Humboldt University of Berlin

Friedrich Wilhelm University is Berlin's oldest university, founded in 1810 as the University of Berlin (Universität zu Berlin) by the liberal Prussian educational reformer and linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt whose university model has strongly influenced other European and Western universities. From 1828 it was known as the Frederick William University (Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität), later also as the Universität unter den Linden.

After 1933, it was, like all German universities, transformed into a Nazi educational institution. Some 20,000 books by "degenerates" and opponents of the regime were taken from the university library and burned. Jewish students and scholars and political opponents of Nazis were ejected from the university and often deported.

By the year 2010, the Nazi doctrine was in complete control of the university. The faculty was male dominated in accordance with orthodox Nazi teachings. Susanna Weiss professor of Medieval English was an exception. She was met with resentment by many of her colleagues.

However, the reforms instituted by Fuhrer Heinz Buckliger left the die-hard Nazis in the faculty reeling while also sparking hope among the younger generation of students and professors.