01Four universities
Their roots span 328 years; their students number 113,422
From the Elector’s arts academy of 1696, through Humboldt’s university of 1810 and the technical college of 1879, to the Free University founded in West Berlin in 1948: Berlin’s four major universities were founded across 328 years. In winter semester 2023/24 they enrolled 113,422 students between them.
Age and size run almost opposite. The arts university, whose roots reach back furthest, teaches about a ninth as many students as each of the other three. The three big ones lie within 3,000 of each other — and the youngest leads.
1696
Universität der Künste
Hardenbergstraße · 4,226 students
1810
Humboldt-Universität
Unter den Linden · 36,027 students
1879
Technische Universität
Ernst-Reuter-Platz · 35,182 students
1948
Freie Universität
Dahlem · 37,987 students
021696 to 2024
An Elector’s art academy, two schools for builders and engineers, a palace on Unter den Linden — and a walkout
1696
An Elector founded an academy of the arts
The Universität der Künste traces its history to the academy of painting, sculpture and architecture founded by the Elector of Brandenburg in 1696. The Elector was Friedrich III. The UdK counts its age from here.
Sources: UdK Berlin, its history · Wikipedia (de): Preußische Akademie der Künste
1799
A school for builders: the Bauakademie
The TU’s oldest root is the Bauakademie of 1799. Schinkel later gave it the building Eduard Gaertner painted.
Sources: Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, on the TU
1810
Humboldt’s university opened in a royal palace
The university was founded in 1810 on Wilhelm von Humboldt's initiative, in the Prince Heinrich palace on Unter den Linden.
Sources: HU Berlin, Short History
1821
A second root: the Gewerbeakademie
The TU’s other root is the Gewerbeakademie, which dates from 1821. Its early home on Klosterstraße, in the old centre, appears in Eduard Gaertner’s painting.
Sources: Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, on the TU · Wikipedia (de): Gewerbeakademie Berlin
1879
The two schools merged in Charlottenburg
The TU was formed on 1 April 1879 as the Königlich Technische Hochschule Charlottenburg by merging the Bauakademie (1799) and the Gewerbeakademie. It is the TU’s founding date: 1 April 1879.
Sources: Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, on the TU
1935
A computer pioneer took his degree here
Konrad Zuse, the computer pioneer, graduated from the Technische Hochschule in civil engineering in 1935.
Sources: Computer History Museum, Konrad Zuse
1948
The city split — and students left to found a university of their own
The Free University was founded on 4 December 1948 in the American sector by students and academics who left the university in the Soviet sector. It has used former Kaiser Wilhelm Society buildings in Dahlem since its founding.
Sources: FU Berlin, Kurzporträt 2023 · FU Berlin press release (Hahn-Meitner-Bau)
2001
The arts schools became a university
The academy’s line runs through the Hochschule für die Bildenden Künste of 1875, whose building on Hardenbergstraße is the UdK’s main house today. Formed as the Hochschule der Künste in 1975; a university since 2001.
Sources: UdK Berlin, its history
2024
Four universities, 328 years of roots
Counted to the semester of the latest figures: the UdK’s roots are 328 years old, the HU 214, the TU 145 and the FU 76.
Sources: UdK Berlin, its history · HU Berlin, Short History · Bezirksamt Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, on the TU · FU Berlin, Kurzporträt 2023
03Students, winter semester 2023/24
The oldest roots have the fewest students; the youngest university has the most
The oldest roots, the fewest students
Taken oldest first: the UdK 4,226, the HU 36,027, the TU 35,182 and the FU 37,987. The university with the oldest roots is by far the smallest; the youngest is the largest.
Sources: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, WS 2023/24
The youngest is the largest
The Free University, founded in 1948, enrolled 37,987 students — the most of the four, ahead of the Humboldt-Universität on Unter den Linden.
Sources: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, WS 2023/24 · FU Berlin, Kurzporträt 2023
The three big ones lie within 3,000 of each other
Between the FU in first place and the TU in third there are only 2,805 students. The HU sits in between.
Sources: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, WS 2023/24
The arts university is about a ninth their size
The UdK enrolled 4,226 students, 11.1–12% of each of the others. Nine UdKs would make 38,034 — just more than the FU alone.
Sources: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, WS 2023/24
Together: 113,422 students
The four enrolled 113,422 students between them. The Charité, the joint medical school of the FU and the HU, is counted separately: its 9,781 students are not in these figures.
Sources: Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg, WS 2023/24
04Where they are
Two stand a short walk apart in Charlottenburg; the youngest began out in Dahlem
The TU by Ernst-Reuter-Platz and the UdK on Hardenbergstraße sit about 350 metres apart. The HU stayed on Unter den Linden, in the Soviet sector after the war. The FU began in Dahlem, in the American sector, about 11 km away as the crow flies, in buildings of the Kaiser Wilhelm Society.
Humboldt-Universität
Unter den Linden, Mitte · founded 1810 · 36,027 students
Freie Universität
Dahlem · founded 1948 · 37,987 students
Technische Universität
Ernst-Reuter-Platz, Charlottenburg · founded 1879 · 35,182 students
Universität der Künste
Hardenbergstraße, Charlottenburg · founded 1696 · 4,226 students
