Leuphana University of Lüneburg is a public university located in Lüneburg, Lower Saxony, northern Germany. The name Leuphana comes from an ancient settlement on the Elbe river, which was mentioned in the geographical world atlas by Ptolemy as early as the second century.
The institution was originally founded in 1948 as a teacher-training college and was officially granted university status in 1989. It merged with the University of Applied Sciences North-East Lower Saxony in 2005, which broadened the range subjects on offer in business administration and social work.
The university’s mission statement is based on what it describes as its three core concepts: humanism; sustainability; and application orientation.
A third of all the institution's undergraduate programmes and about a quarter of all its graduate school programmes are dedicated to fostering what the university describes as “humanistic educational purposes in a specialised curriculum”: The doctoral programmes are designed to promote critical academic reflection.
Another of Leuphana University’s aims is to create a sustainable campus. It is certified by the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme, was declared family friendly in 2010, and has been climate neutral since 2014. It was awarded the label Fairtrade University in 2016, and shortlisted for the German Sustainability Award in 2017.
The term “application orientation”, the university says, “implies the recognition of opportunities as much as courage and ability to act with self-reliance for the common good”.
Notable alumni of the university include television talk show host, Britt Reinecke; the writer, presenter and actress Tine Wittler; and the legal scholar Jörg Philipp Terhechte.
