Rankings: The 59 best universities in Germany for 2019/2020

Germany enjoys a remarkable reputation for its higher education sector: There are more than 400 universities, and many of them score high in international rankings, among the top universities in the world. The two hot spots of academic excellence are Munich (with Ludwig Maximilians University, LMU, and the Technical University of Munich, TUM) and Berlin (with the HU, the FU and the TU). But that’s just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more world-class institutions in other corners of the country.

Top ranked universities in Germany

University	QS Ranking 2019	THE Ranking 2019	ARWU Ranking 2018
Technical University of Munich (TUM)	61	44	48
Ludwig Maximilians University Munich	62	32	53
Heidelberg University	64	47	47
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)	116	135	201
Humboldt University Berlin	121	67	–
Freie Universität Berlin	130	104	–
RWTH Aachen University	144	87	201
Technische Universität Berlin	147	131	301
University of Tübingen	168	89	151
University of Freiburg	186	76	101
Technische Universität Dresden	191	151	151
University of Göttingen	197	123	99
Universität Hamburg	223	135	151
TU Darmstadt	253	251	401
University of Bonn	255	110	101
University of Stuttgart	260	251	301
Goethe University Frankfurt	279	251	101
FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg	299	175	201
University of Cologne	306	146	151
Friedrich Schiller University Jena	326	–	301
University of Münster	329	184	151
Ulm University	332	149	201
University of Mannheim	338	123	–
Ruhr University Bochum	372	251	301
University of Konstanz	397	189	401
Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz	407	251	201
Kiel University	453	201	201
Saarland University	461	–	501
University of Hohenheim	495	201	601
Technische Universität Braunschweig	500	–	501
University of Bremen	511	301	401
Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg	521	159	151
Leibniz Universität Hannover	551	401	401
Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg	561	–	401
University of Regensburg	571	–	501
University of Bayreuth	601	301	401
University of Duisburg-Essen	601	190	301
University of Marburg	601	251	301
University of Potsdam	601	201	501
Bielefeld University	701	201	401
TU Dortmund University	701	301	501
University of Rostock	701	–	401
University of Wuppertal	–	–	901
University of Oldenburg	–	–	501
University of Magdeburg	–	601	801
University of Greifswald	–	401	901
Universität zu Lübeck	–	–	801
Technische Universität Chemnitz	–	501	801
Paderborn University	–	–	901
Leipzig University	–	–	151
Justus Liebig University	–	351	601
Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf	–	–	301
Hannover Medical School	–	–	301
University of Passau	–	201	–
Jacobs University Bremen	–	251	–
Hamburg University of Technology	–	401	–
University of Kaiserslautern	–	401	–
University of Siegen	–	401	–
Ilmenau University of Technology	–	601	–

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.