Landmark
University of Wrocław
A Baroque main building on the bank of the Odra, begun in 1728 for a Jesuit university, and still the seat of the university today.
Where it started
The university began in 1702 as the Leopoldina. The Jesuits secured its founding, and Emperor Leopold I Habsburg issued the foundation document, known as the Golden Bull. It took its name from the emperor.
The foundation stone of the main building was laid on 6 December 1728, and it was built between 1728 and 1739. The building was never completed to its original plan: the eastern wing was left unfinished.
The Aula Leopoldina
The Aula was built between 1728 and 1732 together with the rest of the complex, and is named after Leopold I. Its decoration was carried out in 1731 and 1732, and it was formally opened and consecrated on 19 August 1732. The frescoes are by Johann Christoph Handke of Olomouc, the figural sculpture by Franz Joseph Mangoldt.
The Mathematical Tower rises from the same building. In 1791 it became an astronomical observatory, set up by the former Jesuit Longinus Anton Lorenz Jungnitz, a professor at the Leopoldina.
Three universities, one building
1702, 1811, 1945.
In 1811 the Catholic Leopoldina of Wrocław was merged with the Protestant Viadrina of Frankfurt (Oder) into a single state university, with five faculties: Catholic theology, Protestant theology, law, medicine and philosophy. That is the German university of Breslau. Its history ended with the surrender of Festung Breslau in 1945. The Polish university dates from the decree of 24 August 1945.
Seeing it
The Museum of the University of Wrocław is housed in the main building. It covers the Aula Leopoldina, the Oratorium Marianum, the Mathematical Tower and exhibition rooms.