The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg) is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Wurzburg is one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in Germany having been founded in 1402. The University initially had a brief foundation and was closed in 1415, until it was permanently reopened in 1582 under the initiative of Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn.