Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg

In 1970, it was accredited as an artistic-scientific university.

• Name — HFBK University of Fine Arts Hamburg • Native Name — Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg (HFBK Hamburg) • Former Names — Hamburger Gewerbeschule, Staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule, Landeskunstschule Hamburg • City — Hamburg • Country — Germany • Campus Type — Urban • Type — Public Fine Arts University • President — Martin Köttering • Students — 650 • Website — hfbk-hamburg.de/en

The Hamburger Gewerbeschule ('Hamburg vocational school') was founded in 1767 by the Patriotische Gesellschaft ('patriotic society'). It was named the Staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule ('school of arts and crafts' or 'school of applied arts') in 1896, later the Landeskunstschule Hamburg ('state school of art'). Fritz Schumacher designed the main building especially for the art school. Located at Am Lerchenfeld 2 in Uhlenhorst, a quarter of Hamburg-Nord, it was built between 1911 and 1913. After World War II, it re-opened as the Landeskunstschule by Friedrich Ahlers-Hestermann, who had previously been a professor at the Kölner Werkschulen ('Cologne academy of fine arts'). He was succeeded by architect Gustav Hassenpflug, who changed the institution to the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg. The school was accredited as a university in 1970. • Illustration — Main Building (HFBK)

In the winter semester of 2008/09, HFBK introduced a consecutive Bachelor’s and Master’s degree programme in Fine Arts, replacing the previous Diplom programmes. The interdisciplinary programme covers all artistic and academic disciplines represented at HFBK. All students are enrolled in Fine Arts, while they can choose to combine several areas of study or focus on a single one. This allows students to develop an individual artistic and/or academic profile. The Bachelor’s programme takes four years (eight semesters), followed by a two-year Master’s programme (four semesters). Since 2008, HFBK has also awarded the doctoral degree Dr. phil. in art (Doctor philosophiae in artibus). In January 2015, the graduate research programme Ästhetiken des Virtuellen (Aesthetics of the Virtual) began at HFBK. Since 2025, HFBK Hamburg has offered the doctoral programme PhD in Art Practice.

Students can choose to combine different areas of study or focus on a single one. • Sculpture • Stage Design/Stage Space • Design • Film • Graphic Design/Type/Photography • Painting/Drawing • Theory and History • Time-Based Media The architecture programme was transferred in 2006 to the newly established HafenCity University Hamburg, following the merger of all architecture programmes in Hamburg, including those at HFBK and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences.

HFBK Hamburg awards the doctoral degree Dr. phil. in art. (philosophiae in artibus). In keeping with the university’s transdisciplinary approach, the programme supports doctoral research that contributes to the study of the arts from a range of perspectives, including analyses of artistic works and investigations into historical, social, media-related and cultural processes that have influenced artistic discourse or have themselves been shaped by it. HFBK also supervises dissertations that explore concepts in art theory and philosophy through which artistic practices reflect on themselves and examine their own nature and understanding. In addition to conventional research-based doctorates, the university also supports doctoral projects with a substantial artistic component, provided that the relationship between the artistic work and the academic requirements of the doctorate is clearly defined.

HFBK places a strong emphasis on the internationalisation of the university and its student body. In addition to appointing internationally renowned professors and academics with international experience, the university actively promotes international exchange among its students. Its large network of partner institutions within the European Union's Erasmus programme provides students with extensive opportunities for international mobility. Since 2010, international exchange has also extended beyond Europe through the Art School Alliance (ASA), established in cooperation with the Alfred Toepfer Stiftung F.V.S.. The programme provides scholarships for up to 18 international art students each year, allowing them to live and work together for one semester in a former factory loft in Hamburg without paying rent or tuition fees. In return, up to 18 HFBK students each year spend a semester at one of the partner institutions without having to pay tuition fees there. Current Art School Alliance partner institutions include: • School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Tufts University, Boston • Universidad del Cine, Buenos Aires • China Academy of Art, Hangzhou • Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem • Goldsmiths, University of London, Department of Art • California Institute of the Arts, Los Angeles • Kindai University, Department of Design, Osaka • École nationale supérieure des beaux-arts de Paris • San Francisco Art Institute • Institute of Design, China Academy of Art, Shanghai • Academy of Fine Arts Vienna • School of Arts, University of Haifa • Makerere University, Kampala • University of Lagos, Visual Arts

• Illustration — Die ewige Welle The mural Die ewige Welle ('The Eternal Wave') in the auditorium is considered the major work of Willy von Beckerath. Consisting of eight sections, it symbolically depicts the rise and fall of a cultural era. The mural was created between 1911 and 1918. Around 2009, it was restored in several stages to recover its original colour scheme. To mark the centenary of the HFBK building in 2013, the ceiling and wall paintings in the auditorium were also uncovered and restored, while the ornate parquet floor was renovated. As a result, the auditorium can once again be experienced as a unified large-scale work of art.

Many events at HFBK are open to the public.[1] In addition to regular symposia, lectures, performance nights and film screenings, the university hosts three major annual exhibitions: the Graduate Exhibition, held in early July; the Annual Exhibition, presenting work produced by students during the academic year and held in February; and the Hiscox Art Prize Exhibition, which takes place in October to mark the beginning of the academic year. Throughout the semester, exhibitions presented in HFBK’s gallery, which is curated by changing teams of students, as well as the regular Tuesday evening exhibition series Folgendes, provide opportunities for artistic exchange both within the university and with the wider public.

In July 2007, a scandal occurred when the university administration under Martin Köttering came under political pressure to expel students for having protested newly introduced tuition fees. Joerg Draeger and the Hamburg Senate, dominated by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) demanded expulsion of more than half of the art students for having taken part in a tuition boycott. The scandal gained nationwide press coverage. In June 2008, about 680 students were enrolled at HFBK Hamburg.

This list includes alumni from University of Fine Arts of Hamburg, listed by last name alphabetical order.

Academic staff of the University of Fine Arts of Hamburg This list includes present and past academic staff, listed by last name alphabetical order. • Friedrich Adler (1878–1942), design, metalwork • Joseph Beuys, guest professor in 1974 • Max Bill (1908–1994), professor from 1967 to 1974 • Bazon Brock, professor 1965–1976 • Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, photography • Bernhard Blume, professor 1987–2011 • Angela Bulloch, sculpture • John Burgan, guest professor 2002 • Carl Otto Czeschka, professor 1907–1943 • Thomas Demand, sculpture • Simon Denny, time-based media • Cyprien Gaillard, sculpture • Gotthard Graubner, professor 1969– • Rudolf Hausner, professor • Alfred Hrdlicka, professor 1973–1975 • Friedensreich Hundertwasser, professor 1959 • Jutta Koether, painting • Isaac Julien, professor 2006 • Sigmar Polke, professor • Dieter Rams, professor 1981−1997 • Anselm Reyle, professor • Helke Sander, professor 1981–2003 • Edwin Scharff • Paul Schneider-Esleben, professor 1961–1972 • Paul Wunderlich, professor 1963–1968 • Carl Vogel, professor 1962–1989, president 1976–1989 • Jorinde Voigt, professor, painting/drawing