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University of Cologne

University in Germany

The University of Cologne (German: Universität zu Köln) is a public research university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388.² From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 18, 2026.

Overview

1388Founded¹

Websiteuni-koeln.de

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The University of Cologne (German: Universität zu Köln) is a public research university in Cologne, Germany. It was established in 1388. It closed in 1798 before being re-established in 1919. It is now one of the largest universities in Germany with around 43,594 students. The University of Cologne is a member of the German U15 association of major research-intensive universities and was a university of excellence as part of the German Universities Excellence Initiative from 2012 to 2019. It is consistently ranked among the top 20 German universities in the world rankings.²

The story

1388–1798

The University of Cologne was established in 1388 as the fourth university in the Holy Roman Empire, after the Charles University of Prague (1348), the University of Vienna (1365) and the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg (1386). The charter was signed by Pope Urban VI. The university began teaching on 6 January 1389, and operated for several hundred years.

In 1798, the university was abolished by the French First Republic, which had invaded Cologne in 1794, as many universities across France were abolished under the new French constitution. The last rector Ferdinand Franz Wallraf was able to preserve the university's Great Seal, which is now in use again.

1919–today

In 1919, the Prussian government endorsed a decision by the Cologne City Council to re-establish the university. This was considered to be a replacement for the loss of the University of Strasbourg on the west bank of the Rhine, which contemporaneously reverted to France with the rest of Alsace. On 29 May 1919, the Cologne mayor Konrad Adenauer signed the charter of the new university.

At that point, the new university was located in Neustadt-Süd, but relocated to its current campus in Lindenthal on 2 November 1934. The old premises are now being used by the TH Köln – University of Applied Sciences.

Initially, the university was composed of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Social Sciences (successor to the Institutes of Commerce and of Communal and Social Administration) and the Faculty of Medicine (successor to the Academy of Medicine). In 1920, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Arts were added, from which the School of Mathematics and Natural Sciences was separated in 1955 to form an independent Faculty. In 1980, the two Cologne departments of the Rhineland School of Education were attached to the university as the Faculties of Education and of Special Education. In 1988, the university became a founding member of the Community of European Management Schools and International Companies (CEMS), today's Global Alliance in Management Education.

The university is regularly ranked at the top of national and international law and business rankings (see Rankings).

From Wikipedia’s article on University of Cologne, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.³

Leadership

Who has led University of Cologne, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Board members and other officers (8)

Managing directorFelix Rau Oct 14, 2019 to now¹
Board memberDietmar Fischer Jul 1, 2022 to now¹
Board memberStefan Wesner Jul 1, 2022 to now¹
Board memberOya Deniz Beyan May 1, 2021 to now¹
Board memberDirk Isbrandt 2015 to now¹
Board memberBrunhilde Wirth Jun 1, 2003 to now¹
Board memberMichael Hallek Nov 1, 2003 to now¹
Board memberManuel Koch Jul 11, 2001 to now¹

Products and brands

Special funding for research

Clusters of Excellence / Excellence Strategy of the German federal and state governments:

CECAD Cologne Excellence Cluster for Aging and Aging-Associated Diseases

CEPLAS Cluster of Excellence on Plant Sciences

DYNAVERSE Our Dynamic Universe (from 1 January 2026)

Read the full text

ECONtribute: Märkte & Public Policy

ML4Q Matter and Light for Quantum Computing

Adenauer School of Government:

On 5 June 2025, the University of Cologne and the non-profit Alfred Landecker Foundation, founded by the Reimann family, signed a cooperation agreement to establish the Adenauer School of Government (ASG). The aim of the ASG is to establish itself as a leading, non-partisan center for public policy, governance and administrative sciences that helps to shape relevant developments in economics and other research fields. The school will be funded in long term, with an initial budget of ten million euros per year.

DFG

18 DFG Collaborative Research Centres and 10 participations in Collaborative Research Centres at other universities (as of October 2024)

CRC 1211: Earth - Evolution at the Dry Limit

CRC 1218: Mitochondrial Regulation of Cellular Function

CRC 1238: Control and Dynamics of Quantum Materials

CRC 1252: Prominence in Language

CRC 1310: Predictability in Evolution

CRC 1399: Mechanisms of Drug Sensitivity and Resistance in Small Cell Lung Cancer

CRC 1403: Cell Death in Immunity, Inflammation and Disease

CRC 1451: Key Mechanisms of Motor Control in Health and Disease

CRC 1530: Elucidation and Targeting of Pathogenic Mechanisms in B Cell Malignancies

CRC 1601: Habitats of Massive Stars Across Cosmic Time

CRC 1607: Towards immunomodulatory and Anti(lymph)angiogenic Therapies for Age-Related Blinding Eye Diseases

CRC 1678: Systems-Level Consequences of Fidelity Changes in mRNA and Protein Biosynthesis

CRC TRR 183: Entangled States of Matter

CRC TRR 228: Future Rural Africa: Future-making and Social-Ecological Transformation

CRC TRR 341: Plant Ecological Genetics

6 DFG Research Training Groups (see Graduate Programmes)

a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities (Faculty of Arts and Humanities)

Department-wide Graduate School (Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences)

Cologne Graduate School in Management, Economics and Social Sciences (CGS) (Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences)

Graduate School Managing Diversity & Transition (Faculty of Human Sciences)

Graduate School of the Faculty of Medicine

Graduate School of the Faculty of Law

EU

EUniWell

ERC Grants

Central graduate schools

a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities

Graduate School for Biological Sciences

Cologne Graduate School Chemistry (CGSC)

Graduate School of Geosciences (GSGS)

Graduate School of Mathematics

Bonn-Cologne Graduate School of Physics and Astronomy (BCGS)

Interdisciplinary Program Health Sciences (IPHS)

Graduate School of Human Medicine and Dentistry (GSHZ)

Interdisciplinary Program Molecular Medicine (IPMM)

Graduate School of the Faculty of Law

Cologne Graduate School in Management, Economics and Social Sciences (CGS)

Graduate School of the Faculty of Human Sciences

Graduate School for Teacher Education

Cooperation with major research institutions

Some University of Cologne professors are also members of major research institutions:

German Aerospace Centre (DLR)

Forschungszentrum Jülich in the Helmholtz Association

DZNE – German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases (Helmholtz)

ZB Med – German National Library of Medicine

GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences

German Institute for Adult Education – Leibniz Centre for Lifelong Learning (DIE)

Max Planck Institute for Neurological Research (MPINF)

University Award for outstanding achievements

Each year, the University of Cologne recognizes outstanding achievements in the categories research, teaching and learning as well as administration.

Schmittmann Wahlen Scholarship

This scholarship is awarded to doctoral candidates. The scholarship is awarded in honour of professor Benedikt Schmittmann (1872–1939), a professor at the University of Cologne.

Gerhard Michel Scholarship

In 2003, a former employee in the International Office, who was responsible for studies abroad, set up a university scholarship fund; thanks to donations from former international scholarship holders and friends of internationalization, scholarships can be awarded annually for study visits at partner universities that offer a fee waiver.

Cologne University Foundation

The Cologne University Foundation was established in 2019 to promote early-career researchers, research and academic projects. The foundation manages private donations to the university, which promote the transfer of knowledge to society.

Third-party funding

The volume of third-party funding was 239.2 million euros in 2023, of which 103.9 million euros was allocated to the Faculty of Medicine. The German Research Foundation was by far the largest provider of third-party funding with around 101.5 million euros. Other third-party funders in 2023 were the EU (16.9 million euros), the federal government (42.8 million euros), the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (21.7 million euros), foundations (17.2 million euros), industry (29.9 million euros) and other third-party funders (9.2 million euros).

Endowed professorships

The university has acquired a number of endowed professorships, some of which have been established on a long-term basis or only for a few years and are then funded by the state.

Bayer endowed professorship for Technical Chemistry, since 1986

Endowed professorship for Tumour Immunology of the German Cancer Aid, since 2002

Endowed professorship for Palliative Medicine, funded by the German Cancer Aid, since October 2005

Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Professorship for Ancient History, since 2006 for 7 years

Endowed professorship for Energy Industry, financed by the energy industry, April 2007 to February 2012

The Albertus Magnus Professorship was established by Senate resolution in 2004. Every year, a renowned international scholar or scientist is invited to give public lectures and seminars for one to two weeks.

Endowed professorship for the promotion of lawyer-oriented legal training, financed by the Hans Soldan Foundation, since 2014

University partnerships and networks

The university maintains over 40 official partnerships. In addition to the official university partnerships, there are almost 300 cooperations and exchange relationships with renowned universities all over the world at the level of the individual Faculties and departments.

Extensive funding opportunities are available through the Erasmus programme of the EU, the DAAD or fee waivers agreements with partner universities (complete list of partner universities on the university website). In 2005, the University of Cologne took over the central mediation and coordination of relations between the higher education institutions of North Rhine-Westphalia and China.