Tartu University marks several important dates in 2002 - it is the 370th anniversary of the foundation of the University in 1632, as well as the bicentenary of its reopening and of the foundation of the University library in 1802. In 1632, when Estonia was under the Swedish crown, King Gustaf II Adolf founded the University in Tartu. Known as Academia Gustaviana, it functioned in Tartu until 1656 and in Tallinn in 1656-65. From 1690 the University worked in Tartu and later in Pärnu under the name of Academia Gustavo-Carolina until the end of Swedish rule in 1710. In 1802 the University was reopened in Tartu; Kaiserliche Universität Dorpat became widely known internationally. Although Estonia was then part of Russia, tuition at the university was in German until the 1890s, later in Russian. Since 1919 until today, instruction at the university has been in Estonian.

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