University in Germany
Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
University profile
The Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen (Hochschule für Musik Trossingen, HfM) is a state music academy in Trossingen, Baden-Württemberg, between the Black Forest and the Swabian Jura in south-west Germany. It offers the traditional range of subjects of a music academy, with particular emphasis on Early Music (historically informed performance) and artistic training in Music and Movement (Rhythmik). Since 2010 the interdisciplinary Bachelor in Musikdesign has run in cooperation with Hochschule Furtwangen University.
Teaching is organised around artistic core areas (Künstlerische Kernbereiche) covering almost all orchestral instruments, accordion, guitar, piano, organ, voice, composition, conducting, early-music instruments, jazz and pop, laptop, and Music and Movement. Study programmes lead to the Bachelor of Music and to the Master of Music, Master of Arts or Master of Education, with a Konzertexamen (postgraduate artistic diploma) and doctorates and habilitation in musicology and music education above them. Bachelor and full-time Master studies combine a core area, compulsory modules, projects and one or two profiles; part-time Masters (Bühne und Orchesterpraxis, Kammermusik, Audio Experience Design, Creative Arts Practice, Musik und Gesellschaft) are also offered.
Cross-cutting work is carried out in the Landeszentrum MUSIK–DESIGN–PERFORMANCE, founded in 2016, which links traditional artistic disciplines with digital practice, research and teaching, and in four institutes: the Institut für Aufführungspraxis (early music, formerly Institut für Alte Musik), the Institut für Lied in den Jahrhunderten, the Institut für Musik und Bewegung / Rhythmik and the Institut Positively Brass & Percussion. The Hochschule also has a library, a media library and a recording studio. It organises more than 400 events a year, and students and alumni lead regional choirs and orchestras, teach and give concerts.
Student life is close-knit and centred on the main building at Schultheiß-Koch-Platz. A student hall of residence lies about 20 minutes on foot from the Hochschule, and private shared flats are available in Trossingen. The Studierendenwerk Tübingen-Hohenheim runs the cafeteria and provides BAföG advice. Students have an AStA, choir, orchestras, a big band, a career centre, counselling, an instrument loan pool and a compulsory Bachelor module on music and health.
International applicants meet the same requirements as everyone else, plus German at level B2 and a residence permit. Exchange routes include ERASMUS, the Baden-Württemberg state programmes with California State University and the Oregon university system, and bilateral partnerships including Tel Aviv University and the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. The Hochschule has cooperation agreements with Tongji University Shanghai and Nanchang University, belongs to the Internationale Bodensee-Hochschule, and its Bachelor and Master programmes were accredited in 2013 and 2020.
Home and EU/EEA students pay no tuition fee for a first Bachelor or consecutive Master; every enrolled student pays the semester contribution (Semesterbeitrag) of 138.60 EUR per semester, made up of an administration fee of 80.00 EUR and a Studierendenwerk fee of 58.60 EUR (May 2026). It is also due during a leave of absence. Under the Baden-Württemberg state fee law (LHGebG), students from outside the EU/EEA without a German-recognised entrance qualification pay 1,500 EUR per semester for Bachelor, consecutive Master and Gymnasiallehramt programmes; exemptions include permanent residence with a residence permit, family members of EU/EEA nationals, and an exemption for special artistic talent (Begabtenbefreiung, application before the start of lectures). Students from Ukraine with a residence title under section 24 of the Residence Act are currently exempt. Other fees per semester: second degree 650 EUR; Konzertexamen 1,000 EUR (up to 650 EUR reduction on request, for example for students with young children or a disability); artistic contact studies 1,400 EUR (summer) or 1,600 EUR (winter); pedagogical contact studies 500 EUR; non-consecutive further-education Masters 650 EUR for entry up to summer semester 2026. Exchange students are exempt from tuition. Applications for exemption are due by 21 January (summer semester) or 21 June (winter semester).
The Deutschlandstipendium supports especially talented, high-achieving and committed students with 300 EUR a month, normally granted for one year. Calls run each winter and summer semester with deadlines of 30 April and 31 October. Applicants submit an online form with a motivation letter (maximum one A4 page) and a recommendation from their main-subject teacher. See Stipendien.
Further information: Studiengebühren und Kosten, Gebührenbefreiung and Fördermöglichkeiten.
Deutschlandstipendium at Hochschule für Musik Trossingen →
Tuition Fee Waiver for Talented International Students (Begabtenbefreiung) at HfM Trossingen →
DAAD STIBET Hardship and Completion Grants at HfM Trossingen →
Förderverein Student Support Grants (Social Scholarship and Course Travel Aid) at HfM Trossingen →
Browse the scholarships listed for Hochschule für Musik Trossingen and check each award’s eligibility.
View scholarships for Hochschule für Musik Trossingen →Admission is by an artistic entrance examination (Aufnahmeprüfung), held in person in Trossingen, with the requirements set per degree: BA 1 Podium und Orchester, BA 2 Musik-Pädagogik, BA 3 Gymnasiallehramt (including the broadening subject Jazz and Popular Music) and BA 4 Musikdesign. Applicants need the Abitur or another recognised higher-education entrance qualification. Gymnasiallehramt requires the general Hochschulreife. For most other Bachelor programmes, applicants without a German-recognised qualification can sit a Begabtenprüfung during the examination week: a written essay in German (about two hours, a choice of three topics) and an oral colloquium of 10 to 15 minutes about music, in addition to the main-subject examination. A theory and aural skills placement test (Einstufungstest) is held in the first week of semester for BA 1, BA 2 and BA 3 and does not affect admission.
Applications are made only online through the applicant portal, directly to the Hochschule (not through uni-assist). The application period is 1 March to 1 April for the winter semester and 1 October to 1 November for the following summer semester; all required documents must be uploaded by 7 April or 7 November. In-person examinations take place in January (summer semester entry) and late May or early June (winter semester entry). Documents: passport copy, tabular CV with photograph, one-page motivation letter, proof of higher-education entrance qualification (or last school certificate), examination programme for melodic and chord instruments, proof of payment of the 50 EUR application fee, and a transcript and certificate of no objection for anyone previously enrolled in a comparable programme. Many programmes (all instruments and voice in BA 1, MA 1, MA 2, MA 4 and MA 5, and Konzertexamen) begin with a digital first phase using a video of 10 to 15 minutes, not older than 12 months, uncut within each piece; BA 4 Musikdesign and MA 6 Audio Experience Design use a portfolio. Programmes in Music and Movement, Gymnasiallehramt, Musik-Pädagogik Bachelor, MA 7 and MA 8 have no digital phase.
Applicants from abroad (except Bildungsinländer) must prove German at level B2 of the Common European Framework. For BA and MA Musik-Pädagogik, BA and MA Gymnasiallehramt and the Master in Musicology, the certificate must accompany the application; for all other Bachelor and Master programmes it is due before re-registration for the third semester. Foreign-language certificates need a certified German or English translation.
Consecutive Master programmes require a completed Bachelor or Diplom with a relevant artistic or artistic-pedagogical core area (same or comparable main subject) or a relevant discipline. If the Bachelor has fewer than 240 ECTS credits, the entrance examination also determines equivalence. Master Gymnasiallehramt requires the Bachelor Gymnasiallehramt; Music and Movement requires a degree in music, theatre, fine art or dance, or in education, social or cultural pedagogy, psychology or another social science; Musik-Pädagogik and Musik und Gesellschaft require a Bachelor or Diplom with a music-pedagogical or other relevant qualification. Part-time Masters (MA 4 to MA 8) require a stated reason for part-time study (for example employment, childcare, care of relatives or freelance work). The Master Audio Experience Design requires an exposé, an artistic or design CV and own works; Master Composition requires a digital portfolio. The Konzertexamen requires a completed music degree in the same main subject.
The Hochschule awards doctorates in musicology and music education (since 2003) and habilitation (since 2015); doctoral candidates are supervised by professors of the Hochschule and pay the semester contribution.
Applicants may need a visa for applicants (Studienbewerbervisum), issued on presentation of the invitation to the entrance examination at a German consulate; a tourist visa should not be used. Nationals of EU states and of Andorra, Australia, Iceland, Israel, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Liechtenstein, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, Honduras and the USA do not need a visa for entry. On enrolment a residence permit must be shown; it is issued by the foreigners' office of Landratsamt Tuttlingen. Required: passport, biometric photograph, proof of health insurance, enrolment certificate and proof of financing (a bank statement with a balance of about 650 EUR). A residence permit is valid for one year and then renewed. After graduating, international graduates may stay up to one year to look for work.
Study programmes offered at Hochschule für Musik Trossingen.
Experiences shared by students of Hochschule für Musik Trossingen.
Studied here? Share your experience to help other applicants.
Book a free consultation with our expert counsellors and take the first step towards your dream university.
Copyrights © 2026 StudyMapped. All rights reserved.
Enter your credentials to continue.
Join us and start your study abroad journey.
