Leiden University

Lore & Background

Leiden University was established in 1575 to provide the Northern Netherlands with educated citizens and government officials, as the region lacked universities. The choice of Leiden is said to have been a reward for the city's heroic defense against Spanish attacks in 1574. The foundation certificate bears the name of Philip II of Spain, who forbade his subjects from studying there. The university initially occupied the Convent of Saint Barbara, later moving to the Faliede Bagijn Church in 1577 and then to a former Cistercian convent in 1581, where it remains, though the original building burned in 1616.

Within its first fifty years, scholars such as Justus Lipsius, Joseph Scaliger, Hugo Grotius, and Jacobus Arminius built the university's reputation. By the 1640s, over five hundred students from across Europe made it the largest Protestant university. Baruch Spinoza studied Descartes's work there. In 1896, Pieter Zeeman discovered the Zeeman effect at the institution, explained by Hendrik Antoon Lorentz. Professor Heike Kamerlingh Onnes achieved temperatures near absolute zero, liquified helium in 1908, and contributed to the discovery of superconductivity.

The university's library holds over 5.2 million books and fifty thousand journals, including notable collections on Indonesia and the Caribbean. In 2005, Einstein's manuscript on the quantum theory of the ideal gas related to Bose-Einstein condensation was found in its collections. The Zweetkamertje (Sweat Room) in the Academy Building is a small chamber where doctoral candidates await defense results; its walls are covered with signatures of graduates.

Reader's Guide

Leiden University holds a central place in Dutch and European intellectual history as the oldest surviving university in the Netherlands. Founded during the Dutch Revolt, it symbolized the emerging republic's commitment to education and Protestant scholarship. Its early faculty included leading humanists and theologians, and it became a hub for scientific discovery, notably the Zeeman effect and low-temperature physics. The university's modern role extends through its strategic alliance with Delft University of Technology and Erasmus University Rotterdam, and its partnership with Duke University School of Law. It is a member of the Coimbra Group, the Europaeum, and a founding member of the League of European Research Universities. The university's alumni include numerous Dutch prime ministers, members of the royal family, and US president John Quincy Adams. Its libraries and museums house globally significant collections, particularly on Indonesia and the Caribbean. The Zweetkamertje tradition, where graduates sign the walls, reflects a unique cultural heritage. Leiden University continues to influence governance, law, science, and the humanities from its campuses in Leiden and The Hague.

Did You Know?

• The Zeeman effect was discovered at Leiden University in 1896 by Pieter Zeeman.
• The Zweetkamertje (Sweat Room) walls bear signatures of graduates.