Founded in 1477, the University of Mainz is one of the oldest universities in Germany. Teaching came to an end after the French Revolution, when the city of Mainz was under siege. It was only after the Second World War that the university was officially reopened in 1946 on the initiative of the French occupation powers. Today the university has an enrolment of approximately 29,000 students, including ca. 4,000 international students.

Johannes Gutenberg-University offers a broad spectrum of subjects; you can study almost any subject, with the exception of architecture, veterinary medicine, agriculture, and engineering. The university encompasses 19 faculties (Fachbereiche or FBs). Since 1997, the Clinical Centre has been an institution in its own right; the 'Universitätskliniken', the largest medical facility in Rhineland-Palatinate, is the state's only university hospital and its center of medical research. The Faculty of Applied Linguistics and Culture Studies (FB 23), which offers degree courses in translation and interpreting, is located in Germersheim, about 100 km from Mainz.

The majority of the faculties and departments are situated on the university's campus at the edge of the city centre. There are two bookshops on campus, a small supermarket, a post office, cafés and restaurants, spacious sports facilities and a beautiful Botanical Garden.

The university enjoys an outstanding reputation in the field of research. Several Max Planck Institutes as well as numerous postgraduate research groups and special research projects funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Council) form an integral part of campus life. Johannes Gutenberg-University has approximately 300 international partnership programmes world-wide.