University in Germany
Bremen, Bremen, Germany
University profile
The Hochschule für Künste Bremen (HfK, University of the Arts Bremen) is an art and music university in the Hanseatic city of Bremen. It combines a Faculty of Fine Arts and Design with a Faculty of Music, and brings together artistic practice, teaching and research in a setting that unites art, music, design and science. Around 1,000 students from 70 countries study there, taught by 65 professors, 89 administrative staff and over 150 teaching associates.
The Faculty of Fine Arts and Design offers diploma and master's study in Fine Arts and bachelor's and master's programmes in Integrated Design and Digital Media. Digital Media is run jointly with the University of Bremen and combines computer science with art and design. The Faculty of Music offers bachelor's and master's degrees in Artistic Training, Artistic-Pedagogical Training and Historical Church Music, covering singing, instrumental majors, early and contemporary music, composition, church music, jazz and music education. Further offers are the Concert Exam, a young students programme (Bremen Junior Academy) and continuing education. Since autumn 2020 the HfK has also run a Binational Artistic PhD programme.
The university is spread across several sites: Speicher XI and the adjoining Speicher XI A in the Überseestadt, where the Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, the university management and administration are based, and Dechanatstraße in the city centre, home of the Faculty of Music. The floating exhibition ship MS Dauerwelle extends the university onto the River Weser. Workshops, studios, two sub-libraries, canteens, the student radio Radio Angrezi and the Galerie Flut support study and public events, and the HfK stages some 400 events a year.
Institutes in the Faculty of Music include the Arp-Schnitger-Institute for Organ and Organ Building, Atelier Neue Musik, the Institute for Early Music and performance practice, the Institute for Musical Education and Improvisation in the Arts and the Klaus Kuhnke Institute for Popular Music.
International students can apply for full-time study (4 to 10 semesters) through the application portal after passing an artistic entrance examination, or come as Erasmus+ or freemover visiting students. The International Office advises on exchanges and funding; the HfK holds partnerships with some 70 institutions abroad and has the Erasmus code D Bremen03. Rooms in student residences are available through Studierendenwerk Bremen. The HfK is a state university under the Bremen Higher Education Act (BremHG).
The HfK takes part in the Deutschlandstipendium: EUR 300 a month, non-repayable, half funded by the federal government and half by private donors (the Karin und Uwe Hollweg-Stiftung supports the HfK scheme). Awards go mainly by achievement and talent; special personal or family circumstances may count secondarily. All enrolled students with at least two semesters of standard study time remaining, and prospective students about to begin at the HfK, may apply. Funding is first granted for one year, does not depend on income and can be combined with BAföG. The 2026/27 application deadline is 10 November 2026. See the official call.
Further support for enrolled students includes the Korczak Scholarship of the Janusz Korczak Foundation Bremen and the Social Fund for students in financial emergencies, funded by donations. The Central Fund for Student Projects (the Material Fund) supports student projects, and the Heinz Arnold Bockmeyer Travel Grant finances travel projects by students and alumni of Fine Arts, Integrated Design and Digital Media. Details are at Assistance and Funding Opportunities.
The International Office advises on Erasmus+ and DAAD scholarships and individual funding choices for international and German full-time students. During exchange stays at a partner university, tuition fees are waived at both institutions and the HfK charges only the semester contribution (Semesterbeitrag), which covers a semester ticket, student services, a contribution to the student body and a semester ticket for cultural institutions. Student residences are run by Studierendenwerk Bremen.
Deutschlandstipendium at the University of the Arts Bremen (HfK Bremen) →
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View scholarships for Hochschule für Künste Bremen →Applicants need the general university entrance qualification (Abitur), a technical college entrance qualification, a passed non-baccalaureate (collegiate) examination, or a school education in Germany or abroad recognised by the HfK as equivalent, together with proof of artistic ability for the chosen course. Applicants who show special artistic ability in the entrance examination can be admitted without a school-leaving qualification, with additional requirements in the examination. Admission always depends on passing the entrance examination; music entrance examinations are held in person at Dechanatstraße 13-15, Bremen.
Almost all programmes use the HfK online application portal (application.hfk-bremen.de), which needs a personal email address and a password-protected account. The exceptions are the music teaching degree, run with the University of Bremen, and the Master in Digital Media (media informatics), applied for through the University of Bremen. Bachelor Digital Media, Integrated Design and Fine Arts start in the winter semester; the Integrated Design master's also admits in the summer semester, and music first-year students can apply for winter or summer semester.
Qualifications gained abroad are checked for comparability with German qualifications; the original certificate must be submitted with a certified German translation. Applicants from outside the EU/EEA need a student visa from the German embassy or consulate before entry (a tourist visa is not sufficient); usual documents are a passport, passport photos, proof of health insurance and proof of admission and of financing. EU/EEA citizens register their address in Bremen within three months.
Foreign applicants need good oral and written German. Level A2 is expected for the entrance examination. For enrolment, B1 is required for the Artistic Education programmes in Music (except singing and composition) and for the Fine Arts and Integrated Design master's programmes; TestDaF 3 or B2 is required for all other programmes and for Artistic Training in Music with singing or composition as main subject. Certificates must be presented at enrolment at the latest, though an exemption for up to two semesters can be granted on request for Fine Arts, Digital Media (BA) and Integrated Design (BA/MA); for music the deadline is 15 February (winter semester) or 15 August (summer semester).
Master programmes require a relevant first degree and success in the artistic entrance procedure (portfolio, selection process and interview in Integrated Design). The Concert Exam (four semesters) requires a Master of Music in artistic training with at least grade 2.5 overall and at least 1.5 in the main subject, completed no more than four years before the deadline, and applicants provide their own accompanists.
The four-year English-language Binational Artistic PhD is aimed at holders of an artistic or design master's degree or an artistic diploma; applications are made through artisticphd-hfkbremen.net.
Continuing Education for musicians (applications by 15 March or 15 September) costs EUR 1,500 per semester. The young student programme (Bremen Junior Academy) costs EUR 250 per semester.
Workshops open to all students and teachers include 2D and 3D workshops, Audio Lab, electronics, film and video, photography, foundry and chasing, InteractionLab, ceramics with a glazing laboratory, metal and prototypes, model construction, fashion and CAD for fashion, etching and silkscreen. Studierendenwerk Bremen operates the interim canteen at Speicher XI.
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