Witten/Herdecke University (UWH) is a private university in Witten, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Unlike most other German universities, it is a private enterprise with about 1100 students and 400 employees. The second part of its name is derived from the neighbouring town of Herdecke, where the founders of the Gemeinschaftskrankenhaus Herdecke invented the idea of the university.
According to their mission statement, UWH "develops and tests new forms of teaching and learning, designs new curricula and novel approaches in research, and explores innovative paths in university organization." Priding itself as "one of the best universities in business economics and the medicine field in Germany", its academic excellence has been disputed due lack of funding and frequent management changes[1][2]It hosts the first program of traditional Chinese medicine in Germany as well as a program for anthroposophical medicine. However, both programs are controversial, since their value has not been generally recognized by modern evidence based medicine or science.[3]
In chronological order, UWH formed these four schools:
It was recognized by the Federal Government as Germany's first private university in 1982. In 2001 the University of Witten/Herdecke was accepted as a member of the Rector's Association of German Universities.
The Founding President Dr. Konrad Schily (now also member of the German Bundestag) is the brother of the politician Otto Schily, former Federal Minister of the Interior.