Gerhard Mercator Universität Duisberg Gesamthochschule
IUP has a study abroad program at the University of Duisburg, Germany. The program is open to German majors and other students having a specific interest in a foreign study experience. For further information, contact the Department of Foreign Languages. The Office of International Education also maintains a list of study abroad programs in Germany.
The City of Duisburg
Duisburg lies in the northwestern part of Germany at the confluence of the Ruhr and Rhein rivers. Beginning as a Roman settlement in the fifth century AD, Duisburg became a Frankish royal court by the eighth century. The year 883 brought a Viking invasion. Eventually, Duisburg was pledged by the German emperor to the Duchy of Cleves, and later with Cleves to Brandenburg. The Reformation reached Duisburg by 1555. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries there was an increase in shipping, and today Duisburg has the largest inland port in the world.
Duisburg is situated near Düsseldorf and Cologne, an area rich in cultural and recreational opportunities. Since the 1980s, Duisburg's reputation as a gray, industrial city has gradually changed. Older industries like steel and coal have given way to technology and new businesses. Yet, multinational corporations such as Mannesmann, Klöckner, Krupp, and nearby Bayer, with tens of thousands of employees, have a significant presence. Parks with wooded tracts at the edge of the city and six lakes for swimming complement the urban environment. Duisburg has a population of about 550,000 and is within easy reach of Holland and Belgium for weekend excursions.
The University
The university was founded in 1655 and ranks among the oldest in Germany. However, in 1818 the university was dissolved in favor of a newly founded institution in Bonn. In 1972, a new type of university known as Gesamthochschule was established in Duisburg. The university's name is taken from the famous cartographer and geographer Gerhard Mercator (1512–94), who resided and taught in the city. The campus, with its modern instructional buildings, is bordered by wooded tracts, yet it is ten minutes by streetcar from the center of the city. The university has approximately 16,000 students and offers a variety of programs in business, arts and sciences, and technology.