Editing University of Bonn (section)

===Foundation===
The university's forerunner was the {{Lang|de|Kurkölnische Akademie Bonn}} (English: 'Academy of the [[Prince-elector]] of [[Cologne]]') which was founded in 1777 by [[Maximilian Frederick of Königsegg-Rothenfels]] (who was also one of the first employers of [[Beethoven]]), the prince-elector of Cologne. In the spirit of the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]] the new academy was nonsectarian. The academy had schools for [[theology]], [[law]], [[pharmacy]] and general studies. In 1784 [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Joseph II]] granted the academy the right to award academic degrees (''Licentiat'' and Ph.D.), turning the academy into a university. The academy was closed in 1798 after the left bank of the [[Rhine]] was occupied by France during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]].

The [[Rhineland]] became a part of [[Prussia]] in 1815 as a result of the [[Congress of Vienna]]. King [[Frederick William III of Prussia]] thereafter decreed the establishment of a new university in the new province (German: {{Lang|de|den aus Landesväterlicher Fürsorge für ihr Bestes gefaßten Entschluß, in Unsern Rheinlanden eine Universität zu errichten}}) on 18 October 1818. At this time there was no university in the Rhineland, as all three universities that existed until the end of the 18th century were closed as a result of the French occupation. The Kurkölnische Akademie Bonn was one of these three universities. The other two were the Roman Catholic [[University of Cologne]] and the Protestant [[University of Duisburg]].
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|image   = Universität Bonn.jpg
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|alt     = The Electoral Palace, the main building of the University of Bonn
|caption = The Electoral Palace, the main building of the University of Bonn
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|align   = center
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