Faculty of Humanities

Research, Relevance, Responsibility

The Eberhard Karls University Tübingen is one of Europe’s oldest universities, with a history extending over 500 years. For centuries it has been a place where intellectual history was written: Since its founding in 1477, great figures in the history of ideas have left their mark on the university, among them Hegel, Hölderlin and Schelling. Today, Tübingen remains a city of research and education. 450 professors and over 4000 scientists currently teach and do research at the university’s seven faculties. The Faculty of Humanities was formed in 2010 from the merger of the former Faculties of Philosophy and History, Modern Languages, and Cultural Sciences. It encompasses nearly all institutes and professorships in the Humanities within the University and is divided into five departments.


The international recognition enjoyed by the Eberhard Karls University rests, in no small part, on the caliber of its Humanities. Internationally, Tübingen has been and continues to be associated with the work of top researchers in all areas of the Humanities and Cultural Sciences. High rankings for individual subject areas as well as for the faculty as a whole show that it belongs to the strongest research centers in Germany in this area. In comparative surveys of universities, the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Tübingen is frequently awarded the top rankings.


The faculty spans nearly the entire spectrum of research traditions in the Humanities. This is true of both the wide variety of fields that are represented, as well as the variety of methodological approaches employed: From fundamental research in the areas of History, Philosophy, Philology and Linguistics, through cultural analyses of past and present societal developments, to methodologies at the interface of Humanities and Social Sciences, with an increasing interest in the border between the Humanities and Sciences. This is exemplified by a large number of interdisciplinary research focus areas, such as those of the Collaborative Research Centers, Research Training Groups and Research Centers. Yet, the strength and relevance of the research in the Humanities in Tübingen also reposes crucially on the diversity of the research being carried out within individual fields themselves.


With our brochure "Core Research at the Faculty of Humanities", we hope to offer a glimpse into the diversity and quality of the research in the Humanities and Cultural Sciences at the Eberhard Karls University Tübingen. We hope that it will awaken an interest in scientific exchange and a deepened cooperation with our faculty.