Top universities in Germany

If you’re looking to study in Germany, you’ll be pleased to know that the country is home to 49 of the universities featured in the recently released QS World University Rankings 2024. 

The universities are assessed on indicators such as academic and employer reputation, citations per faculty (a measure of research output), sustainability, and more. You can find out more about how the universities are assessed in the methodology. 

Read on as we discover the top universities in German starting with the 10 highest ranking. 

QS World University Rankings 2024 – Top 10 universities in Germany
Germany rank	Global rank	University
1	37	Technical University of Munich
2	54	Ludwig-Maximillians-Universität München
3	=87	Universität Heidelberg
4	98	Freie-Universität Berlin
5	106	RWTH Aachen University
6	119	KIT, Karlsruher-Institut für Technologie
7	120	Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
8	=154	Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin)
9	=192	Albert-Ludwigs-Universtaet Freiburg
10	205	Universität Hamburg

10. Universität Hamburg 

Ranked 10th in Germany is the Universität Hamburg, which is also ranked 205th worldwide. The Universität Hamburg ranked highest in the international research network indicator, for which it’s ranked seventh in Germany and 101st globally. 

Universität Hamburg was founded in 1919 and was the first university built under the democratic Weimar government. Today, Universität Hamburg offers over 150 courses and is attended by over 43,000 students. 

9. Albert-Ludwigs-Universtaet Freiburg

Ninth is the Albert-Ludwigs-Univertaet Freiburg, which also came joint 192nd in the world rankings. It also achieved its highest score in the international research indicator, suggesting its large contribution to academic research around the world. It is a member of the League of European Research Universities and the German U15 research group. 

8. Technische Universität Berlin

Heading to the German capital next, Technische Universität Berlin comes in at number eight in the German rankings and shares 154th place in the world rankings. 

The Technische Universität Berlin is a member of the prestigious TU9 group which is comprised of several of the most notable institutes of technology in the country. 

7. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin

Dropping to seventh place in Germany is the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin which is also ranked 120th in the world. 

Located in Berlin, the university was founded in 1810 and was branded ‘the Mother of all Universities’. It was linked to major breakthroughs in physics and other sciences by its professors, including Albert Einstein who was a chair member of the university board from 1914 to 1933. 

6. KIT, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie

 

Remaining in sixth place is the Karlsruher-Institut für Technologie which is also ranked 119th worldwide. It scored particularly highly for employer reputation, being ranked fourth in Germany and 76th in the world. 

The university’s aim is to make significant contributions to the global challenges in energy, mobility, and information, and uses research-based study to prepare its over 22,000 students for a professional career. 

5. Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen

RWTH Aachen climbs two places this year in the QS World University Rankings to rank fifth in Germany and 106th globally. It enjoys a particularly good reputation among employers, ranking second in Germany and 44th worldwide. 

With more than 47,000 students, including over 14,000 international students, and offering over 170 different courses, RWTH Aachen is the largest technical university in Germany. 

4. Freie Universität Berlin

Ascending one place in the German rankings, Freie-Universität Berlin is ranked fourth this year, also ranking 87th in the world. 

Freie-Universität Berlin was founded in 1948 by a group of professors and students who openly criticised the persecution students faced in universities on the Soviet side of the divided city. Its principles of freedom garnered a lot of international attention at the time. 

3. Universität Heidelberg

Remaining in the top three and ranking third again this year is the Universität Heidelberg, which is also ranked joint 87th place worldwide. 

Universität Heidelberg also claims the title of the oldest university in Germany. Originally founded in 1386, today the Universität Heidelberg is attended by almost 30,000 students and offers almost 150 programmes. 

2. Ludwig-Maximilians – Universität München

For another year, Ludwig-Maximillians-Universität München ranks second in Germany. It has also moved up in the world rankings to 54th and has done particularly well in terms of academic reputation; the best university in Germany with academics as well as being 40th in the world. 

Ludwig-Maximillians-Universität München is one of Europe’s leading research universities with over 500 years of experience in the education and research sector. 

1. Technische Universität München

Finally, the Technical University of Munich ranks first once again among the top universities in Germany. The university has also climbed up to the top 50 in the world rankings, finishing at 37th globally. It ranked very highly in the employee reputation indicator: 19th in the world as well as being the best in Germany. 

The Technical University of Munich was founded in 1868 and is well known for its Business and Management course which aims to create an environment to support budding entrepreneurs. It is also a member of the TU9 group of prestigious technical universities. 

The remaining top German universities are: 

11. Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen – ranked 213th in the world 

12. Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg – ranked 229th in the world 

13. University of Göttingen – ranked 232nd in the world 

14. Rheinische Freidrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn – ranked joint 239th in the world 

=15. Technical University of Darmstadt – ranked joint 246th in the world 

=15. Technische Universität Dresden – ranked joint 246th in the world 

17. University of Cologne – ranked joint 268th in the world 

18. Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main – ranked joint 302nd in the world 

19. Universität Stuttgart – ranked 312th in the world 

20. Ruhr-Universität Bochem – ranked joint 375th in the world 

21. University of Münster – ranked 384th in the world 

22. Justus-Liebig-University Giessen – ranked joint 396th in the world 

23. Julius-Maximillians- Universität Würzburg – ranked joint 440th in the world 

24. Universität Mannheim – ranked joint 454th in the world 

25. Universität Potsdam – ranked 460th in the world 

26. Universität Jena – ranked joint 461st in the world 

27. Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz – ranked 464th in the world 

28. Universität Konstanz – ranked 478th in the world 

29. Universität Leipzig – ranked 479th in the world 

30. Leibniz University Hannover – ranked joint 481st in the world 

31. University of Bayreuth – ranked joint 509th in the world 

32. Universität Bremen – ranked joint 514th in the world 

33. Christian-Albrechts-University zu Kiel – ranked joint 530th in the world 

34. Ulm University – ranked joint 542nd in the world 

35. Saarland University – ranked joint 600th in the world 

36. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenburg – ranked 611-620 

37. University of Hohenheim – ranked 651-660 

38. Universität Regensburg – ranked 741-750 

39. Technische Universität Braunschweig – ranked 751-760 

=40. Phillips-Universität Marburg – ranked 761-770 

=40. Universität Rostock – ranked 761-770 

42. Universität Duisburg-Essen – ranked 771-780 

43. University Düsseldorf – ranked 801-850 

44. TU Dortmund University – ranked 851-900 

45. Bielefeld University – ranked 951-1000 

46. Universität Siegen – ranked 1001-1200 

=47. Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg – ranked +1401 

=47. Technische Universität Hamburg – ranked +1401 

=47. University of Kaiserslautern-Landau (RPTU) – ranked +1401