Welcome
to the website of the Faculty of Catholic Theology at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU)!
With its over 250 students and 12 professorships, the JGU Faculty of Catholic Theology is one of the largest theological research and teaching institutions in southwest Germany. The Faculty of Catholic Theology and the Faculty of Protestant Theology uniquely form one joint university faculty, i.e. JGU's Faculty 01: Catholic Theology and Protestant Theology.
Our website provides information on the courses offered, the research and teaching profile of the department's professorships, and the multifaceted student and academic life on and around the JGU campus.
If you have any other questions concerning the teaching and learning model of the Faculty of Catholic Theology, please feel free to contact us any time.
Kind regards,
Professor Dr. Heike Grieser
Dean of Faculty
History of the faculty
A faculty of Catholic Theology existed from the very start of the medieval University of Mainz and began teaching students in October 1477 after established in October 1477 by Elector and Archbishop of Mainz Diether von Isenburg. Along with the episcopal see and the wider university, the faculty was destroyed during the wars of the French Revolution, which affected the greater Rhine region starting in 1792.
In 1804, Mainz, which had in the meantime been annexed by France, was reestablished as an episcopal see in Napoleon's Empire. Reconciling the facts that an episcopal throne could not exist without a seminary and that a seminary requires a theological teaching function, Bishop Joseph Ludwig Colmar created a theological course of study that year.
After the Second World War, the faculty was reinstated in tandem with the reestablishment of the whole university by the French occupational authority. The course of study at the episcopal seminary, which has continued to formally exist with full university rights until today, was discontinued. As a part of the university reforms implemented throughout Rhineland-Palatine in 1972, the faculty was given its modern name, “Faculty 01 ‘Catholic Theology.
In April 2005, Faculty 01 "Catholic Theology" and Faculty 02 "Protestant Theology" were formally merged into a new Faculty 01 "Catholic Theology and Protestant Theology" consisting of two separate faculties: the Faculty of Catholic Theology, and the Faculty of Protestant Theology.
Until 2019, the Faculty of Catholic Theology was located in the historic central building on the campus of the new university, which was originally an air defense barrack built in 1939. Today it is situated in a modern office building in the immediate vicinity of Mainz's main railway station.
Today
The Faculty of Catholic Theology has twelve professorships. The philosophical teaching component is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Philosophy.
The first point of contact for all issues related to course and examination organization is Cristina Gliwitzky, who also acts as Liaison Lecturer for foreign students.
You can find other ways to contact the department on the respective webpages.