University of Altdorf

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The University of Altdorf (German: Universität Altdorf) was a university in Altdorf bei Nürnberg, a small town outside Nuremberg. It was founded in the late 16th century, received university privileges in 1622 and was closed in 1809 by Maximilian I of Bavaria.

Notable instructors include Daniel Schwenter.

Notable students include later imperial field marshals Albrecht von Wallenstein (1583-1634) and Gottfried Heinrich zu Pappenheim (1594-1632); the polymath Johann Schreck (1576-1630); the composers Wolfgang Carl Briegel (1626–1712) and Johann Pachelbel (1653-1706); and the theologian David Caspari (1648-1702).

The polymath Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (1646 – 1716), perhaps most famous for co-discovering calculus, received his Ph.D. from the University of Altdorf for his habilitation thesis in philosophy, On the Art of Combinations. However, he only submitted this thesis to Altdorf after the University of Leipzig did not guarantee him a position teaching law upon graduation.