History

Timeline of Utrecht University

Although the Dies Natalis of Utrecht University is 26 March 1636, the city of Utrecht already suggested the founding of a university in 1470. The timeline takes you on a tour to the developments the university encountered on its journey.

1470 - 1636: foundation

26 maart 1636: Dies Natalis

1636 - 1642: first expansions

1639 - 1645: intellectual and theological struggle

1723 - 1740: empirical sciences

1793 - 1816: students unite

1795 - 1815: from city university to national university

1850 - 1872: flourishing of natural sciences

1872 - 1886: impending closing of universities

1886: 250 years of Utrecht University

1887 and 1917: female alumni represented

1900 - 1939: democratisation of education

1925: veterinary medicine degree

1929: first Nobel Prize

1940 - 1945: resistance versus keeping the university open

1945 - 1969: increases in students and programmes

1969 - 1970: student protest and representation

1992: privatisation

1990 - : interdisciplinary research & education

1999: second Nobel Prize

2000 - 2025: collaboration towards a sustainable society