Historical references
Books
G.W. Kernkamp et al (ed.), De Utrechtsche Universiteit 1636-1936, 2 volumes (Utrecht 1936).
H.W. von der Dunk et al (ed.), Tussen ivoren toren en grootbedrijf: de Utrechtse Universiteit, 1936-1986 (Maarssen 1986).
Hervé Jamin, Kennis als opdracht: de Universiteit Utrecht 1636-2001 (Utrecht 2001).
Bibliographic database
A bibliographic database containing 12,000 titles is available for more specific literature. The database can be searched per faculty, scientist, field or ceremony.
Album Promotorum
Utrecht University is compiling a large database of tens of thousands of PhD students, to form the so-called Digital Album Promotorum (DAP). Go to the Album Promotorum (in Dutch only).
Catalogus Professorum
Catalogus Professorum Academiae Rheno-Traiectinae
Archives
The institutional archives containing records of students, faculties and the Executive Board are kept in the Utrecht Archives. Part of the collection is accessible through the Utrecht Archives website. The University Library also contains archives, which include among other things an extensive correspondence from and between Utrecht scholars. These archives can be consulted at the Special Collections Department.
- Go to Utrechts Archief.
- Go to Bijzondere Collecties.
University Hall
More information on the University Hall.
University museum
Voluminous collections of teaching material and scientific equipment are preserved in the University Museum at the Lange Nieuwstraat. Parts of these collections are displayed in permanent and temporary exhibitions. The Museum also houses an orangery and a seed house from the eighteenth century, as well as greenhouses from the beginning of the twentieth century. Probably the oldest Ginkgo Bilobia in the Netherlands (from the eighteenth century) can be found in the Museum Gardens, which also feature a replica of the seventeenth-century herb garden by Professor Regius.
For more information, go to the University Museum.
Sonnenborgh Museum & Observatory
The beautifully restored bastion of the Sonnenborgh, constitutes an important place of commemoration for Dutch science. Sonnenborgh, which is open to the public, is a former observatory of Utrecht University where meteorologist Buys Ballot formulated his famous law. It also marks the seventeenth-century location of the botanical gardens and the first chemical laboratory in the Netherlands.
Botanic gardens
The modern Botanic Gardens, which are still in use, are important from a historical point of view. The gardens are located at Fort Hoofddijk at De Uithof, which is well-known among garden enthusiasts.
More information
For questions about the history of Utrecht University, please turn to Professor Leen J. Dorsman, historian of Utrecht University Email leen.dorsman@let.uu.nl.