BERLIN, University of, a celebrated in stitution of learning in Berlin, Germany. It is, with the exception of Bonn, the youngest of the German universities, but is probably the most famous of them all. It was founded in 1810, when the Napoleonic victories had left Prussia apparently crushed, and had even transferred her great University of Halle to the newly formed kingdom of Westphalia. Wilhelm von Humboldt was Minister of Education at the time, and Prussia's debt to him for organizing her national school system, with the University of Berlin at its head, during that period of national defeat and disaster, is certainly very great. It should be borne in mind, too, that Humboldt was ably seconded by Fichte and Schleiermacher. The first rector of the uni versity was Schmalz; the first deans of its faculties were Schleiermacher, Biener, Hufe land and Fichte; and before it was 10 years old it had for professors such men as Niebuhr, Wolff, Bockh, Bekker and Hegel. In more .recent years, Ranke, Mommsen, Helmholtz, Grimm brothers, Lepsius, Ritter, Gneist, Savigny, Virchow, and other famous scholars have up held the reputation which the university won for itself at the very start. There are four faculties, theology, medicine, jurisprudence and philosophy, with a total of 377 professors and teachers. It had in 1912 more than 14,000 students, of whom over 8,000 were matriculated. The university, also includes several ainstitu comprising the seminars, the institutes of physics, clinics, museums and observatories.
The university is supported by the state and is under control of the Minister of Education. The administration is in the hands of the rector and senate, the so-called eplenum,D or full body of professors, and the faculties. It has police and judicial powers over its members, exercised by the administration and a university court. Men and women of all nationalities are ad mitted. The choice of professors for distin guished excellence is still maintained. The library consists of over 200,000 volumes and more than that number of university and school etc. The chief library facilities for students are to be found, however, in the Royal Library (1,260.000 volumes), in the Reichstag Library (153,000 volumes), the Royal War Academy library (94000 volumes), and the Royal Prussian and Royal Secret Archives; other collections are also accessible.
From 1906-14 the University of Berlin was exchanging professors with Columbia and Har vard tmiversities, a system by which it maintained permanent chairs at these univer sities in return for an American professorship at home. The arrangement was in the hands of the Prussian government. The (Akademisc.he Auslcunftsstelle' was recently established as a bureau of information, particularly for foreign students.