The university received new impetus even before the reforms of Maria Theresa and her son Josef in the Age of Absolutism， who in 1768 compelled the university to accept a new constitution and the rector to wear a badge of office in addition to his scepterscepter： n.笏， 节杖， 王权. Several decades before this the university had already introduced modern languages， dancing， and fencing to its curriculum to cater to the needs of the aristocraticaristocratic： adj.贵族的， 贵族化的， 贵族政治的 students of the time. By the end of the 18th century many denominational limitations had been done away with and the university was well on its way toward becoming a secularizedsecularize： vt.使凡俗化， 使还俗， 改作俗用 and tolerant educational institution， ideals which Johann Georg Jacobi， the first protestant rectorrector： n. (某些学校， 学院， 大学的)校长， (修道院， 宗教学校的)院长 of the university， stood for as well.
The University of Freiburg remained comparatively small for a time after being incorporated into Baden despite the fact that it brought forth many personalities well known for their progressive ideas， such as Karl von Rotteck or Karl Theodor Welcker. It was not until the 1880，s that a surge of an enormous development took place. Departments differentiateddifferentiate： v.区别， 区分 themselves from one another and became more specialized， and clinics and scientific institutes were founded on their own campus in the north of the old city. These years were also witness to an enormous increase in enrollment， which reached the plateausplateau： n.高地， 高原(上升后的)稳定水平(或时期、状态） of 500， 1000， and 1，500 in rapid succession. By the time World War I broke out there were already 3，000 students. This expansion led the state government of Baden to require professors to wear gowns starting in 1903.
When the enormous expansion of the university made new buildings necessary at the end of the 19th century， it was decided that the university should remain in the heart of the city. The site chosen for the new University Library and the Main Building of the university， which were built between 1896 and 1911， was thus within sight of the oldest university buildings. This was a conscious conscious： adj.有意识的， 有知觉的， 故意的， 羞怯的decision for an urban university rather than a campus university.
The University of Freiburg and its rector Martin Heidegger became a focus of public attention in 1933， and at the end of the war its buildings suffered severe damage from bombing raids. Between these two dates lies the suffering of Jewish members of the faculty and staff and of the professors who made it known that they opposed the Nazi regime. The main university building was also partiallypartially： adv.部分地 destroyed by a fire in 1934， but then rebuilt and expanded. Due to its proximity to the French border， Freiburg was in a dangerous position after the war began in 1939. For this reason the University of Freiburg was temporarilytemporarily： adv.临时 shut down during the war. Today， on the other hand， the Upper Rhine region represents a new opportunity to promote cooperation across national borders.
The university was able to open its doors again and slowly resume operation only a few months after the end of the war. The reconstruction and repair of the buildings was largely completed by the 500th anniversary of the university in 1957， and this also marked the beginning of a further expansion of the university. Special priority in this new wave of expansion was given to programs in medicine and the natural sciences.
The University of Freiburg grew rapidly after the first wave of economic recovery in Germany in the 1950，s. Enrollment had stagnatedstagnate： v.(使)淤塞， (使)停滞， (使)沉滞， (使)变萧条 at around 3000 between 1913 and 1950， with even less during the two wars， but by 1961 there were already 10，000 students. But even this was not the zenithzenith： n.顶点， 顶峰， 天顶， 最高点： By the end of the 20th century enrollment was nearly at 25，000. It has gone back a bit in the past few years and now lies at about 19，000. Freiburg is undoubtedly one of the most popular places to study in Germany. This is due in part to the quality of its academic programs， but the proximity of the university to France， Switzerland， and the Black Forest certainly contributes to the appeal the university has for many students as well.