Freiberg Mining Academy

Freiberg Mining Academy 

the world’s first higher school of mining and metallurgy. The academy was founded in 1765 in the city of Freiberg on the basis of J. F. Henckel’s laboratory by F. A. Heynitz and F. W. Oppel, government advisers for the mining industry in Saxony. The principle of combining theory and practice was first implemented at the academy. Instruction was offered in mineralogy, geology, mining, and metallurgy; subjects related to the coal industry and ferrous metallurgy were later added to the curriculum.

A. G. Werner and J. Charpentier taught at the Freiberg Mining Academy. A. von Humboldt, L. Buch, J. G. Herder, K. T. Kôrner, and Novalis were students there. In 1886 in a laboratory at the academy, C. A. Winkler discovered the element germanium, thus confirming Mendeleev’s periodic system.

When the German Democratic Republic was formed, the Freiberg Mining Academy became a major educational and scientific research center of the republic. As of 1976, the academy trained specialists in mathematics, natural sciences, mining, metallurgy, and engineering economics. The academy includes the Wilhelm Pieck Faculty of Workers and Peasants and the Institute of Socialist Economic Management. In the 1975–76 academic year, the academy had 3,800 students and more than 700 teachers, including about 60 professors. The library contains more than 250,000 volumes.