The Royal Hungarian Erzsébet University, founded in Bratislava in 1912, operated in Budapest for a few years after the First World War and the Treaty of Trianon, then it was temporarily transferred to Pécs by the Act XXV of 1921. The exemplary cooperation, financial support and donation of property by Bishop Gyula Zichy and Mayor Andor Nendtvich made it possible for the city to become a university town after three years of Serbian occupation. In Pécs, three faculties started the education of law, humanities and medicine, while the external faculty in Sopron taught evangelical theology. 

The long-term goals of the University of Pécs were set by Count Kuno Klebelsberg, Minister of Religion and Public Education in his opening speech on 14 October 1923, he succinctly stated that

"The faculty of the Elizabeth University is so imbued with a true scientific spirit that I am convinced that it will create the Hungarian Heidelberg here at the foot of the Mecsek."

This was the beginning of a modern chapter in the history of higher education in Pécs, which, centuries after the first Hungarian university founded in 1367, had once again created the possibility of university education in the centre of the South Transdanubian region. 

The event of 1923 is of particular importance for the 21st century university citizens of Pécs and for Hungarian higher education, as from that time onwards, although in different forms, university education is still provided in Pécs. The forthcoming centenary is a good opportunity to preserve traditions and to learn more about the history of the institution and the individual faculties, but it is also an excellent opportunity for the University of Pécs to make its innovative and forward-looking responses to the social and scientific demands of the 21st century visible to a wide audience. This is also reflected in the slogan of the centenary celebrations, which focuses on the first 100 years of modern higher education in Pécs, while at the same time carries an important message for future generations:

"From the past to the future".