Thinking of studying in Germany? The best German universities according to the Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings 2020 include prestigious old institutions alongside younger technical universities.
The top universities in Germany are scattered throughout the country, with options to study in Munich, Berlin and 40 other cities.
In total, 48 universities in Germany are counted among the very best in the world.
LMU Munich is the top university in Germany, followed by the Technical University of Munich. The top university in Berlin is Humboldt University of Berlin.
More than 500 degrees (bachelor’s and master’s programmes) are taught in English at top German universities. Whatever subject you are interested in, you can study that degree in English in Germany.
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Top 5 universities in Germany
1. LMU Munich
With the second largest student population of any university in Germany, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich – to use its full name – attracts a huge number of international students, about 13 per cent of the total student body.
LMU Munich was founded in 1472, making it one of the oldest universities in the country. It is affiliated with 42 Nobel laureates, including renowned scientists such as Otto Hahn, Max Planck and Werner Heisenberg.
Since the end of the 18th century the university has had a strong focus on natural sciences, and since the middle of the 19th century it has produced world-leading research, discoveries and innovations.
The German Universities Excellence Initiative, launched in 2005, has poured funding into LMU Munich, as well as other leading universities in the country.
2. Technical University of Munich
Founded in the 19th century, the TUM is the only state university dedicated to science and technology.
The university originally focused on engineering, but has expanded over the years to include natural sciences, social sciences, agriculture, brewing and food technology, and medicine. Many specialisms within engineering and information technology are offered across three departments.
An overarching philosophy of “the entrepreneurial university” guides the development of the institution, which now has 15 departments across three campuses in and around Munich.
Since 1927, 17 Nobel prizes have been awarded in physics, chemistry and medicine to academics affiliated to the university.
In 2001, the TUM founded a subsidiary university, TUM Asia, in Singapore, providing an international education to students in Asia.
3. Heidelberg University
Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is the oldest university in Germany.
The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in 160 study programmes. Academics at Heidelberg have been responsible for founding sub-disciplines including psychiatric genetics, modern sociology and environmental physics.
Close to 20 per cent of the student body is international, representing 130 countries. More than a third of doctoral students are international.
The university particularly excels for its innovative research and intellectual contributions across a range of subjects. Some 27 Nobel laureates have been associated with Heidelberg University, nine of whom won the prize while tenured there.
Many influential politicians, philosophers and scientists are alumni or affiliates of the university, including Max Weber – the founder of modern sociology – and philosopher Hannah Arendt.
Heidelberg is known as the home of German romanticism and the Old Town and castle are some of the most visited tourist destinations in Germany.
4. Humboldt University of Berlin
Humboldt University of Berlin is the birthplace of an educational ethos and university model that has been adopted by other European and Western universities since the 19th century.
The principle of the university is a union between teaching and research, both done by prominent scholars. Some of Germany’s most influential figures attended or worked at the university, including Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Walter Benjamin, Albert Einstein and Max Planck.
In total, 55 Nobel prizewinners are associated with Humboldt University, the majority for physics, chemistry or medicine.
Although well-known and respected across all subject areas, the university particularly excels in arts and humanities.
The university library, opened in 1874, is one of the most extensive in the country. It contains around 6.5 million books and thousands of magazines and journals.
Of almost 33,000 students, about 16 per cent are international.
5. Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe.
It can trace its roots back to 1710 when the hospital was built in response to the plague in Eastern Prussia. It was then rebuilt and renamed until 2003, when it merged with other medical institutes in Germany and took on its current name.
Many famous scientists and physicians have worked or studied at the university including neurologist Carl Wernicke, psychiatrist Karl Leonhard and Rahel Hirsch, the first female medical professor in Prussia.
More than half of the German Nobel prizewinners in medicine and physiology have studied or worked at the university.
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Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2020 results
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