Famed minds such as Humboldt and Einstein, Hegel and Planck laid the foundations for Germany’s reputation as a land of scholars and as the “country of thinkers and poets”. As early as medieval times, scholars from all over Europe made the pilgrimage to the newly founded universities in Heidelberg, Cologne and Greifswald. Later, following the university reforms carried out by Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835), the German universities actually became considered the ideal example followed by discerning academics elsewhere. Humboldt conceived of the university as a venue for the independent pursuit of knowledge.