The First World War surprised everyone, including university administrators, and despite Dutch neutrality, it greatly affected daily life at the University of Groningen. The university went through a period of sobriety in which international contact came to a near complete standstill. Following the Treaty of Versailles, university life slowly blossomed once again, the borders opened, and adventurous professors took their students on excursions abroad. A period of modest growth followed, but by the 1930s, the university had to defend itself yet again against threats of extensive cutbacks and even partial closure. While immediate danger was averted, an awareness of the university's vulnerability remained. The University of Groningen was on the eve of some of the blackest pages in its history.

Cyclone of war violence

At the opening of the academic year in September 1914, Rector Magnificus Hamburger expressed his disbelief and confusion. Barely a month after the university's festive lustrum celebration (‘that brotherly gathering of sons from the most diverse of nations’), a ‘cyclone of war violence’ had begun raging over Europe, and hostility and hate reigned supreme. The First World War was a fact. Although the Netherlands adopted a neutral stance and was able to avoid going to war, daily life was still severely affected, including university life. Many senior students and some lecturers were mobilized in the summer of 1914 and sent to guard the borders, resulting in a drop in student numbers from more than 600 in 1913-1914 to 470 in 1914-1915. These were sober years, with no room for festivities, serenading or student frivolities.

Academic work continued, albeit in a reduced form, with the exception of international academic contacts, which more or less came to a halt as travelling had become impossible. This directly affected the astronomer Kapteyn who was conducting research in the US when the war broke out. He wanted to return to Groningen immediately, but German sea mines made navigation between the US and Europe impossible for a long time, and he was only able to make the crossing nearly six months later.