# University of Harderwijk > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/University_of_Harderwijk > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/University_of_Harderwijk.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Harderwijk > Source revision: 1352118866 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Public university in Harderwijk, Dutch Republic (now the Netherlands) from 1648-1811 This article needs more citations. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "University of Harderwijk" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Harderwijk, tower: het Linnaeustorentje The **University of Harderwijk** (1648–1811), also named the *Guelders Academy* ([Latin](/source/Latin_language): *Academia Gelro-Zutphanica*), was located in the city of [Harderwijk](/source/Harderwijk), in the [Republic of the United Provinces](/source/Republic_of_the_United_Provinces) (now: the [Netherlands](/source/Netherlands)). It was founded by the province of [Guelders](/source/Guelders) (Gelre). ## History The university of Harderwijk was founded during the [Dutch Republic](/source/Dutch_Republic) by the [States of Gelre](/source/Provincial_Council_of_Gelderland) at the end of the [Eighty Years' War](/source/Eighty_Years'_War), in 1648. The universities of Leiden (1575), Franeker (1585), Groningen (1614) and Utrecht (1636) had already been founded earlier. Harderwijk was the fifth Dutch university. It was always to be small, with never more than sixty new students, and a maximum of 150 each year. In the 18th century, the university of Harderwijk attracted students with its low fees. In the time of the 18th-century Swedish [biologist](/source/Biologist), [Carl Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), a doctorate could not be obtained in many other European countries. Graduates students would often go to the Dutch Republic, where the universities had good reputations. The wealthy usually travelled to [Leiden](/source/Leiden_University); the less fortunate could go to Harderwijk, where the doctorate was less expensive, and could be attained much faster. One of the professors of Harderwijk was [David de Gorter](/source/David_de_Gorter), who was friends with Linnaeus. He was royal physician to Empress [Elizabeth of Russia](/source/Elizabeth_of_Russia). The university was closed in 1811 during the French occupation. Later, king [William I](/source/William_I_of_the_Netherlands) tried to re-establish the university, without success. ## Modern culture In the 1990s, the university became more known to a new audience thanks to the fictional character Prof. Fetze Alsvanouds ("Als vanouds" loosely translated as "like the good old days"), who was played by [Aart Staartjes](/source/Aart_Staartjes) and regularly appeared in the humorous Dutch children's television program *[Het Klokhuis](/source/Het_Klokhuis)*. Alsvanouds posed as a professor at the University of Harderwijk, and declaimed sundry false and often ridiculous 'scientific' explanations for common things in everyday life for children.[1] ## Notable alumni Some well-known graduates of the University of Harderwijk are - Hungarian encyclopedist [János Apáczai Csere](/source/J%C3%A1nos_Ap%C3%A1czai_Csere) (1651) - artist [Romeyn de Hooghe](/source/Romeyn_de_Hooghe) (1689) - explorer [Jacob Roggeveen](/source/Jacob_Roggeveen) (1690) - physician and chemist [Hieronymus David Gaubius](/source/Hieronymus_David_Gaubius) - physician [Herman Boerhaave](/source/Herman_Boerhaave) (1693) - Swedish scientist [Carl Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus) (1735) - Hungarian linguist [János Uri](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=J%C3%A1nos_Uri&action=edit&redlink=1) (1749) - explorer [Robert Jacob Gordon](/source/Robert_Jacob_Gordon) (1759) - statesman [Herman Willem Daendels](/source/Herman_Willem_Daendels) (1783) - engineer and general [Cornelis Krayenhoff](/source/Cornelis_Krayenhoff) (1784) - poet [A.C.W. Staring](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=A.C.W._Staring&action=edit&redlink=1) (1787) - English poet and metaphysical writer [Frank Sayers](/source/Frank_Sayers) (1789) ## See also - [List of early modern universities in Europe](/source/List_of_early_modern_universities_in_Europe) ## Publications - *Het Gelders Athene. Bijdragen tot de geschiedenis van de Gelderse Universiteit in Harderwijk (1648-1811)*. Hilversum, Verloren, 2000, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [90-6550-092-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/90-6550-092-8) - *Een onderschatte universiteit. 350 jaar Gelderse Academie in Harderwijk*. Red.: Liek Mulder en Willem Frijhoff. Harderwijk, Ver. Vrienden van het Veluws Museum, 1998, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [90-803020-4-X](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/90-803020-4-X) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Hij schopte kindertelevisie in een nieuwe fase: Aart Staartjes (1938-2020)"](https://de-lage-landen.com/article/hij-schopte-kindertelevisie-in-een-nieuwe-fase-aart-staartjes-1938-2020). *De Lage Landen* (in Dutch). Retrieved 13 June 2020. ## External links - [http://www.destentor.nl/regio/veluwewest/932420/Pedel-regeert-weer-op-universiteit.ece](https://www.destentor.nl/regio/veluwewest/932420/Pedel-regeert-weer-op-universiteit.ece) (in Dutch) [52°20′58″N 5°36′59″E / 52.34944°N 5.61639°E / 52.34944; 5.61639](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=University_of_Harderwijk¶ms=52_20_58_N_5_36_59_E_region:NL_type:landmark_source:kolossus-frwiki) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF National United States Other Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [University of Harderwijk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Harderwijk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Harderwijk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.