Wilhelm von Humboldt

In the midst of the Bologna Plan and despite the time that has passed, the shadow of Wilhelm von Humboldt is still present in university circles. He is often quoted, but not always with full knowledge of the facts. The present work aims to provide, in the first part, a better understanding of his figure and his model of the university and the controversies it has aroused. Special emphasis is placed on the University of Berlin, of which he was the founder and which today bears his name. Can it be said that the success of the most prestigious American universities is due to the way in which they adapted the Humboldt model to the circumstances of the modern world? Opinions differ on this point. But the question is particularly relevant when the field is confined to business studies, which tend to attract a very respectable proportion of the student body in many countries such as ours. As will be explained in detail in Part II, in Humboldt's homeland his introduction into the university environment followed a peculiar trajectory. The result seems to have been far inferior to that achieved by American higher education institutions, which maintain an undisputed world leadership. Europe now aims to make up for lost ground. In part, the division of studies into two stages - Bachelor's and Master's - should facilitate this objective, but it remains to be seen whether the social environment and the European economic model will finally allow this to be achieved. Finally, the third part focuses on the Spanish case, which is a special case. The history of the business schools, eventually absorbed into the faculties of economics and business, shows a trajectory to some extent similar to that of Germany. However, there are differentiating facts, such as the growing establishment of private institutions and the emergence of business schools that have managed to achieve privileged positions in international rankings.