University in Germany
Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
University profile
The Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart (ABK Stuttgart) is a state art academy in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, and the largest artistic university in the state, with about 850 students. It offers 22 degree programmes in architecture, design, art, art teacher training, conservation-restoration and art studies and aesthetics, a range of subjects it describes as unique in Germany. Teaching takes place in small classes with close contact between students and professors, and the academy aims to develop an individual artistic personality alongside technical, practical and professional knowledge.
The academy unites free and applied disciplines under one roof. Its programmes are grouped into subject groups: Architecture (B.A., M.A.), Design (Industrial Design, Communication Design and Textile Design, each leading to the Diplom), Art (Bildende Kunst, Bühnen- und Kostümbild, Künstlerisches Lehramt mit Bildender Kunst, the part-programme Intermediales Gestalten, and the Master programme Körper, Theorie und Poetik des Performativen), and Conservation and Restoration (paintings and sculpture, media, objects, paper and wall paintings). Art history, art theory and aesthetics are taught across all programmes as Kunstwissenschaften-Ästhetik. The postgraduate course Meisterschüler*in im Weißenhof-Programm der Bildenden Kunst supports artists with outstanding work plans.
More than thirty workshops and laboratories are a defining feature, covering analogue and digital processes from metal, wood and plastics to printing, ceramics, glass, photography, weaving, knitting, bronze casting, film and computer applications. The academy follows the Bauhaus principle that mastery of craft is essential for every artist, and the workshops act as an interdisciplinary meeting place for students and teachers from all fields.
The campus is on the Killesberg in Stuttgart, next to the Weißenhof Estate (Weißenhofsiedlung). It has its own library, exhibition spaces, a cinema and a canteen (Mensa). For class stays the academy can use the Reinwaldhaus in Bodman on Lake Constance. Student services are provided by the Studierendenwerk Stuttgart.
International students make up about 10 per cent of the student body, with students from more than 20 nations, and the academy maintains more than 50 cooperation agreements inside and outside Europe. It has university status, which gives it the right to award doctorates and the habilitation. Legally it is a self-governing public-law corporation and a state institution, ranked equal to a scientific university.
The Semesterbeitrag (semester contribution, not tuition) is currently 184 euros per semester: administrative cost contribution 80 euros, Studierendenwerk Stuttgart 96.50 euros and student body contribution 7.50 euros. Because the academy is in Baden-Württemberg, tuition fees apply to international students from outside the EU/EEA (1,500 euros per semester, in addition to the Semesterbeitrag) and to second degrees (650 euros per semester). Exemptions include EU/EEA students, Bildungsinländer, Weißenhof-Programm students, doctoral candidates and certain exchange and double-degree students. The 1,500 euro fee does not apply to students on partner-university exchange programmes.
Funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts, for admitted non-EU/EEA students liable to the fee who show special artistic aptitude and achievement. The award waives the 1,500 euro per-semester fee for the duration of a study section; up to two scholarships are granted. Applications use the official leaflet and form on the academy's page. Official page
A federal scholarship in cooperation with private sponsors for talented students with above-average performance: 150 to 300 euros per month, awarded first for one year and renewable. Criteria include artistic aptitude, study results, awards, engagement and personal circumstances. Official page
Baden-Württemberg state funding for highly qualified young artists and researchers, for artistic development projects (completed art-academy degree, approved work plan, supervision by the academy) and for doctoral preparation (completed degree, accepted as doctoral candidate in Baden-Württemberg, supervisor's report). Official page
The academy also mediates the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes scholarship, and for exchange students Erasmus+, SEMP, the Baden-Württemberg-STIPENDIUM, Israel scholarship, California State University and Oregon Study Center programmes, and DAAD scholarships. Scholarship awards in which the academy takes part are decided by an award committee under the academy's scholarship statute. Official overview
Begabtenstipendium für internationale Studierende (Tuition Fee Waiver, ABK Stuttgart) →
Deutschlandstipendium at ABK Stuttgart →
Landesgraduiertenförderung (LGFG) Scholarship at ABK Stuttgart →
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View scholarships for Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart →Admission is direct through the academy, not through hochschulstart. As an art academy it has no Numerus Clausus, no lottery and no waiting list. Applicants hold the Allgemeine or Fachgebundene Hochschulreife, which qualifies for all programmes. The Fachhochschulreife is accepted together with a supplementary oral examination (Deltaprüfung) taken alongside the aptitude test. Applicants with a master craftsperson qualification or equivalent advanced vocational exam have general access after a counselling meeting at the academy; other vocationally qualified applicants with at least two years of vocational training and usually three years of experience take an aptitude examination at a Studienkolleg (Architecture at KIT Karlsruhe, other subjects at Heidelberg University), with applications to the Studierendenbüro by 31 January. For Bildende Kunst, Bühnen- und Kostümbild, Industrial Design, Kommunikationsdesign and Textildesign, a special-talent examination (Begabtenprüfung) can replace the formal entrance qualification.
Applications are made in three steps: an online application in the ABK campus system (HISinOne), documents sent by post, and a digital portfolio upload. A shortlist is chosen on the portfolio, followed by an entrance examination that differs by programme (a take-home task or an on-site written test). Successful applicants receive an admission notice and complete online enrolment. A study place stays valid for two years after passing the entrance test. Parallel applications to several programmes are not possible, except Künstlerisches Lehramt combined with Intermediales Gestalten. For entry in winter semester 2026/27 the windows were 13 to 30 April 2026 with entrance examinations 22 to 26 June 2026 for Architecture B.A., Industrial Design, Kommunikationsdesign, Textildesign, Bildende Kunst, Bühnen- und Kostümbild and Künstlerisches Lehramt B.F.A.; 26 January to 13 February 2026 for Conservation and Restoration B.A. and Medienrestaurierung B.A. (examinations 13 to 17 April 2026), with a further window 1 to 14 June 2026; Architecture M.A. and Künstlerisches Lehramt M.Ed. also admit for summer semester (window 1 to 12 December 2025); Architecture M.A. winter semester applications were 13 to 30 April 2026, Künstlerisches Lehramt M.Ed., Intermediales Gestalten M.Ed., the Weißenhof-Programm and Conservation and Restoration M.A. applied 1 to 14 June 2026. Pre-study placements are required for Architecture B.A. and Industrial Design (3 months) and Conservation-Restoration B.A. (12 months).
International applicants submit foreign certificates with the application, and the Studierendenbüro checks equivalence with German qualifications; the result decides whether the aptitude or talent examination applies. Documents must be certified copies (no originals) with an English or German official translation where the document has none. Applicants from South Korea add proof of the College Scholastic Ability Test; applicants from China, India and Vietnam add an APS certificate (with exceptions for India as of September 2025). German citizens with foreign qualifications have them assessed first by the Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart.
Non-German applicants must prove German through DSH 1, TestDaF level 3 or level B2; for Architecture DSH 2, TestDaF level 4 or level C1. Selected Master Architecture courses are taught in English.
Master programmes (Architecture M.A., Conservation and Restoration M.A., Künstlerisches Lehramt M.Ed., Intermediales Gestalten M.Ed.) follow the same application and entrance-examination procedure. The Master in Conservation and Restoration builds consecutively on the Bachelor and qualifies for independent professional practice and for doctoral study.
Doctoral candidates need a completed degree of at least four years with above-average results from an art academy or university (outstanding Fachhochschule graduates may be accepted after an aptitude procedure), and a supervision commitment from a professor at the academy. Applications are possible at any time; submission deadlines for the committee are 10 January (winter semester session) and 10 June (summer semester session). Documents are a cover letter to the examinations office, CV, dissertation exposé, supervision agreement and certified qualifications. The basis is the Promotionsordnung of 24 October 2017.
Visiting students may study for up to two semesters; applications to the departmental office must be postmarked by 15 June or 15 December, with CV, portfolio (at least 10 recent works), letter of motivation, transcript, passport copy and proof of health insurance.
The academy is based at a single main site, with outlying sites for some conservation programmes.
Facilities: over thirty workshops and laboratories; a combined reference and lending library (access to lending for academy members, reading room open to the public) with more than 50 reading and 5 PC workplaces, 150 current periodicals and a collection focused on 20th and 21st century art; exhibition spaces; a cinema; a canteen; and a collection and archive.
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