The top 58 best universities in Germany: 2023 rankings

Top ranked universities in Germany

University	QS Ranking 2023	THE Ranking 2022	ARWU Ranking 2022
Technical University of Munich (TUM)	49	38	56
Ludwig Maximilians University Munich	59	32	57
Heidelberg University	65	42	70
Freie Universität Berlin	118	83	–
Humboldt University Berlin	131	74	–
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)	141	180	201
RWTH Aachen University	147	108	201
Technische Universität Berlin	158	139	301
University of Tübingen	169	78	151
University of Freiburg	189	108	101
Technische Universität Dresden	200	172	201
University of Bonn	201	112	76
University of Göttingen	215	119	151
Universität Hamburg	228	132	201
TU Darmstadt	275	301	401
Goethe University Frankfurt	328	301	151
University of Cologne	335	172	151
FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg	340	197	201
Friedrich Schiller University Jena	352	201	401
University of Stuttgart	355	301	301
Ulm University	375	146	301
University of Münster	384	201	201
University of Würzburg	410	165	201
Ruhr University Bochum	416	251	301
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz	420	301	201
Leipzig University	420	–	201
Saarland University	441	–	501
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg	477	–	601
Justus Liebig University	490	401	501
University of Bayreuth	511	351	701
Kiel University	521	251	201
University of Konstanz	541	201	501
University of Mannheim	541	146	–
University of Regensburg	581	601	401
Technische Universität Braunschweig	601	601	701
Leibniz Universität Hannover	601	401	501
University of Bremen	601	351	501
University of Potsdam	601	251	401
University of Rostock	601	–	501
University of Marburg	751	401	401
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf	751	251	301
TU Dortmund University	801	401	901
University of Duisburg-Essen	801	251	301
University of Hohenheim	801	197	–
University of Siegen	1001	601	–
Bielefeld University	1001	166	701
University of Wuppertal	–	601	901
RPTU	–	601	–
Hamburg University of Technology	–	601	–
Jacobs University Bremen	–	401	–
University of Passau	–	351	–
University of Greifswald	–	351	–
Ilmenau University of Technology	–	1001	–
Universität zu Lübeck	–	–	701
University of Oldenburg	–	–	601
University of Magdeburg	–	–	801
University of Kassel	–	–	801
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.