German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina

The Leopoldina is the national academy of sciences of Germany and the oldest continuously existing academy of natural science and medicine in the German-speaking world. Four physicians founded it in the imperial city of Schweinfurt on 1 January 1652 as the Academia Naturae Curiosorum. Emperor Leopold I raised it to an academy in 1677 and declared it an imperial academy in 1687, which gave it his name. For centuries it met by correspondence wherever its president lived, publishing its Ephemeriden from 1670 as one of the earliest scientific journals, until it settled permanently in Halle in 1878. Election to membership is regarded as the highest academic honour given by an institution in Germany. Since 2008 it has served officially as the national academy, funded by the federal government and the state of Saxony-Anhalt.