Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Tübingen

TÜBINGEN, the university town of Würtemberg, is picturesquely situated on the hilly and well-wooded banks of the Neckar, at the junction of the Ammer and Steinlach, 18 miles south of Stuttgart, and on the S.E. border of the Black Forest. The older town is irregularly built and unattractive, but the newer suburbs, the chief of which is the Wilhelmsstrasse, are handsome. The most conspicuous building is the old ducal castle of Hohentübingen, built in 1507-1540 on a hill overlooking the town, and now containing the university library, observatory, chemical laboratory, &c. Among the other chief buildings are the quaint old Stiftskirche (1469-83), and the new aula and numerous institutes of the university, all of which are modern. A monument was erected in 1873 to the poet Uhland (1787-1862), who was born and is buried here. Tübingen's chief claim to attention lies in its famous university, founded in 1477 by Duke Eberhard. The university adopted the Reformed faith in 1534, and in 1536 a Protestant theological seminary—the so-called Stift—was incorporated with it. In 1817 a Roman Catholic theological faculty (the "Convict") and a faculty of politics and economics were added, and in 1863 a faculty of science. The leading faculty has long been that of theology, and an advanced school of theological criticism, the founder and chief light of which was F. C. Baur (q.v.), is known as the Tübingen school. Melanchthon was lecturer at Tübingen before he was summoned to Wittenberg. The university is attended by about 1400 students, a considerable proportion of whom are foreigners, and has a teaching staff of 53 professors, 17 extraordinary professors, and 10 lecturers. The commercial and manufacturing industries of the town are slight. Printing, book-selling, the manufacture of surgical and philosophical instruments, and the cultivation of hops, fruit, and vines are among the leading occupations of the inhabitants. The population in 1885 was 12,660 (11,708 in 1880). The country in the neighbourhood of Tübingen is very attractive; one of the most interesting points is the former Cistercian monastery of Bebenhausen, founded in 1185, and now a royal hunting-chateau.

Tübingen is mentioned as a strong fortress in 1078. In 1342 it was purchased by the count of Würtemberg, whose descendants afterwards acquired the title of duke. The treaty of Tübingen is the name given in German history to an arrangement made in 1514 between Duke Ulrich and his subjects, by which the latter acquired various rights and privileges on condition of relieving the former of his debts. The town was captured by the Swabian League in 1519, by Turenne in 1647, and again in 1688 by the French, who destroyed the fortifications. Tübingen was made a garrison town in 1875.