state-controlled coeducational institution of higher learning at Halle, Ger. The university was formed in 1817 through the merger of the University of Wittenberg and the University of Halle.

Wittenberg was founded by the elector Frederick II of Saxony in 1502 as an institute of humanistic learning. Following the arrival of religious reformer Martin Luther at Wittenberg in 1508, the university became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. Philipp Melanchthon, a leading humanist teacher and educational reformer, taught at Wittenberg during the same period.

Halle was founded in 1694 by the elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as a centre for the Lutheran party. It has been called the first modern university, largely because it soon renounced religious orthodoxy in favour of objectivity and rationalism, scientific attitudes, and free investigation. Canonical texts were replaced by systematic lectures, and disputations by seminars; German took the place of Latin as the language of instruction; an elective system replaced the traditional formalized curriculum; and professors were given almost complete control of their work. The relative liberalism of Halle was adopted by Göttingen a generation later and was gradually taken up by all German, and then most American, universities.

Following the Napoleonic occupation, Prussia was unable to support two universities, and Halle and Wittenberg were merged in 1817. When Hitler came to power in 1933, the school was renamed the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg. During the postwar period, the university was much influenced by the Soviet education system. Preference in admissions was given to students with work experience or military service, tuition was free, and most students received a stipend for living expenses. In 1968 the school was organized by subject sections.