The University of Groningen has been an international university since its foundation in 1614. The first professors formed a rich international community, and many students came from outside the Netherlands, especially from areas now belonging to Germany. Internationalization, a popular slogan nowadays, is therefore nothing new, but its meaning has changed over time. How did the University of Groningen grow from a provincial institution established for religious reasons into a top-100 university with 36,000 students, of whom 25% come from abroad and almost half of the academic staff is of foreign descent? What is the identity of this four-century-old university that is still strongly anchored in the northern part of the Netherlands but that also has a mind that is open to the world? The history of the university, as told by Klaas van Berkel and Guus Termeer, ends with a short paragraph on the impact of the corona crisis.

Klaas van Berkel is a retired professor of History at the University of Groningen and the author of a three-volume history of the University of Groningen (in Dutch).

Guus Termeer is a former chief editor of the Groningen university weekly UK and a retired program maker of Studium Generale Groningen.

Preface by Jouke de Vries, President of the Board of the University

Introduction

1. Early heyday (1614-1714)

2. Enlightenment - but in moderation (1714-1814)

3. A century of extremes (1814-1914)

4. War and threats (1914-1945)

5. Growing pains and democratization (1945-1980)

6. Pragmatism with a touch of idealism (1980-2000)

7. The global university (2000-today)

Acknowledgements

Index