The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitu ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

, is the largest art school in

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. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four

research universities A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...

in the city. The university is known for being one of the biggest and most diversified universities of the arts worldwide. It has four colleges specialising in fine arts,

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...

, media and

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, music and the performing arts with around 3,500 students. Thus the UdK is one of only three universities in Germany to unite the faculties of art and music in one institution. The teaching offered at the four colleges encompasses the full spectrum of the arts and related academic studies in more than 40 courses. Having the right to confer doctorates and post-doctoral qualifications, Berlin University of the Arts is also one of Germany's few art colleges with full university status. Outstanding professors and students at all its colleges, as well as the steady development of teaching concepts, have publicly defined the university as a high standard of artistic and art-theoretical education. Almost all the study courses at Berlin University of the Arts are part of a centuries-old tradition. Thus Berlin University of the Arts gives its students the opportunity to investigate and experiment with other art forms in order to recognise and extend the boundaries of their own discipline, at an early stage of rigorously selected artists and within the protected sphere of a study course. Within the field of visual arts, the university is known for the intense competition that involves the selection of its students, and the growth of applicants worldwide has increased during the years due to Berlin's important current role in cultural innovation worldwide. In the same way, the University of the Arts is publicly recognized for being on the cutting edge in the areas of Visual Arts,

Fashion Design Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and plac ...

, Industrial Design, and

Experimental Design The design of experiments (DOE, DOX, or experimental design) is the design of any task that aims to describe and explain the variation of information under conditions that are hypothesized to reflect the variation. The term is generally associ ...

History

The university's origins date back to the foundation of ''Academie der Mal-, Bild- und Baukunst'' (Academy of the Art of Painting, Pictorial Art, and Architecture), the later

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts (German: ''Preußische Akademie der Künste'') was a state arts academy first established in Berlin, Brandenburg, in 1694/1696 by prince-elector Frederick III, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and la ...

, at the behest of Elector

Frederick III of Brandenburg Frederick I (german: Friedrich I.; 11 July 1657 – 25 February 1713), of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was (as Frederick III) Elector of Brandenburg (1688–1713) and Duke of Prussia in personal union (Brandenburg-Prussia). The latter function ...

. The two predecessor organisations were ''Königliche Akademische Hochschule für ausübende Tonkunst'' (Royal Academy of Musical Performing Art) established in 1869 under Joseph Joachim, which also had adopted the tradition of the famous Stern Conservatory, and the ''Berlin State School of Fine Arts'' founded in 1875. In 1975, both art schools merged under the name ''Hochschule der Künste Berlin, HdK''. The organization received the title of a

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

on 1 November 2001. File:Akademie der Künste Berlin 1902.jpg, Main Building in 1902 File:Berlin, Schoeneberg, Grunewaldstrasse 2-5, Medienhaus Universitaet der Kuenste.jpg, Media House File:Berlin joachimsthalsches gymnasium hauptgebaeude 09.10.2011 15-40-35.jpg, Joachimsthaler Gymnasium File:Charlottenburg Hardenbergstraße 41.JPG, Institute for Church Music File:UB TU Berlin Innenhof.JPG, Main Library File:Charlottenburg Konzertsaal der UDK.JPG, UDK Concert Hall

Exchange program

The exchange program with UDK is a direct enrollment program offered during the fall, spring, and academic year to students interested in the arts and with four semesters of German language study. Each academic year the school receives 100 exchange students on the basis of institutional agreements. Students participating in the exchange are required to subsidize their own accommodations with little help from the school.

Art fair

Annually, the university opens its doors to the public in its four colleges (UdK Rundgang), offering one of the most important art fairs in Berlin due to new proposals that highlight its young artists.

Notable alumni

Günter Grass (1986) by Erling Mandelmann

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2005-0119, Kurt Weill

* Claudio Arrau, pianist *

Claudia Barainsky Claudia Barainsky (born 30 September 1965) is a German operatic soprano. She has performed internationally, and won awards for her roles in contemporary operas such as Bernd Alois Zimmermann's ''Die Soldaten'' and Aribert Reimann's ''Medea''. Ca ...

, soprano * Esther Berlin-Joel (1895–1972), graphic designer *

F. W. Bernstein F. W. Bernstein (born Fritz Weigle; 4 March 1938 – 20 December 2018) was a German poet, cartoonist, satirist, and academic. He worked for the satirical biweekly '' pardon''. After teaching at schools, he was professor of caricature and comics ...

(1938–2018), poet, cartoonist, satirist and academic * Norbert Bisky, painter * Antonia Brico, pianist and conductor * Kai Bumann (1961–2022), conductor * Antonio Piedade da Cruz, (1895–1982) Indian painter and sculptor * Daniela Comani, painter *

Marie Fillunger Marie Fillunger (27 January 1850 – 23 December 1930) was an Austrian singer, and the longtime partner of Eugenie Schumann, who was a daughter of Robert and Clara Schumann. Life Fillunger was born in Vienna. She studied at the Vienna Conser ...

, opera singer * Caroline Fischer, pianist *

Bruno Flierl Bruno Flierl (born 2 February 1927 in Bolesławiec, Prussia) is a German architect, architecture critic, and writer. He is considered one of the most important figures in the architecture and city planning of East Germany. He assisted in the desig ...

, architect and city planner * Eduard Franck * Catherine Gayer, coloratura soprano * Ria Ginster, soprano * Leopold Godowsky, pianist * Günter Grass, sculptor, 1999 Nobel prize in Literature * Burkhard Held, painter *

Carla Henius Carla Henius (4 May 1919 – 27 December 2002) was a German operatic soprano and mezzo-soprano, voice teacher and librettist. She played a decisive role in promoting recent works by composers such as Arnold Schönberg, Karlheinz Stockhausen and L ...

, mezzo-soprano * Philip A. Herfort, violinist, orchestra leader *

Arnulf Herrmann Arnulf Herrmann (born in Heidelberg, 12 December 1968) is a German composer. After studying piano with Gernot Sieber at the Richard Strauss Conservatory in Munich he enrolled at the Hochschule für Musik Carl Maria von Weber, where he studied c ...

, composer * Li Hua, artist * Ali Kaaf, artist * Ingo Kühl, painter, sculptor and architect * Christian Leden, ethno-musicologist; composer * Kim Yusob, South-Korean painter * Otto Kinkeldey, (1878–1966), musicologist, academic music library pioneer * Otto Klemperer, conductor *

Uwe Kröger Uwe Kröger (; born 4 December 1964 in Hamm, West Germany) is a musical star in the German-speaking countries of the world. Besides starring on stage, Kröger has taken part in galas and concerts, as well as making television and film appearance ...

, actor, singer * Felicitas Kukuck, composer *

Josephine Meckseper Josephine Meckseper (born 1964) is a German artist, active mainly in New York City. Her large-scale installations and films have been exhibited in various international biennials and museum shows worldwide. Life and education Meckseper studied ...

, artist * Una H. Moehrke, painter * Moritz Moszkowski, pianist, composer *

Isabel Mundry Isabel Mundry (born 20 April 1963) is a German composer. Life and work Isabel Mundry was born in Schlüchtern (Germany) in 1963 and studied composition at the Hochschule der Künste and electronic music, musicology and history at the Berlin Tec ...

, composer * Adolfo Odnoposoff, cellist * Rudolph Polk, violinist *

Enno Poppe Enno Poppe (born 30 December 1969 in Hemer, North Rhine-Westphalia) is a German composer and conductor of classical music, and an academic teacher. Career Enno Poppe studied composition and conducting at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin with ...

, composer * Max Raabe artist * Hermann Rosendorff, conductor, composer *

SEO Seo or SEO may refer to: * Search engine optimization, the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines Organisations * SEO Economic Research, a scientific institute * Spanish Ornithological Society (''Soci ...

, artist * Herbert Schachtschneider (1919–2008), operatic tenor * Gabriel and Maxim Shamir, (previously Scheftelovich), early 1930s, Graphic Artists *

Christine Schäfer Christine Schäfer (born 3 March 1965) is a German operatic soprano. Biography Schäfer was born in Frankfurt. She studied from 1984 until 1991 at the Hochschule der Künste Berlin, where her teachers were Ingrid Figur, Aribert Reimann and D ...

, soprano *

Martina Schumacher Martina Schumacher (born 1972 in Geislingen an der Steige, Germany) is a painter and conceptual artist. ArtFacts.NetMartina Schumacher Education Concomitantly while attending Royal College of Art in London, Schumacher was a master student under t ...

, painter * Maya Shenfeld, composer and musician * Paul Gutama Soegijo, composer and musician * Kathrin Sonntag, artist * Agnes Stavenhagen, soprano *

Bertha Tideman-Wijers Albertha Wilhelmina Tideman-Wijers (8 January 1887 – 1 January 1976) was a Dutch composer who lived in Indonesia for almost two decades and incorporated Indonesian elements into her compositions. She published her music under the name Bertha Tide ...

, composer * Sarah Traubel, soprano * Richard Aaker Trythall, pianist, composer *

Agnes Tschetschulin Agnes Tschetschulin (24 February 1859 – 23 April 1942) was a Finnish composer and violinist who toured internationally. Tschetschulin was born in Helsinki to Feodor and Hilda Eckstein Tschetschulin. She had three sisters: Maria, Melanie, and E ...

, composer, violinist * Christa Frieda Vogel, photographer * Jorinde Voigt, artist * Ignatz Waghalter, composer, conductor * Bruno Walter, conductor * Kurt Weill, composer * Wang Xiaosong, artist * Isang Yun, composer

Notable teachers

File:Olafur Eliasson 2015.jpg, Olafur Eliasson File:Ai Weiwei 2008.jpg, Ai Weiwei File:Vivienne Westwood Life Ball 2011 c.jpg, Vivienne Westwood File:Georg Baselitz by Erling Mandelmann.jpg, Georg Baselitz * Hito Steyerl * Ai Weiwei 2012– * Joseph Ahrens 1945–1969 * Georg Baselitz −2005 *

, (1984–1999) * Jolyon Brettingham Smith 1977–1981 *

Beatrix Borchard Beatrix Borchard (born 1950) is a German musicologist and author. The focus of her publications is the life and work of female and male musicians, such as Clara and Robert Schumann, Amalie and Joseph Joachim, Pauline Viardot-Garcia, and Adriana ...

Siegfried Borris Siegfried Borris (born Siegfried Jakob Boris Zuckermann; 4 November 1906 – 23 August 1987) was a German composer, musicologist and music educator. He became a lecturer at the Musikhochschule Berlin in 1929, but his career was interrupted durin ...

Katharina Sieverding Katharina Sieverding (born 16 November 1944) is a German photographer known for her self-portraiture. Sieverding lives and works in Berlin and Düsseldorf. She is a professor emeritus at the University of the Arts, Berlin. Early life and educat ...

John Burgan John Burgan FRSA (born in 1962 in London) is an independent documentary director and writer. Many of his films are themed around identity, sense of belonging, and migration. Burgan is best known for his 1998 documentary essay ''Memory of Berlin'' ...

1996–2001 * Massimo Carmassi *

Tony Cragg Sir Anthony Douglas Cragg (born Liverpool 9 April 1949) is an Anglo-German sculptor, resident in Wuppertal, Germany since 1977. Early life and training Tony Cragg was born in Liverpool."Tony Cragg." ''Contemporary Artists''. Farmington Hills, ...

−2006 * Pascal Devoyon 1996– * Olafur Eliasson 2009–2014 *

Heinz Emigholz Heinz Emigholz (born 22 January 1948 in Achim, near Bremen, Germany) is a filmmaker, actor, artist, writer and producer. He lives and works in Berlin and Malta. Emigholz has produced a comprehensive filmic and artistic oeuvre and has also done per ...

* Valérie Favre 2006– * Emanuel Feuermann 1929–1933 * Friedrich Goldmann 1991–2005 * Christian Grube 1973– * Elisabeth Grümmer 1965–1986 * Byung-Chul Han 2012– * Pál Hermann 1902–1944 * Fons Hickmann 2007– *

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ' ...

1895–1963 * Karl Hofer *

Leiko Ikemura is a Japanese-Swiss painter and sculptor. Biography Leiko Ikemura studied at Osaka University from 1970–1972. She then left Japan to study in Spain from 1973 to 1978 at the Academia de Bellas Artes in Granada and Seville. In 1979, Ikemura ...

Amalie Joachim Amalie Marie Joachim (née Schneeweiss; 10 May 1839 – 3 February 1899) was an Austrian-German contralto, working in opera and concert and as voice teacher. She was the wife of the violinist Joseph Joachim, and a friend of Clara Schumann and Joha ...

* Joseph Joachim 1869–1907 *

Gesche Joost Gesche Joost (born 1974) is a German design researcher. Early life and education Gesche Joost studied design at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and completed her PhD in Rhetoric at the University of Tübingen. Career Since 2011, ...

2011– *

Mark Lammert Mark Lammert (born 30 September 1960, in Berlin), is a German painter, illustrator, graphic artist and stage designer. He lives and works in Berlin. Biography Lammert studied painting at Kunsthochschule Berlin from 1979 to 1986 and from 1 ...

2011– *

Mitzi Meyerson Mitzi Meyerson is an American harpsichordist and photographer. Biography She was born into a musical family in Chicago, Illinois, where she began her concert career at the age of seven. After completing her university and graduate studies in Ch ...

Lula Mysz-Gmeiner Lula Mysz-Gmeiner (born Julie Sophie Gmeiner; 15 August 1876 – 7 August 1948) was a German concert contralto and mezzo-soprano born in Transylvania, who performed lieder recitals in Europe and the United States. She was an academic voice teacher ...

1920–1945 *

Aurèle Nicolet Aurèle Nicolet (22 January 1926 – 29 January 2016) was a Swiss flautist. He was considered one of the world's best flute players of the late twentieth century. He performed in various international concerts. A number of composers wrote music ...

1926– * Corinna von Rad * Daniel Richter 2005–2006 * Max Rostal 1928–1933 * Joachim Sauter 1991–2021 * Arnold Schoenberg 1922–1933 * Ernst Gerold Schramm * Clara Schumann 1819–1896Bertita Leonarz Harding, ''Concerto: The Story of Clara Schumann'', G.G. Harrap, 1962, p. 191. * Laszlo Simon 1981–2009 *

Walter Stöhrer Walter Stöhrer (1937–2000) was a German painter born in Stuttgart. Between 1952 and 1954 he studied as a commercial graphical artist (''Werbegraphiker''), receiving a journeyman's certificate. In 1955 he began to study painting at the Academy ...

* Witold Szalonek 1973–? * Leo van Doeselaar 1995–2019 * Jean-Philippe Vassal 2012– * Vivienne Westwood 1993–2005 * Josef Wolfsthal 1926–1931 * Ji-Yeoun You 2009– * Isang Yun (composer) 1970–85 * Siegfried Zielinski 2007– *

Walter Zimmermann Walter Zimmermann (born 15 April 1949) is a German composer associated with the Cologne School. Born in Schwabach, Germany, Zimmermann studied composition in Germany with Werner Heider and Mauricio Kagel, the theory of musical intelligence at ...

1993– * Thomas Zipp 2008–

References

External links

Berlin University of the Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berlin University Of The Arts Music schools in Germany Performing arts education in Germany Universities and colleges in Berlin Buildings and structures in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf Public universities Educational institutions established in the 1690s 1696 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire