About the Faculty

Statistics of the Faculty

Facts and Figures

Throughout the six decades of existence, Vilnius University diplomas were awarded to over 16 000 graduates of the Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University. Currently, the Faculty has a base of 955 students, 695 of whom are the BA level students (185 this year, 66 of them are foreign students), 238 of whom are the MA level students (123 this year, 31 of them are foreign students) and 22 PhD students (2 of them are foreign students).

The material base that meets the demands of the study and science process is constantly being updated: currently, the Faculty consists of 31 classrooms, 28 out of which have multimedia equipment, 7 computer classrooms, 2 terminal computer classrooms, video conference studio and a modern audiovisual translation lab (AVL). The overall number of computers in the faculty amounts to 268; almost 199 out of them are used for the study purposes, and 69 – for the administration’s needs.

History

2014: the 50^th year of Vilnius University in Kaunas

Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius University is located in the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, it was established in 1964 as an alternative in Humanities to the in those days popular technical institutions of higher education. The establishment was entitled Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of General Sciences where only evening form of studies were provided since the faculty did not own any premises at that time. The Faculty was born out of the idea that it would only offer general, fundamental sciences in the field of Humanities, while the speciality studies would be continued on the extramural level. However, in 1984, the Faculty moved to the current location in the Kaunas Old Town and became capable of developing different forms and directions of study. In 1989, the Faculty launched full-time studies and became the Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of Humanities. In 2017, the name was changed to Kaunas Faculty.

The Faculty has had different titles:

1964 – 1966:  Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of General Sciences

1966 – 1989: Vilnius University Kaunas Evening Faculty

1989 – 2017 : Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of Humanities

2017 – to date: Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty

History of the VU KnF architectural ensemble

In 1984, after a decade-worth of restoration and repair works, the Faculty settled down in one of the oldest locations in the Kaunas Old Town, i.e. two cozy Kaunas Old Town blocks on the bank of the Nemunas river. The premises of the third block are being restored.

The history of this particular location in the Kaunas Old Town is closely related to the existence of the Lutheran community in Kaunas. Stone residential structures that later formed the Faculty’s complex were built in 16^th-17^th centuries. The Western block served the purpose of the royal Kaunas custom-house in the 5^th-6^th centuries. Nearby, rich German merchants were building residential and farmhouses; the merchants became Lutherans after the Reformation in Germany. With the goal of establishing themselves in one location in the town, they gradually bought all the structures and lots of the Western block. One of the merchants – J. Naugardas – bought all the structures of the Western block, and after his death his son-in-law sold the structures to the Lutheran community. Currently, this building holds the Institute of Social Sciences and Applied Informatics. The adornment of the entire block (also called the Lutheran block) is the Evangelic Lutheran Church built in 1682-1683. The construction of the church was finished only after 200 years when the bell tower was built based on the architect Jokūbas Voleris’ project in 1860-1862.

Restoration of the Faculty’s ensemble of premises

This block hasn’t changed much throughout the decades or suffered any damage during fires and wars. The restoration works started in 1974, while in 1984, Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty was established here.

The most prominent building, i.e. the former Church’s consistory, holds the Faculty’s Dean Office. The Renaissance detail has been preserved during restoration, i.e. the window opening, gables, carved joists. The restorers did well in harmonising the old architecture with the renovated buildings and their parts. The two buildings merged in the Eastern block have preserved the narrow Medieval street, the Romance brick and stone cellars; one of the classrooms was plastered the old way, i.e. by mixing lime and salt. The preserved half-timbering stairwell gives evidence that the premises belonged to German townsmen. The best known building of this block is the house of Napoleon with a unique Renaissance gable made famous by the legend dating back to the 19^th century when Napoleon’s army ravaged the Kaunas town. This is the house where the French troops stored guns and gunpowder. As the legend goes, one rainy June night was when Napoleon himself rode to the house to check on the troops and whether they have made the storehouse secure. During that night, heavy lightings started, and Napoleon was forced to stay the night. Currently, the restored Napoleon’s house holds the Institute of Language, Literature and Translation Studies.