Palacký University Olomouc
Palacký University Olomouc (Czech: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci) is the oldest university in Moravia and the second-oldest in the Czech Republic. It was established in 1573 as a public university led by the Jesuit order in Olomouc, which was at that time the capital of Moravia and the seat of the episcopacy. At first it taught only theology, but soon the fields of philosophy, law and medicine were added.
Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci | |
| Latin: Universitas Palackiana Olomucencis | |
| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Established | 1573 |
| Budget | 1,029,436,000 CZK (42,381,062 €) |
| Rector | Martin Procházka |
| Students | 24,587, of that 4,041 international (year 2021) |
| Location | , 49.59508°N 17.25914°E |
| Campus | Urban |
| Colors | Cobalt blue and Gold |
| Affiliations | EUA |
| Website | upol.cz |
After the Bohemian King Joseph II's reforms in the 1770s the university became increasingly state-directed, and today it is a public university. During the Revolution of 1848 university students and professors played an active role on the side of democratisation. The conservative king Francis Joseph I closed most of its faculties during the 1850s, but they were reopened by an act of the Interim National Assembly passed on 21 February 1946. This act also extended the name from University of Olomouc to Palacký University Olomouc, after František Palacký, a 19th-century Moravian historian and politician.
The city of Olomouc has the highest density of university students in Central Europe, with around 25,000 university students (including those at Moravian College Olomouc), compared to a population of 100,000 inhabitants. Notable people who have taught, worked and studied at the university include Albrecht von Wallenstein and Gregor Mendel.