RUG launches free walk in the city of Groningen: a journey of discovery among the first women of the University of Groningen

The walk allows walkers to follow in the footsteps of the first women of the University of Groningen through nine sites. In the context of the year Aletta RUG has entered into a partnership with historians Sanne Meijer and Iris van den Brand, both graduates of RUG. They did the Town Walk, which will be available online for free for everyone from Saturday June 5th.

Groningen: progressive city

“Such a thing could not happen in Leiden, in Utrecht. It was only possible in Groningen, in the radical north. The quote from Groningen professor BDH Tellegen about Aletta Jacobs’ propaedeutic examination symbolizes the Groningen’s role as a progressive city at the end of the 19th century, writes the University of Groningen.

In Groningen, women were allowed to participate in science for the first time

“The liberal climate in Groningen at the time made it possible for women to participate in science for the first time. This partly explains the important history of women at the University of Groningen, which forms the basis of this city walk. ‘

First student, professor, lecturer and doctoral student

Among other things, RUG welcomed the first student to a Dutch university in the person of Aletta Jacobs. He produced the first female teacher in Groningen and the second in the Netherlands, Tine Tammes. Marie Loke was appointed the first female teacher at a Dutch university. Betsy Bakker Nort, a student at the University of Groningen, was also one of the first doctoral students with her feminist thesis.

In the same period, the very first student association in the Netherlands was founded in Groningen, later called Magna Pete.

The walk is 5.5 kilometers and about an hour and a half of walking. The Town Walk can be downloaded for free at rug.nl/alettajaar.