Free University of Berlin

For other universities, see Free University (disambiguation).

Free University of Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin
Seal of the Free University of Berlin
Motto
Motto in English
Truth, Justice, Liberty
TypePublic
Established4 December 1948; 75 years ago (1948-12-04)
Affiliation
Budget€648.8 million[1]
PresidentGünter M. Ziegler (2018–present)
Academic staff
2,851[1]
Administrative staff
2,719[1]
Students38,539 (2022)[2]
Undergraduates22,636 (2021)[1]
Postgraduates9,938 (2021)[1]
3,628 (2021)[1]
Address
Kaiserswerther Straße 16–18
,
Berlin
,
Germany
CampusSuburban and urban (180 hectares (440 acres))
Colors  Black
  Green
Websitewww.fu-berlin.de

The Free University of Berlin[a] (German: Freie Universität Berlin, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public research university in Berlin. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period as a Western continuation of the Friedrich Wilhelm University, or the University of Berlin,[3][4] whose traditions and faculty members it retained. The Friedrich Wilhelm University (which was renamed the Humboldt University), being in East Berlin, faced strong communist repression; the Free University's name referred to West Berlin's status as part of the Western Free World, contrasting with communist-controlled East Berlin.

In 2008, as part of a joint effort, the Free University of Berlin, along with the Hertie School of Governance, and WZB Social Science Research Center Berlin, created the Berlin Graduate School for Transnational Studies.

The Free University of Berlin was conferred the title of "University of Excellence" under the German Universities Excellence Initiative, of which it is part. As an institution of the Berlin University Alliance, the FU Berlin was included in the second funding line in 2019 as part of the Excellence Strategy.[5]

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Leistungsbericht über das Jahr 2022" (PDF) (in German). Senate Chancellery of Berlin. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2024. Retrieved 8 April 2024.
  2. ^ "Overall Statistics" (PDF). Freie Universität. 2 December 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  3. ^ hupresse. "Das moderne Original der Reformuniversität". Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (in German). Archived from the original on 4 July 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  4. ^ Cichanowicz, Lily (20 November 2016). "A Brief History Of Berlin's Free University". Culture Trip. Archived from the original on 30 June 2022. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Exzellenz". www.berlin.de (in German). 25 February 2020. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2022.


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