Best universities in Germany 2022
Find the best universities in Germany in 2022 through Times Higher Education’s World University Rankings data
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Top 10 universities in Germany
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World University Rank 2022 | Germany Rank 2022 | University | City/town |
32 | 1 | LMU Munich | Munich |
38 | 2 | Technical University of Munich | Munich |
=42 | 3 | Heidelberg University | Heidelberg |
73 | 4 | Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin | Berlin |
74 | 5 | Humboldt University of Berlin | Berlin |
=78 | 6 | University of Tübingen | Tübingen |
83 | 7 | Free University of Berlin | Berlin |
=108 | =8 | University of Freiburg | Freiburg |
=108 | =8 | RWTH Aachen University | Aachen |
112 | 10 | University of Bonn | Bonn |
This league table reveals the best universities in Germany, according to the trusted Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2022.
LMU Munich is the top university in Germany, followed by the Technical University of Munich.
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The top universities in Germany are scattered throughout the country, with options to study in Munich, Berlin and 40 other cities. The top university in Berlin is Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.
In total, 50 universities in Germany are counted among the very best in the world.
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.
Top 5 universities in Germany
5. Humboldt University of Berlin
- Humboldt University of Berlin is located in the country’s capital, Berlin, which is a popular destination for international students.
- The university is made up of nine faculties, including its medical faculty, which it shares with the Free University of Berlin.
The main building of Humboldt University is on Unter den Linden boulevard, surrounded by a range of other historic buildings, museums and art galleries.
The university has an impressive list of alumni and former faculty, including physicist Albert Einstein, physicist Max Planck, physicist Erwin Schrödinger, collectors of folk tales Jakob and Wilhelm Grimm and philosopher Karl Marx.
4. Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
- Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin is one of the largest university hospitals in Europe.
-More than half of the German Nobel prizewinners in medicine and physiology have studied or worked at the university.
It can trace its roots back to 1710, when the hospital was built in response to the plague in eastern Prussia. In 2003, 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, among them neurologist Carl Wernicke, psychiatrist Karl Leonhard and Rahel Hirsch, the first female medical professor in Prussia.
3. Heidelberg University
- Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is the oldest university in Germany.
-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 offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in 160 study programmes. Academics at Heidelberg have been responsible for founding subdisciplines including psychiatric genetics, modern sociology and environmental physics.
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.
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2. Technical University of Munich
- The Technical University of Munich is the only state university dedicated to science and technology.
-Since 1927, 17 Nobel prizes have been awarded in physics, chemistry and medicine to academics affiliated with the university.
Founded in the 19th century, 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.
1. LMU Munich
- LMU Munich was founded in 1472, making it one of the oldest universities in the country.
- The university is affiliated with 42 Nobel laureates, including renowned scientists such as Otto Hahn, Max Planck and Werner Heisenberg.
With the second-largest student population of any university in Germany, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich – to use its full name – attracts a large number of international students, about 13 per cent of the total student body.
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 provided funding for LMU Munich, as well as other leading universities in the country.
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Click each institution to view its full World University Rankings 2022 results