Year Rings, Flux Lines, Contour Lines—the University Will Celebrate All Year Long
The whole year 2013 will be wreathed in the glory of celebrations of the 440th anniversary of the foundation of Palacký University in Olomouc. The anniversary will be commemorated by a logo open to manifold interpretations.
"The date of the founding of the university in 1573 has not been remembered adequately, despite the fact that you can count the number of universities in Central Europe at that time on one hand," says Vice-Rector Ladislav Daniel. His likes to prove his point with a story from a History exam at Charles University in Prague.
"Professor Jakubec always asks his students, what is the second oldest university in the Czech lands, and they never know," says the Vice-Rector with a smile. In his opinion, it is yet another reason to commemorate the 440th anniversary of the promotion of the Jesuit College in Olomouc to university status.
"When I started to investigate the international relations at Palacký University, I realised that our historical origin had been neglected even in this area. Yet all distinguished universities—such as Oxford, Bologna, Salamanca, or the Sorbonne—have always honoured their famous history. And we can count ourselves in their number," says Daniel.
Three 22s
Professor Daniel highlights two dates: 22 January 1573, when Pope Gregory XIII confirmed the designation of Bishop Vilém Prusinovský for the Olomouc college of the Society of Jesus and put the college under the patronage of Olomouc diocese—and 22 December 1573, when Emperor Maximilian II gave promotional rights to the new Jesuit university in Olomouc. These two dates boldly mark the span of the year-long celebrations.
Yet another date with the number 22 is significant in the history of Palacký University: 22 March 1581, when Emperor Rudolph II extended the promotional rights of Olomouc university to students of other Jesuit academies, provided they pass their exams in Olomouc. The emperor emphasised that degrees awarded by the Jesuit University in Olomouc had the same value as those from any comparable university—studia generalia as they used to be called—in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Poland, or any other nation.
At the time of the foundation of the university, Olomouc was the most important city and capital of Moravia. It was a centre of political life. "Even nearby cities such as Brno had to financially contribute to the functioning of the university," adds Daniel.
The turning point came in the nineteenth century when in 1860 Emperor Franz Joseph I relocated the university to Brno, which had been gaining in importance since the Thirty Years' War. Only Theology remained to be studied in Olomouc. The university was fully restored in 1946; however, the Communist takeover two years later brought further complications. This is why Professor Emeritus and former University Rector Josef Jařab claimed that 1989 is the date of the third foundation of the university. Today, Palacký University consists of eight faculties attended by 20,000 students.
The year-long celebrations will be accompanied with a memorial logo designed by Pavel Coufalík from the Studio of Graphic Design and Visual Communication at the Academy of Arts, Architecture and Design in Prague.
"The logo was supposed to express a variety of meanings in order to metaphorically reflect the multitude of aspects in education," explains Vice-Rector Daniel. Coufalík’s design was selected from two dozen proposals.
"I deliberately focussed on contours and circular lines. They can be applied to various branches of science. They reminded me of a magnetic field, the contour lines, or a temperature map," said Coufalík.
"It can symbolise anything. The contour curves of the mountain of knowledge. The temperature measurement of the Earth’s surface on a map evoking the outline of the Czech Republic with the red centre located in Olomouc. It can represent year rings symbolising history, or an exploding volcano evoking the eruption of knowledge, or waves on the surface, or an agate pebble standing for the preciousness of knowledge," suggests Daniel. Each member of the local academic community can further contemplate upon the subject for the rest of the year.
