond the region even in its formative years through the achievements of individual scholars, foremost among them Dietrich Gresemund the Younger (1477–1512). Known as the “father of Mainz humanism,” he played a pivotal role in stimulating scholarly and literary pursuits in Mainz through his teaching at the School of Law in 1504–1505. The humanist character of the university in Mainz was further strengthened by the establishment of the first chair of history in the early 16th century, the only one of its kind in the entire Holy Roman Empire, by canon lawyer Ivo Wittich (1456–1507). Scholar Florentius Diel (b. 1473; d. after 1518), who served as professor and dean in the early years of the university, was also an active participant in the humanist debates of his time. During this first phase of humanism, which lasted until the accession of Elector Albert of Brandenburg (1490–1545, elector from 1514) in 1514, humanist thought flourished at the university in Mainz.
The involvement of Mainz Archbishop Albert of Brandenburg in the indulgence controversy and Martin Luther’s (1483–1546) posting of the Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 quickly drew the still-young university in Mainz into the conflicts surrounding the ideas of the Reformation.
Lecturers at the university in Mainz were also involved in the events of 1517. They drafted an opinion condemning Luther’s theses and submitted it to the archbishop. By that time, however, he had already decided to forward the theses to the Roman Curia. With the Edict of Worms in 1521, the conflict took on a new dimension in the Empire as well: Emperor Charles V placed Martin Luther under imperial ban and prohibited the dissemination and reading of his writings. Despite this imperial action, Albert of Brandenburg remained reluctant to take decisive measures against the Reformation movement. One factor was the influence of cathedral preacher and professor Wolfgang Fabricius Capito (1478–1541). Only after Capito’s departure did the archbishop issue a decree on September 6, 1523, invoking the resolutions of the Imperial Diet of Nuremberg of March 6 of that year and prohibiting clergy from preaching Lutheran doctrines and reading Lutheran writings. The humanist heyday of the university in Mainz ended ended amid the Reformation and Counter-Reformation. At the same time, the university’s financial problems worsened. Like many Catholic universities of the early modern period, Mainz was closely tied to ecclesiastical institutions. Professors were not paid from a modern university budget but were often financed through something known as lectoral prebends. These consisted of church revenues attached to specific offices at collegiate foundations. Recipients of such benefices were generally members of the clergy and were often obliged not only to teach but also to perform ecclesiastical duties. In Mainz, however, this financing concept proved particularly susceptible to conflict. The endowment of 14 lectoral prebends Pope Sixtus IV had designated for the university was not always reliably funded by the participating Mainz collegiate foundations. Albert of Brandenburg made repeated attempts at reform in 1523, 1535, and 1541, but was unable to bring about a lasting improvement in the university’s financial situation.
The university in Mainz first came into contact with the Jesuit order through Peter Faber (French: Pierre Favre; 1506–1546), a co-founder of the order who held lectures in Mainz as early as 1543, and through Petrus Canisius (1521–1597), one of the first German Jesuits and a leading figure of the Counter-Reformation.
After lengthy negotiations, Mainz Jesuit College finally opened on December 9, 1561, and Jesuits began lecturing at the School of Philosophy at the university in 1563. The college’s final charter of foundation, signed by the archbishop on September 7, 1568, formally recorded both the transfer of the student residence “Zum Algesheimer” and the assignment of the Franciscan monastery (Barfüßerkloster) as a residence for the Jesuits.
The college was also recognized as a full member of the university and was granted the authority to confer doctoral degrees in theology and philosophy. The college quickly became a magnet. The steadily growing number of students made an expansion of the university’s facilities necessary. Between 1615 and 1618, Elector Johann Schweikard von Kronberg commissioned the construction of the Domus Universitatis, a prestigious four-story Renaissance building that housed the Schools of Philosophy and Theology as well as the Jesuit secondary school.
Overall, the establishment of the Jesuit order in Mainz made a major contribution to restoring and extending the university’s influence and reach far beyond the borders of the archbishopric in the last third of the 16th century and the first half of the 17th century. At the same time, the intellectual orientation of the university shifted: Its humanist profile receded into the background, while its ecclesiastical-theological character once again became more pronounced.
The cornerstone for the building located Am Höfchen was laid on July 31, 1615, the feast day of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The choice of date points to the close connection between the new building and the Jesuit order, which Ignatius had founded. With its size and especially its two roof turrets, the Domus Universitatis shaped the cityscape of Mainz for many years. During the bombardment of the French-occupied city in 1793, the building caught fire and both roof turrets were destroyed. After subsequent repairs, the Domus Universitatis initially served as barracks before being used as a school and administrative building from 1889 onward.
In 1631, Mainz was occupied by Swedish troops. As a result of epidemics, student enrollment also declined. When the Swedes capitulated after a several-month siege and withdrew in January 1636, the scale of the devastation became apparent. Food was scarce, many citizens could no longer pay taxes, numerous houses were damaged, and the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf (1594–1632, king from 1611) had the bulk of the Mainz university library transported to Sweden by his troops. These circumstances, together with a subsequent military occupation of Mainz, this time by France (1644–1650), had a major impact on the university, which only gradually recovered. Although Elector Johann Philipp von Schönborn (1605–1673, elector from 1647) and his successor, Elector Lothar Franz von Schönborn (1655–1729, elector from 1695), actively promoted reforms at the university in Mainz, their efforts ultimately bore little fruit. Both von Schönborn electors sought to expand the Schools of Medicine and Law, and in 1713 Lothar Franz even succeeded in obtaining papal approval to abolish thirty prebends and canonries attached to various collegiate foundations within the Archbishopric of Mainz, intending to use the freed-up funds to finance additional professorships in the two schools. The affected foundations, however, managed to persuade Elector Ludwig of Palatinate-Neuburg (1664–1732, elector from 1729) to reverse this measure. It was only under Elector Johann Friedrich Karl von Ostein (1689–1763, elector from 1743) that a new university constitution was adopted in 1746, bringing together the old university traditions in a single document for the first time. Toward the end of Ostein’s rule, however, efforts to reform the university in Mainz lost momentum, and his successor, Emmerich Joseph of Breidbach-Bürresheim (1707–1774, elector from 1763), initially focused on reforming the university in Erfurt. The abolition of the Jesuit order by Pope Clement XIV (1705–1774, pope from 1769) on July 21, 1773, opened the way for the enlightened archbishop to reshape the university in Mainz as well. After the dissolution of the Jesuit College on September 6 of the same year, all professors of the dissolved order were removed from their posts, which the elector then refilled, with preference given to proponents of the Enlightenment. Elector Emmerich Joseph was, however, unable to implement his plan for comprehensive reforms to coincide with the university’s 300th anniversary in 1777.
Archbishop Friedrich Karl Joseph von Erthal (1719–1802, elector from 1774) came to office as the candidate of the conservative-reactionary majority within the Mainz Cathedral Chapter. However, he soon followed Breidbach-Bürresheim’s policies in many areas, including university policy, and succeeded in implementing the major university reforms that his predecessors had failed to achieve. A fundamental prerequisite for this was the establishment of the University Fund in 1781. Its resources were drawn from the assets of the three wealthiest monasteries in Mainz, which were dissolved with imperial and papal approval. Responsibility for shaping the substance of the reform fell largely to Anselm Franz von Bentzel-Sternau (1738–1786), who was appointed university curator in 1782. The “New Constitution” adopted in 1784 clearly reflected the views of this committed advocate of the Enlightenment. Two new schools were founded, the School of Historical-Statistical Studies and the School of the Cameral Sciences, significantly expanding the range of subjects. The university was opened not only to non-Catholic students but also, for the first time, to Protestant professors. On the question of the right to award doctorates to non-Catholics, however, the elector continued to resist Bentzel’s corresponding efforts for a long time. Even at the lavish Restoration Festival celebrated in November 1784, Erthal made it unmistakably clear that he regarded the university and the sciences as serving the interests of church and state. Nevertheless, the reforms attracted considerable attention among enlightened circles and increased the appeal of the university in Mainz to both students and university lecturers. A number of famous scholars were appointed to the university in Mainz, including Johann Peter Weidmann, Samuel Thomas Soemmerring, Johannes von Müller, and Georg Forster, all of whom further enhanced the university’s reputation.
In the late 18th century, the university in Mainz was drawn into the vortex of the coalition wars against revolutionary France. In 1792, French troops captured the city of Mainz and drove out the elector. During the French occupation, many students and faculty members supported the Revolution and contributed significantly to the founding of a republic of its own in Mainz: the Republic of Mainz.
This republic was short-lived, however, and Mainz was swiftly recaptured by coalition forces. Under French occupation, teaching activities were suspended in 1792 in the face of the fighting and were not resumed on a regular basis amid the political upheavals of the ensuing years of war.
When the French reoccupied Mainz in 1798, the university was transformed into a central school and a specialized medical school by decree on April 28, and integrated into the French educational system. Following the dissolution of the central school and its conversion into a lycée in 1803, any claim to providing academic education was definitively abandoned. Only the specialized medical school maintained continuity with the old university until it too ceased teaching operations in 1823. Only some parts of the university continued to exist, including the University Fund, the Mainz “Accouchement” founded in 1784 (a training school for midwives), and the Mainz Seminary. Together, these institutions would help preserve the idea of a university in Mainz throughout the 19th century.
After World War II, the university in Mainz was ceremonially reopened on May 22, 1946, at the initiative of the French military government. Its new name, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, evoked its origins in the 15th century: Its namesake, Johannes Gutenberg, had shaped the city of Mainz and, far beyond its borders, the entire landscape of media production through his invention of movable-type printing, a development that took place during the very period in which the university was founded. It was initially the only university in the newly established state of Rhineland-Palatinate. The word “reopened” was used for good reason: The young JGU deliberately drew on the traditions of the old University inf Mainz, for example by reintroducing the university’s historic seal. In addition, the University Fund established in 1781, which once financed the historical institution, was also carried over and still supports research and teaching today. The Mainz Seminary also played a central role. Its professors formed the nucleus of the new School of Catholic Theology in 1946. The midwifery training institute founded in 1784 was incorporated into the university in 1950. The site selected for the new university was the former anti-aircraft barracks in the Mainz district of Bretzenheim. Although the complex had survived World War II largely intact, it had been extensively looted, making substantial repairs necessary before the university could move in. By May 1946, the facilities had been prepared for teaching activities. The first semester also got off to a successful start: Approximately 100 professors were appointed, and more than 2,000 students began their studies. In 2025, JGU had just under 30,000 students from 120 countries, placing it among the largest and most diverse universities in Germany. Around 4,200 researchers and scholars, including 519 professors, conduct research and teach at the university. With 76 academic units and 298 degree programs, JGU offers a broad spectrum and promotes interdisciplinary research and teaching.
The 1950s can be regarded as a period of consolidation for JGU. During this time, the university overcame the hardships of the postwar years and established itself successfully among the universities of West Germany. Soon, however, new challenges arose. Student numbers grew rapidly, while the university’s staffing and financial resources struggled to keep pace despite expansion plans. It was not until the late 1960s that the teaching staff could be expanded and the courses offered brought into line with rising demand.
The 1960s and 1970s brought new political awareness and student protests, very much in keeping with the social currents of the era. These disputes ultimately affected higher education policy as well. In 1970, the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Education Act was passed, which comprehensively expanded the university and gradually caused the protests to subside. The law did away with the old schools and reorganized JGU into faculties. As part of this reorganization, the State Institute for Music Education (today’s Mainz School of Music), the State Institute for Art and Crafts Education (today’s Academy of Fine Arts), and the State Institute for Physical Education were incorporated into the university as faculties. Another clear sign of institutional change was the election of Peter Schneider as the first president in 1974, marking the end of the traditional rector-based system of governance. At the same time, enrollment restrictions under the numerus clausus system and a severe housing shortage continued to fuel student protests. Despite these tensions, the university’s 500th anniversary celebration in 1977 proved a significant milestone, underscoring the historical continuity between JGU and the old university in Mainz while strengthening the university’s ties to the city.
Beginning in the 1980s, JGU evolved into a more strategically oriented organization. One milestone was the 1988 memorandum “Research and Teaching up to the Year 2000. Memorandum on the Future Development of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz,” with which the university began to position itself competitively by forming priorities. Since then, the history of JGU has been defined by expansion and modernization, helping it become one of the twenty largest universities in Germany.
Written by Chiara Daab and Lukas Holin (2026)
