Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin ranks among Germany’s top universities and its research is internationally acclaimed in several areas. The university provides tuition for over 34.000 students studying across 171 degree courses at 9 faculties, including all major academic disciplines in the Arts and Humanities, Social and Cultural Sciences, Human Medicine, Agricultural Science, Mathematics and the Natural Sciences. Since 2012, Humboldt-Universität belongs to a group of eleven German universities permitted to use the coveted titled ‘University of Excellence’.  

Photo credits: Heike Zappe, CC BY-SA 3.0 DE

The history of Humboldt-Universität goes back to 1810, when it was founded as ‘Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität’, named after the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Based on a novel concept integrating research and teaching developed by the academic and statesman Wilhelm von Humboldt, Humboldt-Universität became a model institution of nineteenth-century academic reform. In the wake of the foundation of the German Empire in 1871, Humboldt-Universität rose to the status of Germany’s largest and most renowned university. 

From its inception, Humboldt-Universität attracted scholars whose work achieved worldwide acclaim, including the philosopher Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel, the natural scientist Alexander von Humboldt, the physicist Hermann von Helmholtz and the medical scientist Rudolf Virchow. Notable alumni include prominent historical figures such as Otto von Bismarck, Heinrich Heine and Karl Marx. Humboldt-Universität has also brought forth 29 Nobel Prize winners, including Max Planck (Physics), Robert Koch (Medicine) and Theodor Mommsen (Literature). 

The university’s history throughout the twentieth century is marked by turmoil. Humboldt-Universität showed little resistance to the reign of the National Socialists (1933–1945) and even included many enthusiastic supporters among its staff and students. During the Second World War, the university was heavily damaged, though teaching resumed there as early as 1946. Following the division of the German capital by the occupying powers, Humboldt-Universität came to be located in ‘East Berlin’. As an academic institution of the German Democratic Republic (1949-1990), the content of the university’s degree courses was adapted to reflect the Communist ideology of the East German government. It was also at this time, in 1949, that the university shed its original name and was re-christened ‘Humboldt-Universität’ in honour of the brothers Wilhelm and Alexander von Humboldt, whose statues flank the main gate of the university today.

Since German reunification in 1990, Humboldt-Universität has placed an increased emphasis on promoting international collaboration in research and teaching. Today, students from over 100 different countries are enrolled at the university, comprising over 10% of the student population.