The Canisianum is one of many Jesuit seminaries worldwide named after Saint Peter Canisius and was built in 1910–1911 under Rector, or Regens, Michael Hofmann, to replace the previous Nicolaihaus seminary, which had been outgrown.  During World War I from 1915 to 1919, it also accommodated the students of the Collegium Germanicum in Rome.  On 21 November 1938 it was shut down by the National Socialists and did not reopen until October 1945.