The top 62 best universities in Germany: 2025 rankings

Top ranked universities in Germany

University	QS Ranking 2026	THE Ranking 2026	ARWU Ranking 2025
Technical University of Munich (TUM)	22	27	45
Ludwig Maximilians University Munich	58	34	42
Heidelberg University	80	49	51
Freie Universität Berlin	88	113	–
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)	98	166	301
RWTH Aachen University	105	92	201
Humboldt University Berlin	130	89	–
Technische Universität Berlin	145	160	201
Universität Hamburg	193	125	201
University of Freiburg	201	138	101
University of Bonn	207	92	68
University of Tübingen	215	98	151
Technische Universität Dresden	218	174	201
FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg	232	201	201
University of Göttingen	243	122	151
TU Darmstadt	253	251	401
University of Cologne	272	164	151
University of Stuttgart	310	251	301
Goethe University Frankfurt	316	201	151
University of Münster	350	195	151
Ruhr University Bochum	395	251	201
University of Würzburg	416	179	201
University of Mannheim	416	201	701
Leibniz Universität Hannover	433	351	401
University of Konstanz	440	251	401
University of Bayreuth	448	301	401
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz	452	301	151
University of Potsdam	477	201	301
TU Bergakademie Freiberg	487	1001	–
Justus Liebig University	496	351	501
University of Bremen	530	301	501
Leipzig University	535	–	201
Ulm University	546	251	301
Friedrich Schiller University Jena	575	201	401
Kiel University	618	351	201
Saarland University	635	501	401
TU Dortmund University	673	501	601
University of Regensburg	691	401	401
Technische Universität Braunschweig	711	601	601
University of Hohenheim	711	301	901
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg	751	–	501
University of Marburg	771	401	301
University of Duisburg-Essen	801	301	301
University of Rostock	851	–	501
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf	851	251	201
Bielefeld University	1001	–	701
University of Siegen	1201	501	–
RPTU	1201	501	–
Ilmenau University of Technology	–	1001	–
University of Passau	–	601	–
Paderborn University	–	601	–
Constructor University	–	501	–
University of Greifswald	–	401	–
Leuphana University Lüneburg	–	401	–
University of Wuppertal	–	601	901
Hamburg University of Technology	–	501	901
University of Magdeburg	–	601	801
University of Kassel	–	–	801
University of Oldenburg	–	–	601
University of Augsburg	–	–	601
Universität zu Lübeck	–	–	501
Hannover Medical School	–	–	401

Explained: How do the university rankings work?

The QS World University Rankings are among the most important, most-referenced rankings. The QS ranking relies heavily on its academic survey, asking thousands of academics worldwide about the reputation of universities.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings (or the THE Rankings for short) compile a wide range of statistics. Equal weight is put on teaching quality, research excellence, and research impact through citations (meaning how often a university’s research is referenced elsewhere).

The Academic Ranking of World Universities by Shanghai Jiao Tong University (often just Shanghai Ranking, or ARWU) focuses on research output and quality, for example measured by the number of published and cited scientific papers and the number of staff or alumni winning the Nobel Prize or Fields Medal.

Study in Germany

For many international students, Germany is the ideal country to study abroad: World-leading universities, many English-language study options especially at the postgraduate level, and no tuition fees at public universities. For these reasons and more, every year around 100,000 students from around the world choose to come to Germany for their university education.