Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München | |
| Latin: Universitas Ludovico-Maximilianea Monacensis | |
Other name | University of Munich |
|---|---|
Former name | University of Ingolstadt (1472–1800) |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 26 June 1472 |
| Budget | EUR 879 million (2024) |
| President | Matthias H. Tschöp |
Academic staff | 840 professors 6,241.5 other (2024) |
Administrative staff | 10,626.2 (2024) |
| Students | 52,658 (WS 2025/26) |
| Location | , Bavaria , Germany 48°09′03″N 11°34′49″E / 48.15083°N 11.58028°E |
| Campus | Urban |
| Nobel Laureates | 50 (January 2026) |
| Colours | Green and white |
| Affiliations | German Excellence Universities, Europaeum, LERU, U15 |
| Website | lmu.de |
The Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, commonly referred to as the University of Munich, is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as the University of Ingolstadt in 1472 by Duke Ludwig IX of Bavaria-Landshut, it is Germany's sixth-oldest university in continuous operation.
In 1800, the university was moved from Ingolstadt to Landshut by King Maximilian I Joseph of Bavaria when the city was threatened by the French, before being transferred to its present-day location in Munich in 1826 by King Ludwig I of Bavaria. In 1802, the university was officially named Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität by King Maximilian I of Bavaria in honor of himself and Ludwig IX.
LMU is currently the second-largest (and largest on-site) university in Germany in terms of student population; in the 2025/26 winter semester, the university had a total of 52,658 matriculated students. Of these, 7,451 were freshmen, while international students totaled 11,658 or approximately 22% of the student population. As for the operating budget, the university recorded in 2024 a total of 879.0 million euros in funding without the university hospital; with the university hospital, the total university funding for that year amounted to approximately 2.25 billion euros.
As of 2023, LMU Munich is associated with 50 Nobel laureates. Among these were Ferenc Krausz, Gerhard Ertl, Theodor W. Hänsch, Gerd Binnig, Ernst Otto Fischer, Karl von Frisch, Feodor Lynen, Otto Hahn, Adolf Butenandt, Werner Heisenberg, Thomas Mann, Heinrich Otto Wieland, Max Planck, Richard Willstätter, Max von Laue, Wilhelm Wien, Adolf von Baeyer, and Wilhelm Röntgen. Notable alumni, faculty and researchers include Pope Benedict XVI, Rudolf Peierls, Josef Mengele, Richard Strauss, Walter Benjamin, Joseph Campbell, Muhammad Iqbal, Marie Stopes, Wolfgang Pauli, Bertolt Brecht, Max Horkheimer, Karl Loewenstein, Carl Schmitt, Gustav Radbruch, Ernst Cassirer, Ernst Bloch, Hermann Göring, and Konrad Adenauer. LMU has recently been conferred the title of "University of Excellence" under the German Universities Excellence Initiative, and is a member of U15 as well as the LERU.