Timeline

Historical key data
1402	Pope Boniface IX grants the papal privilege to establish a comprehensive university in Würzburg. It is the fourth university to be founded in what is now Germany
	The university is housed in the courtyard "Zum großen Löwen", in the Neumünster Dechanteihof and in the courtyard "Zum Katzenwicker".
1410	Prince-Bishop Johann von Egloffstein grants the university privileges (including its own jurisdiction)
1413	Rector Johann Zantfurt is stabbed to death by his family member
1415	Start of the decline of the first university due to insufficient funding
1427	Appointment of Joh. v. Münnerstadt is the last document clearly attributable to the first foundation due to the poor source situation
1573	Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn is elected Prince-Bishop and immediately endeavours to renew the Würzburg High School
1575	University privileges of Emperor Maximilian II.
1576	Renewal of the papal privileges by Pope Gregory XIII.
1582	On 2 to 4 January, the university is reopened with a ceremony by Prince-Bishop Julius Echter. University privileges are granted and the Deans of the Faculties of Theology, Philosophy, Law and Medicine are appointed
	Foundation stone laid for the construction of the "Old University" with university church
1587	Decree of the statutes for the entire university and the faculties
1591	Completion of the "Old University" to house the theologians, lawyers and humanities scholars with the inauguration of the university church; accommodation of the Faculty of Medicine in the Juliusspital
1619	Prince-Bishop Johann Gottfried von Aschhausen lays the foundations for a general university library
1631	Conquest of Würzburg by the Swedes. Teaching remains suspended until their withdrawal in 1634, valuable parts of the library are sent to Uppsala as spoils of war
1695	Establishment of a botanical garden in the garden of the Juliusspital under Prince-Bishop Johann Gottfried von Guttenberg
1727	Unification of the university's individual endowment funds into one overall endowment. This greatly improves the university's ability to act and reform
1734	Prince-Bishop Friedrich Karl von Schönborn's new study regulations introduce the German language into teaching; law and practical relevance in general are promoted
1749	Regime of Karl Philipp von Greiffenklaus. With the creation of one of Germany's first professorships for experimental physics, this is separated from philosophy
1757	Establishment of an observatory on the tower of the university church
1773	Cancellation of the Jesuit order. This also marks the end of its dominant influence on the Faculty of Arts and Theology. Appointment of enlightened professors
1782	Creation of a professorship for chemistry and pharmacy under Prince-Bishop Franz Ludwig von Erthal, with whose support medicine is also reformed and becomes one of the leading disciplines in Germany
1802	Würzburg comes under Bavarian rule as a result of secularisation. The university loses its privileges and rights as a sovereign and landowner
1803	Fundamentally new organisational act for the university (by Maximilian IV, from 1806 King Maximilian I of Bavaria), elimination of the ecclesiastical-Catholic character, major expansion of the university library from church property, massive restriction of corporate self-administration, introduction of private lecturers; renaming of the university to Julius Maximilian University
1806	Grand Duchy of Würzburg under Ferdinand of Tuscany, abolition of the 1803 reorganisation and neglect of the university
1814	Würzburg finally comes under Bavarian rule, the university receives new statutes
1828	Abolition of state curatorship over the university and partial restoration of university self-administration. The election of the rector could still be overridden by the ministerial commissioner
1832	Foundation of the Aesthetic Attribute (later the University's Martin von Wagner Museum)
1833	More than a third of Würzburg's professors are dismissed under King Ludwig I due to liberal tendencies
1849	King Maximilian II issues new state statutes for the Bavarian universities, which bring significant improvements for the students and the university bodies. The result is a sharp increase in student numbers.
1850ff	Construction of numerous new university buildings for medicine in the Juliusspital/Pleicherwall area, for the natural sciences on today's Röntgenring and in Koellikerstraße, for dentistry at Pleichertor and for the mental hospital on Schalksberg
1858	Martin von Wagner donates his entire art collection and a large part of his fortune to the university's Aesthetic Attribute; establishment of the Martin von Wagner Museum, which develops into an important museum of ancient art through the acquisition of the Feoli Collection (1872) with around 500 Greek and Etruscan clay vessels
1878	Division of the Faculty of Arts into a philosophical-historical and a mathematical-scientific section
1896	Marcella O'Grady is the first woman to be admitted to the university
	The "New University" on Sanderring is opened
1903	The Kingdom of Bavaria admits women to study at the then existing state universities of Munich, Würzburg and Erlangen. In Würzburg, three women and 1,286 men enrol in the winter semester.
1919	Professor Wilhelm Wien and Würzburg students play a key role in freeing the hostages of the "Revolutionary Action Committee", which has occupied the Residenz, railway station and fortress. A General Student Committee (AStA) is set up to solve the problems and bottlenecks after the war
1921	Foundation of the "Society for the Promotion of Science at the University of Würzburg", which continues to operate today as the University Association
	Opening of the university hospital "Luitpoldkrankenhaus"
1929	Student house built on Sanderrasen
1933	Le Gleichschaltung and introduction of the "Führerprinzip" at the universities. The rector is appointed by the National Socialist rulers. Disagreeable university teachers are gradually dismissed and Jewish students are excluded from their studies
1937	Institution of an independent faculty for the natural sciences
1945	On 16 March, almost 90 percent of the city and university are destroyed in an air raid. After just six months, the university reopens on 1 October with the start of teaching in the Faculty of Catholic Studies, followed by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (January 1946) and the Faculties of Medicine and Law (1947).
1963	Reopening of the Martin von Wagner Museum in the south wing of the Residence. Decision by the Bavarian State Parliament to relocate large parts of the university from the city to a site on the outskirts of the city (Hubland). Between 1971 and 1978, the University Library, the Philosophy Building and buildings for the Faculty of Physics and Astronomy and the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy are built there
1968	New university statutes adopted. A college of rectors takes over the management of the university, with a chancellor responsible for administrative matters. Economics and Social Sciences separate from Law and Political Sciences and become the 6th Faculty of the University
1972	Integration of the College of Education as the 7th Faculty (Educational Sciences)
1974	Enactment of the Bavarian Higher Education Act, restructuring of the university: presidential constitution, new central bodies, reorganisation at faculty level into 13 departments, academic institutions and operating units, abolition of the AStA and the student parliament
1976	Appointment of a presidential college with five members to manage the university
1977	Dissolution of the 13th Faculty of Education as part of the new teacher training programme
1985	Festive inauguration of the new church as an assembly hall, 40 years after its destruction in the Second World War
1992	Construction of the Bio Centre at Hubland
1993	Microstructure laboratory at Hubland
1997	The Institute of Physical Chemistry completes the relocation of the Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy to the Hubland Campus
1998	First technical degree programme (Nanostructure Technology)
1999	Institute of Computer Science at Hubland
2002	600th anniversary of Egloffstein University
2004	Centre for Operative Medicine (ZOM) on the medical campus in the Grombühl district
2007	Reorganisation into ten faculties: Dissolution of the Faculty of Earth Sciences, transfer of Geology and Palaeontology to the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and incorporation of Geography into Faculty of Arts I - merger of Faculties of Arts I and II to form the new Faculty of Arts I, renaming of the former Faculty of Arts III to Faculty of Arts II
2009	New building for the Rudolf Virchow Centre and the Centre for Infection Research at the Department of Surgery
	Opening of the Centre for Internal Medicine (ZIM) on the Medical Campus
	Acquisition of the Leighton site (Hubland North Campus)
2011	Completion of the first construction phase at Wittelsbacherplatz (lecture theatre and library)
	Opening of the Hubland-North campus, completion of the Hubland-South lecture theatre and seminar building, completion of the central practical building
2014	Renaming of the Faculty of Arts II to Faculty of Human Sciences and the former Faculty of Arts I to Faculty of Arts
2015	Opening of the Mensateria on the North Campus
2016	Inauguration of the Center for Nanosystems Chemistry on the Hubland Campus
2017	The University and the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research in Braunschweig jointly establish the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research (HIRI) at the Würzburg site; the Max Planck Research Group for Systems Immunology moves to the University; the Children's and Family Centre opens on the North Campus; the German Centre for Heart Failure (DZHI) opens its new building on the grounds of the University Hospital
2018	JMU and TU Dresden are awarded the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat ("Complexity and Topology in Quantum Materials") in the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments; inauguration of the Graduate School of Life Sciences on the North Campus; JMU finalises the master plan for its further structural development
2019	The University Library celebrates its 400th anniversary; opening of the new building of the Institute of Inorganic Chemistry on the Hubland Campus; the Faculty of Catholic Theology unites all its institutes and chairs in the building at Bibrastrasse 11
2020	The renovation of the tower of the Neubaukirche is completed
2021	Opening of the Institute for Topological Insulators on the Hubland Campus
2022	Inauguration of the Institute for Sustainable Chemistry and Catalysis with Boron on the Hubland Campus
	The university joins the European university alliance CHARM-EU. The abbreviation stands for CHallenge driven, Accessible, Research-based Mobile European University
	JMU opens its sustainability laboratory WueLAB
2023	Foundation of the National Centre for Tumour Diseases NCT WERA under the leadership of Würzburg University Hospital. Other partners are the university hospitals in Augsburg, Erlangen and Regensburg
	Opening of the Centre for Philology and Digitality (ZPD) on the North Campus
	Opening of the Humboldt Building for Mathematics on the North Campus
	Foundation of the Centre for Entrepreneurship into Action (ZENTRIA) together with the Technical Universities of Würzburg-Schweinfurt and Aschaffenburg in cooperation with the region's start-up and technology transfer centres
2024	Opening of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science (CAIDAS) on the North Campus
	Opening of the German Centre for Prevention Research in Mental Health (DZPP) on the North Campus
2025	Opening of the Centre of Polymers for Life (CPL) and the Chemistry C31 practical building on Hubland Campus South
2026	Start of the Cluster of Excellence NUCLEATE (Cluster for Nucleic Acid Sciences and Technologies) together with the Munich universities LMU and TUM in the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments
	Further funding of the Cluster of Excellence ct.qmat under the name ctd.qmat (Complexity, Topology and Dynamics in Quantum Matter) together with TU Dresden in the Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments