Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3381-5850

Date of Award

12-31-2025

Document Type

Open Access Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

First Advisor

Elizabeth McCahill

Second Advisor

Kelly Colvin

Third Advisor

Timothy Hacsi

Abstract

Wilhelm von Humboldt and the Idea of the Modern University examines Wilhelm von Humboldt’s contribution to shaping a philosophical ideal that has profoundly influenced the concept and identity of the modern research university for over two centuries. It highlights Humboldt’s position as a key figure in the Prussian reform movement and as the founder of the University of Berlin. Specifically, it addresses a question raised in the late twentieth century as part of the Mythos Humboldt revision: why has the Humboldtian Ideal maintained such lasting influence over the German university system, even as its practical realities have increasingly strayed from the normative principles that initially defined the Humboldtian University? Extending this inquiry, the current study offers a post–Mythos Humboldt analysis of the University of Berlin’s founding between 1808 and 1810. It focuses on Humboldt’s concrete administrative actions, as documented in the official papers he produced while serving as Geheimer Oberregierungsrat und Leiter der Sektion für Kultus und Unterricht im Ministerium des Innern, section head of ecclesiastical affairs and public education in the Prussian Ministry of the Interior (1809–1810), in conjunction with his foundational theoretical writings from the late 1780s through the mid-1790s. By analyzing these documents within their institutional, intellectual, and political contexts, this study aims to shed light on the roots of Humboldt’s lasting appeal and to explain the ongoing normative authority of the Humboldtian Ideal in modern higher education.

This thesis contends that the resilience of the ideals defining the Humboldtian University can be traced to Humboldt’s integration of his philosophical commitments into a broader reform framework. These commitments influenced not only his vision as the founder of the University of Berlin but also his involvement in a wide range of social, cultural, ecclesiastical, and educational reforms, thereby expanding the application of the Humboldtian Ideal beyond the university itself. Concepts such as Bildung (self-cultivation), Wissenschaft (pure science), Freiheit und Einsamkeit (intellectual freedom and solitude), and the critique of Einseitigkeit (one-sidedness) were systematically integrated into both university policy and the broader state reform efforts. These findings suggest an alternative to current interpretations of university reform, which are primarily based on socio-institutional history. Instead, this thesis advocates for a socio-philosophical analysis grounded in Humboldt’s own writings, which is a complementary extension to earlier approaches reflecting the profound intellectual and cultural transformation that reshaped German-speaking Europe at the turn of the nineteenth century.

Comments

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