About
Humboldt University of Berlin (HU Berlin) is a public research university located in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin. As Berlin’s oldest university, founded in 1810, it has a prestigious history including the creation of the Humboldtian model of higher education, which remains the primary method of university teaching around the world.
Past and present faculty and alumni include 57 Nobel Prize Laureates, as well as many eminent philosophers, sociologists, scientists, artists and heads of state. Among these are Albert Einstein, Angela Davis, W.E.B Du Bois, Max Weber and the Brothers Grimm.
HU Berlin is divided into nine faculties, welcomes approximately 35,000 students annually and shares a medical school with the Free University of Berlin.
Consult HU Berlin on QS World rankings to learn more about their current world ranking and academic status in different subject areas.
Consult this comprehensive Guide for International Students to learn about coming to HU Berlin as an incoming exchange student (note slight differences for international degree-seeking students versus exchange students).
Location
HU Berlin is split across three campuses – Campus Mitte, Campus Adlershof and Campus Nord, with all law, humanities and social sciences taking place on Campus Miette. These campuses are themselves integrated into the city, with over 300 buildings. Campus Miette is in the classic heart of Berlin, with gorgeous neo-classical architecture lining the Unter den Linden boulevard, one of Berlin’s most famous roads.
Perhaps the most famous building is the Prinz-Heinrich-Palais, built in the 18th century for Prince Henry of Prussia. Humboldt is also well-resourced with modern facilities, including one of the biggest university libraries, with over 6.5 million volumes and 9,000 magazines and journals. At HU Berlin, you will be studying where history was made.
Level of competitiveness
This exchange is only open to students in the School of History and the School of Law.
Exchange students from the School of History are hosted within the Institut für Geschichtswissenschaften (Institute for Historical Studies, within the Faculty of Arts and Humanities), and exchange students from the School of Law are hosted within the Juristische Fakultät (Faculty of Law).
- School of History – Very competitive ***
- School of Law – Competitive **
The level of competitiveness (Less competitive * / Competitive ** / Very competitive ***) refers to one's chances of being allocated an exchange space at this partner. This is an approximation determined by the number of applications received for this destination during the last academic year versus the total number of exchange spaces available to Queen Mary students.
Language of Instruction
- English, for the agreement with the School of History. Students who speak German also have access to German taught modules.
- German, for the agreement with the School of Law. Law students who complete an exchange at HU Berlin are required to be fluent in German due to the intensive nature of the course. Therefore, they must have followed the mandatory German language classes with the Queen Mary Language Centre during years 1 and 2, unless exempted by the School of Law.
Students are advised to use the browser translation services of Google Chrome or to download a translation browser extension (for example, Google Translate) when consulting HU Berlin's website if they do not speak German, as much the website requires translation.
Intensive German speaking classes are available for students coming to the university for levels A1-C2. These take place before the winter or summer semesters. Students may register for these courses once they have been accepted into HU Berlin and have their HU Berlin student login. Find more details here.
Please note that all language-course related questions should be directed towards HU Berlin.
Academic Calendar
The full academic calendar can be found here. The academic year is divided into two semesters:
- Winter Semester (WiSe) (semester 1): October – March (lectures taking place through February)
- Sommer Semester (SoSe) (semester 2): April – September (lectures taking place through July)
Students have around ten days off for Christmas, in addition to public holidays. Orientation for international students is mostly held through the Welcome Centre. This includes cultural events to help students meet new people, introductory zoom sessions and intercultural training sessions to facilitate integration into the new culture of Berlin and the HU Berlin atmosphere.
Courses
Consult this comprehensive Guide for International Students to learn about coming to HU Berlin as an incoming exchange student. This includes information of different types of modules etc..
A full list of courses available for exchange students, in both German and English, can be found here. Read more about international study here.
Queen Mary students on exchange at HU Berlin may be eligible to study some of their modules outside of the host department, however: 1) this can only be confirmed after students’ arrival; 2) might vary year on year and be subject to course capacity, availability and pre-requisite requirements; and 3) all modules followed would need to be within the same host faculty.
HU Berlin also offers interdisciplinary seminars with a focus on Berlin through the Berlin Perspectives courses, taught in English and also in bilingual format. The modules are about the history and culture of the city through examining museums, immigration and the Berlin community. These modules may be of particular interest to students considering a future career in the museum and heritage sector, in addition to politics, NGOs or charities.
Students may also register for German language courses with the Language Centre of the HU Berlin. They offer all levels and courses are credit bearing. Please note a small fee applies. Students can take language courses before the start of each semester as well and the credits can count towards the overall course load.
(Note: Please contact HU Berlin with any questions regarding international programme status, as some Erasmus+ guidance may still be applicable for Queen Mary students.)
Credits
Students must enrol on a full courseload: 30 ECTS per semester / 60 ECTS for the full academic year (equivalent to 60 Queen Mary credits per semester / 120 Queen Mary credits for the full academic year).
Each module at HU Berlin is worth roughly 5 ECTS, meaning that students typically take six modules per semester. For reference, one credit point (1 ECTS) at HU Berlin approximately corresponds to 25-30 working hours. Note that students have to register for a Leistungsschein to get a grade for their course. More details about this are in the Guide for International Students (section 6 Studies).
Grading: Academic performance is assessed on a scale from 1.0 to 5.0, with 1.0 being the best. Additionally, each course carries a certain weight, determined by its number of credit points.
Grading scale overview:
- 1.0 and 1.3: excellent (sehr gut)
- 1.7, 2.0 and 2.3: good (gut)
- 2.7, 3.0 and 3.3: satisfactory (befriedigend)
- 3.7 and 4.0: sufficient (ausreichend)
- from 4.1: failed (nicht ausreichend)
Find out more about Queen Mary's credit transfer and grade conversion process.
Consult HU Berlin’s comprehensive Guide for International Students to learn about coming to HU Berlin as an incoming exchange student (note slight differences for international degree-seeking students versus exchange students).
Queen Mary student feedback:
Blog posts on Queen Mary Global Bloggers:
Instagram takeovers:
Accommodation
You can find full details of renting with HU Berlin here. HU Berlin offers two university-managed accommodation options to all exchange students via their halls of residence:
Students can apply for student accommodation during their online registration. They will be contacted via mail after the application deadline has expired. The application deadline for student accommodation for exchange students is typically the end of May for winter term (semester one, i.e. when Queen Mary students join as exchange students), and the end of November for spring term.
This city-wide StudiumdenWERK BERLIN website for housing (not managed by HU Berlin) might help you to learn more about city-wide student accommodation options, especially if you are (or are concerned you might be) unsuccessful in securing one of the rooms held for HU Berlin students via the above method (tip: view the original webpage in German in Google Chrome and translate). You may contact the service that assists students looking for accommodation at leben@stw.berlin (see webpage for full information and contact details).
Students may also choose to rent privately, although the cost of doing so may be significantly higher than HU Berlin’s university-managed accommodation. The partner has made a guide to privately renting in Berlin available to students here. Where helpful for general tips about living and renting in Berlin, you may also wish to consult the accommodation guidance on the destination sub-page for FU Berlin.
Important: Finding and securing private accommodation in Berlin has become increasingly competitive and challenging in recent years, as many students and young people look for private accommodation in Berlin during the summer/early autumn months. HU Berlin colleagues confirm that fraud is consequently also on the rise, with international students often falling victim to this. Queen Mary students are advised to follow the partner’s guidance as soon as possible to begin their accommodation search safely. Guidance about searching for private accommodation safely is available on the QMplus resource page, “Pre-departure” tab from early spring.
Cost of living
You can find out about the cost of living as a student here. You can find more general, up-to-date information about the cost of living in Berlin here.
Please consult the estimated minimum and maximum cost of living figures for this destination country available in our “Estimated Costs of Living” document available on our Finance page.
While incoming exchange students do not pay tuition to FU Berlin, all students must pay the so-called “semester fees and contributions” just as all other students in Germany pay. These non-university related social fees typically cost several hundred euros per semester and fund the student union, the elected student government, and also provide the student with the public transportation ticket for Berlin metropolitan area for the entire semester. Students pay the fee after arrival in Berlin during enrolment.
Savings on days out and culture
There is always something new to do in Berlin and there usually a way to save money doing it. The magazines Tip and Exberliner have some fantastic articles on saving money in Berlin, from discounted travel to free days out.
The ClassicCard app gets young people up to a whopping 90% off cultural events in Berlin, including opera, theatre and the cinema. It’s available for free to anyone under 30 – truly a must-have.
Even a student card alone will secure discounts at many Berlin attractions. Students should always ask if a discount is available for students – the worst thing they will hear is no.
Support services
As a current Queen Mary student you will be able to find a summary sheet for this partner university on our QMplus page, with an overview of the local student support services available on the following topics: specific learning differences, physical impairments, sensory impairments, long term medical conditions, autism spectrum conditions, mental health and wellbeing difficulties, special accommodation provision, non-emergency health care, emergency services, harassment and trauma and suicide prevention.
Health insurance coverage
All students in Germany are required to provide proof of health insurance coverage when matriculating. Fortunately, applying for insurance is quite straightforward. Students obtain this document from a German statutory health insurance. Every matriculated student up to the age of 30 is entitled to obtain health insurance coverage from one of the recognised statutory health insurance providers in Germany at a special student rate. The monthly contribution amount is calculated according to the BAföG rates and is regularly reviewed. For students who do obtain German health insurance coverage, one advantage is that German doctors are familiar with German health insurance companies and therefore dealing with these companies in the case of illness can be less complex (than dealing with a non-German insurance provider - see below).
Students from the UK who already have private health insurance may apply/request for an exemption from the compulsory insurance coverage in Germany; this can only be granted by a German statutory health insurance company (it remains the student's responsibility to verify that any private insurance policy will cover them adequately for all individual needs when abroad).
Humboldt-Universität cooperates with recognised statutory health insurance providers, AOK, BARMER, DAK and Die Techniker, which maintain special contact partners for students who are generally present during matriculation. HU Berlin's International Office can assist with health insurance coverage questions, and students with disabilities who receive special benefits in their home countries. Further information is available here.
Pre-arrival and Welcome support
- Welcome Centre: The Welcome Centre is part of the International Department, organised by HU Berlin students for international students. It is a regular meeting point for all German and international students at HU Berlin to exchange ideas with people from other countries and cultures and has a great number of resources available. Here are just some of what the Welcome Centre offers – the full list, and more details, can be found here.
- Introductory Zoom Sessions: These sessions give students helpful overviews of various aspects of student life. These range from introductory IT sessions to advice about timetabling and travelling in Berlin.
- Newsletter: A newsletter dedicated to International students.
- Language tandems: This service matches students with each other looking to share their language and/or learn another student's native language. From there it’s up to the two students to meet up and practice speaking their respective languages.
- Visa service: This service offers regular appointments and drop-in sessions to discuss visa and residency queries.
- Studies4studies: This scheme matches experienced students to new international students to help them settle into their new home. This could be everything from picking you up from the airport to advising you on your term paper.
Students are also encouraged to join the yearly Facebook group for incoming international students. The Welcome Centre website lists the latest group.
Student life
The number of cultural events in Berlin cannot be underestimated. From underground bars to puppetry, opera to the zoo, there is always something going on. Check out the cost-of-living section in this guide to learn how you could get a 90% discount on tickets to all the latest events using the ClassicCard App. Additionally, the magazines Tip and Exberliner handle everything from deep dives into local politics to an insider’s guide to Berlin nightclubs, in English and German articles.
HU Berlin has a selection of societies and student groups. These are spread out over the website by their interest group. Here are some societies grouped by category:
