Anyone who would like to study fine arts is sure to find the right university in Germany. The University of Fine Arts Berlin (UdK Berlin) offers the largest selection of educational programs (EP). It is the largest art college in Europe: over 70 programs and 220 professors and associate professors. The university has four faculties – Fine Arts, Design, Music and Performing Arts. The history of the university dates back to 1696, but that is not the only thing that makes UdK Berlin one of the most traditional art schools. Today, the university is famous for many famous artists who teach or have taught there. For example, these include Georg Baselitz, Hito Steyerl, Vivienne Westwood, and Ai Weiwei.
The Academy of Art in Düsseldorf has an equally glorious history. It was founded in 1773. The first blossom of the academy was in the 19th century, when the “Dusseldorf School of Painting” was founded here. But above all the academy is connected with such names as Gerhard Richter, Günter Uecker, Otto Piene and above all Joseph Beuys, who studied and taught there from the 1950s to the 1970s. In the 1990s, the Bernd and Hilla Becher Photography School of Düsseldorf attracted public attention.
The Academy of Visual Arts in Leipzig enjoys a very good reputation in East Germany. This art school was founded in 1764. During the GDR era, it formed the so-called “Leipzig School” to which masters such as Wolfgang Matteyer, Bernhard Heisig and Werner Tübke belonged. Today, it is taught under four OPs: “Painting/Graphics,” “Book Art/Graphic Design,” “Photography,” and “Media Art.” The OP in Painting and Graphic Arts, a history directly related to the New Leipzig School, is highly quoted. The latter is the term used in the art market when referring to artists such as Neo Rauch, Thilo Baumgartel or Julia Schmidt. They are known all over the world when they started actively exhibiting since the 2000s.
The Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, on the other hand, is relatively young and chamber-like. The school as well as the museum was donated to the city by the banker and businessman Johann Friedrich Städel, who died in 1816. Here one can study fine arts, architecture and curatorial studies. Among the most famous coryphaei and alumni are Jörg Immendorf, Wolfgang Tilmans, Tobias Reberger, Peter Weibel, Isabelle Grau and Anne Imhof (who won the Golden Lion in Venice in 2017).