Karl-Franzens Universität, besides known as a University of Graz, is the city's oldest university, founded within 1585 by Archduke Charles II. For virtually all of its being it was controlled per Catholic church, & was closed inside 1782 by Joseph II inside an attempt to benefit state control on top training institutions. Joseph II transformed it into the lyceum in which civil servants & medical personnel were trained. Within 1827 it was re-instituted as a university by Emperor Franz We, so gaining a title 'Karl-Franzens Universität,' meaning 'Charles-Francis University.' Above 30,000 students presently learn at this university.

Nikola Tesla studied electrical engineering at the Polytechnic in Graz in 1875. Nobel Laureate Otto Loewi taught at the University of Graz from 1909 until 1938. Erwin Schrödinger was briefly chancellor of the University of Graz in 1936. Before long thenceforth, the little concentration camp was install nearby (the sub-camp of Mauthausen) and Schrödinger fled. Well-known professors
Ludwig Gumplowicz, taught administration 1897 - 1909