Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University - History

History

The former University of Königsberg was commonly known as the Albertina. It was East Prussia's sole university and was specially regarded for its mathematics and astronomy. The campus was severely damaged by the aerial bombing in August 1944 during World War II. The Albertina was closed after Königsberg was taken by the Red Army.

After the war, Königsberg was renamed Kaliningrad and the new Russophone Kaliningrad State Pedagogical Institute used the campus of the Albertina from 1948 to 1967, including the main Albertina building inaugurated in 1862, in which some of the original structure can still be seen today. In 1967, the institute received the status of a university and became known as Kaliningrad State University.

In 2005, during the celebrations of the 750th anniversary of the founding of Königsberg, President Vladimir Putin of Russia and Chancellor Gerhard Schröder of Germany announced that the university would be renamed Immanuel Kant Russian State University in honour of Immanuel Kant.

As of 2005, the university consisted of twelve faculties with courses ranging from Natural Sciences to the Humanities. It had approximately 12,800 students enrolled, both undergraduate and post-graduate, and 580 faculty staff. IKSUR's Kant Society was created to study Kantianism, or Kantian philosophy. The university is also interested in the historical connections between Königsberg and Russia as far back as the 16th century. In 2010-2011 the university is undergoing an enlargement and rebranding process which will lead to changing its name from Immanuel Kant State University of Russia to Immanuel Kant Baltic Federal University.