De stad Utrecht en de dreigende opheffing van haar academie in 1849

Abstract

The town of Utrecht and the imminent abolishment of its university in 1849 Due to financial problems that dragged on for decennia and the idea that an educational reform was necessary, the post-1848 provisional Dutch government launched a plan to reduce the number of universities. As Leyden university was supposed to be 'untouchable', it was feared that either the university of Groningen or the university of Utrecht had to be closed down. This caused a great deal of fuss, especially in Utrecht, which was geographically the nearest to Leyden. In the reactions to this threat we can detect something of the importance the town of Utrecht attached to its university. The arguments to keep the university were fourfold: juridical-historical (the right to maintain an university, in 1636 granted by the souvereign States of the Province of Utrecht), cultural (i.e. the idea of the university as a supplier of general 'enlightenment'), financial (a few hundred families depended economically on the university) and political (the university of Utrecht was supposed to be a beacon of tranquillity and conservatism in those years of political upheaval). In the end none of the universities was abolished.