History of the “Freie Universität Berlin”
(Free University of Berlin)
Source: Information leaflet of the Freie Universität Berlin
© President`s Office of Freie Universität Berlin, 2008
Freedom Carries an Obligation
Freie Universität Berlin was founded by students and scholars on
December 4, 1948, with the support of the American Allies and Berlin
politicians as a response to the persecution of students critical of the system
at University Unter den Linden in the Soviet sector of the divided city of
Berlin. These students and scholars wanted to study and carry out research at
Freie Universität, free of political influence. Thanks to generous donations
from the United States, Freie Universität was able to construct several new
central building complexes including the Benjamin Franklin university clinic
complex and the Henry Ford Building, the central lecture building. Based on its
founding tradition, Freie Universität’s seal to this day bears the Latin terms
for truth, justice, and liberty. In 2007, Freie Universität
dedicated a monument to the founding students who were murdered by the Soviet
secret service. The university presents its Freedom Award to personalities who
have made a special contribution toward the cause of freedom.
U.S. President John F. Kennedy visited Freie Universität in 1963.
The Henry Ford Building was constructed between 1952 and 1954 in the
Bauhaus tradition.
International from the Very Beginning
The foundation of Freie Universität Berlin was facilitated through international
support, and international impulses have shaped its research ever since. In
order to survive, both on an academic and an intellectual level, Freie
Universität established connections from its geographically isolated position
in West Berlin to organizations and personalities in Western Germany, Europe,
and the entire world. What began as a necessity rapidly evolved into a
successful strategy: currently, Freie Universität has over 130 partnerships
with scholarly institutions worldwide. The university is a drawing card for
international researchers. Freie Universität and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität
München are the two locations most often selected for visiting scholars through
the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. About 600 foreign scholars contribute to
the diversity in research and teaching. Of its approximately 34.000 students in
over 100 subject areas, 16 percent come from abroad.
Young University – Rich Tradition
Freie Universität is located in the leafy residential district of Dahlem
in southwestern Berlin. Around the beginning of the 20th century,
Dahlem was established as a center for research of the highest calibre.
Academic activity in Dahlem was supported by Friedrich Althoff, Ministerial
Director in the Prussian Ministry of Culture, who initially proposed the
foundation of “a German Oxford”. The first new buildings housed government
science agencies and new institutes of the University of Berlin. The Kaiser
Wilhelm Society – forerunner of the present-day Max Planck Society – was founded
in 1911 and established several institutes in Dahlem. A dynamic group of
researchers carried out pioneering research resulting in numerous Nobel Prizes.
Since its foundation, Freie Universität Berlin has been using buildings
formerly belonging to the Kaiser Wilhelm Society and, in addition, has added
numerous architecturally innovative buildings. Freie Universität’s central
campus consists of building ensembles within walking distance of each other.
The planners oriented themselves along the type of campus found in the United
States – a novelty in post-war Germany.
Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Straßmann achieved world fame for
their research performed in a garden house belonging to the Kaiser Wilhelm
Institute for Chemistry. Today, biochemists of Freie Universität carry out
research in this building.
Freie Universität Berlin
- represented by the President -
Univ.-Prof. Dr. Dieter Lenzen
Address: Kaiserswerther Str. 16-18
14195 Berlin
Office: Susanne
Glauert (P4)
Ina Lödden (P5)
Phone: 
(030) 838-731 00
(030) 838-731 04
Fax: (030) 838-731 07
E-Mail: praesident@fu-berlin.de
Vice President for Natural Sciences
Univ.-Prof.
Dr. phil. nat. Monika Schäfer-Korting
Address: Kaiserswerther Str. 16-18
14195 Berlin
Office: Susanne Hoch
Phone: (030) 838-731 20
Fax: (030) 838-731 47
E-Mail: vp2@fu-berlin.de