List of universities in Germany

The University of Freiburg features a modern library finished in December, 2015.

Founded in 1386, Heidelberg University is Germany's most ancient university and widely considered to be among the most prestigious.

This is a list of the universities in Germany, of which there are about seventy. The list also includes the thirteen German universities of technology, which have official and full university status, but usually focus on engineering and the natural sciences rather than covering the whole spectrum of academic disciplines. Some seventeen German universities rank among top 250 universities in world^[1] Highest ranked universities in Germany include some research oriented universities for MS, MBA and Medical and Engineering.^[2]

The list does not, however, cover the German Fachhochschulen (University of Applied Sciences) or institutions that cover only certain disciplines such as business studies, fine arts, or engineering. Those do not have all of the responsibilities and limitations of universities, and they cannot award doctorate degrees on their own.

In general, public German universities don't charge tuition fees. This usually also applies to foreign students.^[3]

Universities by years of existence

The University of Greifswald is the smallest among the oldest universities of Germany.

This is a list of the ten oldest universities that have been in continuous operation since their founding in present-day Germany.

Some universities were established in the 14th or 15th centuries, but shut down for longer periods and later re-opened (e.g. the universities of Cologne, Erfurt, Ingolstadt, Mainz and Würzburg). These are not included in this list.

University	Year of establishment	Students	Location
University of Heidelberg	1386	31,500	Heidelberg
Leipzig University	1409	29,500	Leipzig
University of Rostock	1419	14,000	Rostock
University of Greifswald	1456	12,000	Greifswald
University of Freiburg	1457	24,700	Freiburg
University of Munich	1472	44,000	Munich[4]
University of Tübingen	1477	28,700	Tübingen
University of Halle-Wittenberg	1502	18,500	Halle[5]
University of Marburg	1527	24,000	Marburg
University of Jena	1558	22,000	Jena

Universities alphabetically

A–D

• University of Augsburg
• University of Bamberg
• University of Bayreuth
• Free University of Berlin
• Humboldt University of Berlin
• University of Bielefeld
• Ruhr University Bochum
• University of Bonn
• University of Bremen
• Jacobs University Bremen
• University of Cologne
• Technical University of Dortmund
• Dresden University of Technology
• University of Duisburg-Essen
• University of Düsseldorf

• 

  Free University of Berlin

• 

  Humboldt University of Berlin

• 

  University of Cologne

• 

  Dresden University of Technology

E–H

• Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
• University of Erfurt
• University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
• University of Hof
• University of Duisburg-Essen (Campus Essen)
• University of Flensburg
• University of Frankfurt am Main
• Viadrina University (Frankfurt an der Oder)
• Zeppelin University (Friedrichshafen)
• Catholic University of Applied Sciences Freiburg
• University of Freiburg
• University of Giessen
• University of Göttingen
• University of Greifswald
• University of Hagen (distance learning; open university)
• University of Halle-Wittenberg (also in Wittenberg)
• University of Hamburg
• Helmut Schmidt University (University of the Bundeswehr, Hamburg)
• University of Hannover
• University of Heidelberg
• University of Hildesheim
• University of Hohenheim
• University of Heilbronn

• 

  Goethe University Frankfurt

• 

  University of Freiburg

• 

  University of Göttingen

• 

  University of Hannover

I–N

• Technical University of Ilmenau
• University of Islamic Life
• University of Jena
• Kaiserslautern University of Technology
• University of Karlsruhe
• University of Kassel
• University of Kiel
• University of Koblenz-Landau
• University of Konstanz
• University of Leipzig
• University of Lübeck
• Leuphana
• University of Magdeburg
• University of Mainz
• University of Mannheim
• University of Marburg
• Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich
• Bundeswehr University Munich
• Ukrainian Free University Munich (private university; awards PhD)
• University of Münster
• University of Erlangen-Nuremberg

• 

  University of Karlsruhe

• 

  Leipzig University

• 

  LMU Munich

• 

  University of Mannheim

O–Z

• University of Oldenburg
• University of Osnabrück
• University of Passau
• University of Paderborn
• University of Potsdam
• University of Regensburg
• University of Rostock
• Saarland University
• University of Siegen
• German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer
• University of Stuttgart
• University of Trier
• University of Tübingen
• University of Ulm
• University of Halle-Wittenberg (also in Halle)
• University of Vechta
• University of Weimar
• Witten/Herdecke University
• University of Wuppertal
• University of Würzburg

• 

  University of Rostock

• 

  University of Tübingen

• 

  Bauhaus University, Weimar

• 

  Campus of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Halle

Universities by geographic region

North

• University of Bremen
• Jacobs University Bremen
• University of Flensburg
• University of Göttingen
• University of Greifswald
• University of Hamburg
• Helmut Schmidt University (University of the Bundeswehr, Hamburg)
• University of Hannover
• University of Hildesheim
• University of Islamic Life
• University of Kiel
• University of Lübeck
• University of Lüneburg
• University of Oldenburg
• University of Osnabrück
• University of Rostock
• University of Vechta

West

• University of Bielefeld
• Ruhr University Bochum
• University of Bonn
• University of Cologne
• Technical University of Dortmund
• University of Duisburg-Essen
• University of Düsseldorf
• University of Frankfurt am Main
• University of Giessen
• University of Hagen (distance learning; open university)
• University of Kassel
• University of Koblenz
• University of Mainz
• University of Marburg
• University of Münster
• University of Paderborn
• Saarland University
• University of Trier
• University of Siegen
• German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer
• Witten/Herdecke University
• University of Wuppertal

East

• Free University of Berlin
• Humboldt University of Berlin
• Dresden University of Technology
• University of Erfurt
• Viadrina University (Frankfurt an der Oder)
• University of Halle-Wittenberg
• Technical University of Ilmenau
• University of Jena
• University of Leipzig
• University of Magdeburg
• University of Potsdam
• University of Weimar

South

• University of Augsburg
• University of Bamberg
• University of Bayreuth
• Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
• University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
• University of Freiburg
• Zeppelin University (Friedrichshafen)
• University of Heidelberg
• University of Hohenheim
• University of Karlsruhe
• University of Konstanz
• University of Ravensburg Weingarten
• University of Mannheim
• Bundeswehr University of Munich
• University of Munich
• Ukrainian Free University Munich
• University of Passau
• University of Regensburg
• University of Stuttgart
• University of Tübingen
• University of Ulm
• University of Würzburg

Universities of Technology by location

• RWTH Aachen University
• Technical University of Berlin
• Braunschweig University of Technology
• Chemnitz University of Technology
• Clausthal University of Technology
• Technical University of Dortmund
• Brandenburg University of Technology
• Darmstadt University of Technology
• Freiberg University of Mining and Technology
• Hamburg University of Technology
• University of Hanover
• Ilmenau University of Technology
• Kaiserslautern University of Technology
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
• Technical University of Munich
• Technical University of Cologne

• 

  TU Berlin

• 

  RWTH Aachen

• 

  Chemnitz University of Technology

International rankings

According to the QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings, Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) and Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE):

NR = no ranking or ranking outside top 400.

Institution	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012 (Times)	2013 (QS)	2015 (THE)	2015 (QS)	2015 (ARWU)[6]
Free University of Berlin (Freie Universität Berlin)	NR	172	149	146	137	94	66	151	128	109	72	119	-
Goethe University Frankfurt (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main)	NR	187	187	NR	169	NR	195	182	199	NR	-	243	101-150
Humboldt University of Berlin (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)	125	112	105	126	139	146	123	132	99	126	49	126	-
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Karlsruher Institut für Technologie)	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	187	196	151	116	138	93	201-300
RWTH Aachen (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	154	147	110	145	110-150
Technical University of Berlin (Technische Universität Berlin)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	183	-	178	301-400
Technical University of Munich (Technische Universität München)	95	105	82	67	78	55	58	54	105	53	53	60	51
University of Munich (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)	99	55	98	65	93	98	66	62	48	67	29	75	52
University of Göttingen (Georg-August-Universität Göttingen)	85	114	156	168	166	186	43	69	70	128	99	168	110-150
University of Heidelberg (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg)	47	45	58	60	57	57	51	53	78	50	37	66	46
University of Freiburg (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg)	NR	NR	NR	144	147	122	97	105	144	102	83	133	101-150
University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	200	154	171	163	94	210	97
University of Tuebingen (Eberhard-Karls Universität Tübingen)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	134	78	173	151-200
University of Hamburg (Universität Hamburg)	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	186	-	219	151-200

See also

• Education in Germany
• List of oldest universities in continuous operation
• German Academic Exchange Service
• German Universities Excellence Initiative
• TU9 German Institutes of Technology
• Charles University in Prague (Karls-Universität: first German university)

References

1. Universities in Germany
2. Top Universities for MS, MBA, Medical and Engineering
3. Strasser, Franz. "How US students get a university degree for free in Germany". BBC. Retrieved 4 June 2015.
4. Originally in Ingolstadt; relocated to Munich in 1826
5. Founded in Wittenberg 1502, closed in 1813; in 1817 merged with the University of Halle, founded in 1694.
6. Top Universities in Germany 2015

External links

• Higher Education Compass: complete list of German universities