University in Germany
München, Bayern, Germany
University profile
The Akademie der Bildenden Künste München (AdBK) is the state art academy of Munich, tracing its origins to the electoral drawing school ("Zeichnungs Schule respective Maler- und Bildhauerakademie") approved in 1770. It describes itself as an experimental laboratory for solutions beyond convention, positioned between the intellectual heritage it administers, the art market and the individual artist's search for a fulfilled life. It is a member of the Kunsthochschule Bayern, the association of the six Bavarian art colleges founded on 30 January 2023.
The Academy occupies the Neo-Renaissance Altbau at Akademiestraße 2-4 in Munich, on the border between Maxvorstadt and Schwabing and close to the Siegestor, opened in 1886, together with the extension (Neubau) designed by Coop Himmelb(l)au and occupied in 2005. Study is organised in class groups (Klassen) led by professors. The Academy has twenty-five classes, twenty-two study workshops, a large library and seminars and lectures in art history, philosophy and didactics, supplemented by more than sixty teaching assignments (Lehraufträge). The cx centrum für interdisziplinäre studien offers cross-class courses on a theme that changes each year.
Programmes: Freie Kunst (Diplom, nine semesters standard period), Kunstpädagogik (Staatsexamen for teaching art at Bavarian Gymnasien, with a doctorate Dr. phil. available), Innenarchitektur (Bachelor of eight semesters and Master of four semesters under the model introduced in 2026), Architektur und Kunst (Master, four semesters, accredited by the Stiftung Akkreditierungsrat and leading to registration with the architects' chambers) and Bildnerisches Gestalten und Therapie (Master in art therapy, four semesters, intake every two years, next in winter semester 2027/28).
The workshops cover printmaking (lithography, relief printing and typography, etching, screen printing), bronze casting, photography, plaster casting and stucco, glass painting, light and mosaic, woodworking, wood sculpture, ceramics, plastics, painting technique, media education, metalworking, new media, paper and recycling, jewellery and implements, sculptural glass, stone sculpture, textiles and 3D forming. The Free Art classes include sculpture, painting and graphics, photography, media art, performance, stage design and costume, and the cross-class programmes Kontextuelle Praxis, Künstlerisches Schreiben und Forschen and Sound und Experiment.
Admission is once a year for the winter semester through a portfolio assessment, followed by a practical and oral examination in some programmes. International applicants who gained their entrance qualification abroad apply in the same procedure and submit a verifiable German language certificate. Exchange students from partner institutions can attend for a semester or an academic year, and guest study of up to two semesters is possible.
Guest study in full-time mode costs 300 euro per semester, plus the semester contribution to the Studierendenwerk (currently 97 euro), which includes access to the Mensa and the discounted MVV semester ticket via the student card. The Studierendenwerk contribution is a semester contribution, not tuition.
Awarded to particularly gifted and committed students with social engagement, including two awards for students under 28 and some for sculpture and three-dimensional work, interior architecture and architecture and art. It pays 300 euro per month, half from private sponsors and half from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, normally for one year and irrespective of income. The application deadline is 3 November 2026 (24:00), with cover sheet, application form, letter of motivation, CV, certificate of enrolment and portfolio with transcripts uploaded through the application portal.
Funds provided by the DAAD are awarded as final-year grants to up to three international students who are at least in their eighth semester, based on need and good performance, with a good result expected within one year. Deadline 1 June 2026; application by upload with a financing statement and portfolio.
Awarded by technical aptitude, personal qualification and need; students who have not passed probation are excluded and students who could claim BAföG are not considered needy. Deadline 1 June 2026, with financing statement, professor's recommendation, CV and portfolio.
A grant for books and learning materials (tools and materials) for students from the third semester. Deadline 1 June 2026, with BAföG notice or income proof, cost statement, professor's recommendation and portfolio.
The Jubiläums-Stipendien-Stiftung of the City of Munich (candidates are nominated by class professors, no self-application), the Bundespreis für Kunststudierende, the Kulturpreis Bayern, the Bayerischer Kunstförderpreis, the Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes, the USA-Stipendium, the Cité Internationale des Arts Paris, the Internationale Sommerakademie Salzburg and an equal-opportunities grant for women alumnae in research and teaching. The Akademieverein München e.V. awards studio grants (since 2006) and prizes at the Diplom and Jahresausstellung, and the Studierendenwerk München provides general scholarship advice.
Details: Stipendien at the AdBK.
Deutschlandstipendium at the Academy of Fine Arts Munich →
STIBET Final-Phase Scholarships for International Students (DAAD funds) →
Bavarian State Ministry Scholarships for International Students →
Oskar Karl Forster Scholarship Fund →
Browse the scholarships listed for Akademie der Bildenden Künste München and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for Akademie der Bildenden Künste München →Admission is once a year, for the winter semester. The application portal opens on 15 March. The deadline is 30 April for Innenarchitektur (online only) and 15 May for all other programmes (the online registration and the documents must both be received by 15 May; the postmark does not count). The three steps are: online data entry and submission of the portfolio and documents; a practical and oral examination (only in Innenarchitektur, Kunstpädagogik, the Master Bildnerisches Gestalten und Therapie and the Master Architektur und Kunst); and enrolment after admission. In Freie Kunst admission is based on the submitted artistic work alone, with results sent in late June via the portal. Freie Kunst and Kunstpädagogik students are admitted on a probationary basis and take a probation examination in the second semester. Admission to the Master Bildnerisches Gestalten und Therapie is every two years; the next intake is winter semester 2027/28.
Applicants submit a signed registration form from the portal, a portfolio of independent artistic work (maximum 90 cm x 90 cm x 10 cm, no rolls, no glass or frames, no more than three oil paintings), a certified copy of the university entrance qualification (Abitur, subject-specific entrance qualification, master craftsman examination and similar), a tabular CV and passport photograph, and proof of an eight-week pre-study placement (Vorpraktikum) in a craft or artistic-craft field, which may be submitted by enrolment at the latest. A completed craft or artistic training or a completed degree can replace the placement. Applicants without a German qualification may apply for recognition of qualification as vocationally qualified applicants or by exceptional artistic talent. Applicants may also hand in the portfolio in person on set dates in May.
Applicants who gained their qualification outside Germany and outside a German school abroad register in the same portal and follow the same procedure. They submit a certified copy of the entrance qualification in the original language with a certified translation (English documents excepted) and the form Anhang zum Anmeldeschein bei ausländischer Vorbildung. The Student Secretariat checks the certificates, and the Academy may require a recognition notice from the certificate recognition office. Originals must not be sent. Portfolios sent from outside the EU must be declared as sample portfolio, documents or application mail, not as goods, and the Academy does not pay customs or shipping costs. Applicants from China, Mongolia and Vietnam must provide the APS certificate (Akademische Prüfstelle).
A verifiable German certificate is required of applicants educated abroad: B1 for Freie Kunst (an A2 certificate can be used to apply, but B1 must follow within one year, otherwise the student is de-registered); B2 for Innenarchitektur and the Master Architektur und Kunst (by enrolment); C1 for Kunstpädagogik (by enrolment) and the Master Bildnerisches Gestalten und Therapie (at application). Accepted certificates include DSH, TestDaF, telc, the Goethe-Zertifikat, the Europäisches Sprachenzertifikat, the Deutsches Sprachdiplom of the KMK, the Deutsche Sprachprüfung II and the Österreichisches Sprachdiplom, as well as certain German or German-speaking school and university leaving certificates.
Master applicants (Kunstpädagogik, Innenarchitektur, Architektur und Kunst, Bildnerisches Gestalten und Therapie) additionally submit a certified copy of a completed relevant degree or equivalent with the transcript of records in one PDF; if the Bachelor certificate is not yet available only the transcript is uploaded, and the certificate must follow by the start of the winter semester. Architektur und Kunst is aimed at design-oriented students with a completed Bachelor in architecture. The Master Bildnerisches Gestalten und Therapie also requires a letter of motivation.
Kunstpädagogik offers a doctoral route to the Dr. phil.
Exchange students must come from a partner institution of the AdBK and upload a CV, photograph, ID scan, portfolio (PDF, maximum 15 pages) and a letter of nomination. Deadlines: 15 May for winter semester or academic year, 2 November for summer semester. Guest study of up to two semesters is decided by the class professor on the basis of a portfolio; it does not allow examinations or credit.
Altbau (Akademiestraße 2-4, 80799 München): the historic main building of 1886 with the Aula of 1912 housing ten Raphael tapestries, the library, the archive, studios of the classes and workshops. It is listed (Denkmalschutz) and reached barrier-free from the rear, with a lift in the central section; the study workshop and rooms of the class Schmuck und Gerät, the archive rooms on the mezzanine and the library galleries are not step-free.
Neubau (Erweiterungsbau): the Coop Himmelb(l)au extension of 2005 with the Studierendensekretariat (E.EG.09), the Prüfungsamt (E.EG.18), the International Office, auditorium, seminar rooms and workshops. It is fully barrier-free with lifts to the upper floors and workshops.
Study programmes offered at Akademie der Bildenden Künste München.
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