University Of Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

The University of Mannheim has always been home to excellent Social and Economic Sciences. The history of the university traces back to 1907, when Mannheim’s civil society fostered the foundation of Mannheim’s first School of Commerce (“Handelshochschule”). With the support of the Chamber of Commerce, the school developed to a flourishing center of higher education. Besides lectures in business administration, young salesmen attended lectures in philosophy, educational science, the arts and natural sciences. During the interwar period, new institutes of psychology and educational science have been founded.

In 1933, the nazi regime forced the School of Commerce to merge with the University of Heidelberg. Only three of 14 Jewish lecturers survived the holocaust. Among the victims was Otto Selz, head of the Institute of Psychology and president of the School of Commerce. Today, the Otto Selz street commemorates the life of the renowned researcher in the field of thinking processes.

In 1946, the School of Commerce was refounded as a public school of commerce. Today’s signet of the University of Mannheim and its inscription “IN OMNIBUS VERITAS” trace back to the constitution of the Electoral Academy of Sciences, which has been founded by Prince Elector Carl Theodor in the year 1763. The full quotation reads as follows: “In Allem Wahrheit, sei das höchste Gesetz – in omnibus veritas suprema lex esto”.

Since the official appointment as university, the number of students and the variety of programs has grown exponentially. Today, five schools offer first-class learning opportunities for 12,000 students. All academic programs are closely interwoven, e.g. you can attend lectures in Law or Social Sciences and learn basics in business administration. In 2008, this interdisciplinary approach has been institutionalized and new curricula have been established. 

Since its foundation in 2007, the Graduate School of Social and Economic Sciences is funded by the German Excellence Initiative. With the Mannheim Business School and close ties to renowned research institutes as the Mannheim Centre for European Social research (MZES) or the Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), the University of Mannheim is fit for the future.