Prague, Carolinum – Prague, Charles University
Fact of the Czech figure „The intersection of Europe”
Part of the „Transfer of the culture” topic
Charles University in Prague is the oldest university north of the Alps and east of Paris. It was founded in 1348 by the Czech king and Roman emperor Charles IV of the Luxembourg dynasty, who, inspired by the prestigious universities in Italy and France, sought to build an educational institution of the highest quality in Bohemia to promote the development of education and the sciences.
Charles University was soon one of the largest and most important universities in Europe, but it began to fall behind after 1409, when most of its German students and professors left the university in protest against changes in university rules and the growing influence of Bohemian religious reformers. After the outbreak of the Hussite Wars, the university’s leaders converted to Hussitism and the university entered a long period of stagnation and international isolation. In 1654 it was merged with the Jesuit University of Prague under the name of Charles-Ferdinand University.
Since the Enlightenment reforms of the 18th century, the scientific and pedagogical level of the university had been rising, but even it had not escaped the consequences of the national disputes that plagued modern society. In the last third of the 19th century, the university was divided into a Czech and a German university, and in the turbulent 20th century, the Czech university was first closed by the Nazi occupiers, while the German university was closed after the fall of Nazism. Charles University currently comprises 17 faculties and is one of the most important and prestigious scientific and educational institutions in Central Europe.
