The romantic Idea of the university: England and Germany, 1770-1850

By 1800, critics in England and Germany accused universities of harboring indolent professors, immoral students, and antiquated curricula. The romantics also critiqued universities; in doing so, they prevented a new Idea of the university, a new concept of what universities should be. In both countries this Idea grew out of the romantic view of how the human mind worked, but its application had different results in each country.; In Germany, this Idea was first manifested at the University of Jena in the 1790's. Due in part to the presence of Johann Gottlieb Fichte, some of Germany's finest young minds were drawn to this small provincial university. Here, Fichte and Schiller argued that universities must not merely produce civil servants, doctors, and ministers as they had in the past, but must work towards developing the minds of the young and, in doing so, improve the moral and cultural well-being of society. These beliefs were also present when Fichte and Humboldt worked to establish the University of Berlin in 1810, an institution which emphasized cultivation of the mind through academic research.; In England, Coleridge and Wordsworth developed their own Idea of the university. Due largely to Coleridge's influence, this Idea reflected concepts derived from idealist philosophy as did its German counterpart. However, Coleridge and others attached to the German emphasis on mental cultivation a strong sense of Christian morality and a desire to keep the universities part of England's National Church. Small groups such as the Cambridge Apostles and the Oxford Movement worked to preserve the religious character of the English universities. These groups used concepts derived from the romantics to promote their positions and helped ensure the survival of the tutorial and collegiate systems. Consequently, while the romantic Idea of the university contributed to the founding of a new type of university in Berlin, it had a conservative impact on English university structures.