Skip to main content.
Skip to main content.
Bard BerlinBard Berlin
BCB
  • About sub-menuAbout Us
    About BCB

    Discover Bard
    College Berlin

    Learn More
    • About Bard College Berlin
      • At a Glance
      • History
      • Governance
      • Accreditation
      • OSUN
      • Employment
    • Discover
      • People
      • Apply
      • Donate
      • COVID-19 Safety
      • Search
    • Networks
      • Open Society
        University Network
        (OSUN)
  • Academics sub-menuAcademics
    BCB Academics

    Bard College Berlin offers high-quality small-group teaching in the humanities and social sciences.

    • Degree Programs
      • BA in Economics, Politics,
        and Social Thought
      • BA in Humanities,
        the Arts,and Social Thought
      • BA in Artistic Practice
        and Society
      • Concentrations
      • Core Curriculum
      • German Studies Program
    • Semester and
      One-Year Programs

      • Academy Year Program
      • Project Year Program
      • Arts and Society in Berlin
      • LAB: Liberal Arts Berlin
      • Begin in Berlin
      • Study Abroad
      • Erasmus and Exchange Agreements
    • More Information
      • Courses
      • Internships
      • Certificates
      • Language and Thinking Program
      • Summer Programs
      • Academic Services
  • Admissions sub-menuAdmissions
    BCB Admissions

    Bard College Berlin accepts applications for first-year and transfer admission to its BA degree programs. Students can also apply for one-year programs, such as the Academy Year and Project Year.

    Apply Now
    • Applying to BCB
      • How to Apply
      • Discover BCB
      • Connect with Us
      • Ask a Student
      • Admissions Team
    • Financing Your Studies
      • Tuition and Fees
      • Financial Aid
      • Scholarships
      • Payment Options
  • Student Life sub-menuStudent Life
    Student Life

    The student body at Bard College Berlin is small yet highly international.

    More About Students
    • Campus Life
      • Housing
      • Facilities
    • Services and Resources
      • BCB Orientation
      • Career Services
      • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
      • Gender-Based Misconduct
      • Health & Counseling
      • Internships
      • Student Organizations & Activities
      • Study Abroad
    • For Students
      • Registrar's Office
      • Academic Calendar
      • Student Handbook
      • Jobs & Opportunities
      • Finances
      • Fellowship Opportunities
  • Civic Engagement sub-menuCivic Engagement
    Civic Engagement

    Through Fellowships, conferences, events and community initiatives, the college encourages students to organize and lead their own volunteer projects and to connect with activists around the world.

    Learn More
    • Engagement Programs
      • Program for International Education
        and Social Change (PIESC)
      • Student-Led Projects
      • Community Engagement
      • Institutional Engagement
  • COVID-19
  • News sub-menuNews + Events
    BCB News
    • Newsroom
      • Events
      • Video Archive
      • Bard College Berlin in the Media

    Keep up to date with the latest campus news, learn more about upcoming events, read press articles featuring Bard College Berlin, and explore our photo and video archives.

    Learn More
  • Donate
  • Search
Main Image for History

History

About Us Menu
  • Overview
  • At a Glance
  • History
  • Governance
  • Accreditation
  • OSUN
  • Employment
Lesen Sie auf Deutsch in German
Bard College Berlin was founded in 1999 as the European College of Liberal Arts (ECLA) by a group of German intellectuals and entrepreneurs, with the aim of providing a high-quality, small-group seminar, and teaching-oriented international program of advanced study for undergraduates of particular promise wishing to study in English.
The college’s teaching offerings began with an International Summer University (ISU): an intensive, six-week residential study program devoted to the study of key problems and questions in European and world philosophy, literature, and culture. A one-year program, now known as the Academy Year, was developed on the basis of this ethos in 2002, incorporating a core course encompassing the major works of antiquity, the Middle Ages, and the Renaissance, and elective courses in philosophy, literature, and art history.
Move to the Pankow neighborhood of Berlin
Group photo after ECLA graduation in 2004

Move to the Pankow neighborhood of Berlin

The following year, with the generous support of the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation, the college moved to its current campus in Pankow-Niederschönhausen and introduced a second one-year program, the Project Year. The foundation was instrumental in ensuring the sustainability and expansion of the college’s small-group teaching structure and high faculty-student ratio. In subsequent years, the institution’s organizational structure, its physical campus, and the first stage of the accreditation process took shape, as recruitment and strategic partnerships also developed.

The first BA Program
Students during a Macroeconomics seminar

The first BA Program

Beginning in 2007, the faculty worked jointly on a new “value questions” approach to liberal education, leading to the introduction of the college’s first BA program. The BA in Value Studies was formally launched in 2009, as the college held its 10th ISU.

A key purpose of the program’s development was the intention to combine the best elements of American liberal arts education—with its emphasis on choice, exploration, critical reflection, and engagement—and the demands of specialist focus in a specific subject area that is characteristic of European public universities. The Berlin Senate Department of Education, Science, and Research recognized the institution as a private German university in February 2011. The first German BA degrees were awarded to graduating students in 2012. The BA in Humanities, the Arts, and Social Thought became the college’s first accredited degree program in September 2013, followed by the BA in Economics, Politics, and Social Thought in September 2015. As of January 20, 2017, Bard College Berlin is institutionally accredited at the national level in Germany by the Wissenschaftsrat (German Council of Science and Humanities). 

Merger with Bard College in Annandale-upon-Hudson, NY
Campus of Bard College in Annandale-upon-Hudson

Merger with Bard College in Annandale-upon-Hudson, NY

In November 2011 the institution merged with Bard College in Annandale (US) an early supporter and the first U.S. college (in 2002) to grant academic credits for work done in Berlin. With a long-standing commitment to liberal arts education, Bard College is at the center of a global educational network that includes  Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem; the American University of Central Asia in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan); and the Central European University (CEU) in Vienna (Austria) and Budapest (Hungary).

OSUN - Extending the international Network
Students during a Language & Thinking excursion in Berlin

OSUN - Extending the international Network

In January 2020, Bard College Berlin became part of an even wider network, when the Open Society University Network (OSUN) was founded by George Soros with Bard College and CEU serving as its academic pillars. OSUN integrates learning and the advancement of knowledge across geographic and demographic boundaries, promotes civic engagement on behalf of open societies, and expands access of underserved communities to higher education.

Bard College Berlin is a crucial element for the Bard network, attracting students and faculty from around the world who are interested in liberal arts education, the arts, and the meaning of global citizenship.

Further reading

History of the campus buildings

Contact Us

Contact Us

Mailing Address: Bard College Berlin, Platanenstrasse 24 , 13156 Berlin Germany
Email: [email protected] • Phone: +49 30 43733 0 • Fax: +49 30 43733 100

  • Apply Now
    Educational Mission
    Academics
    For the Media
    People

    Inquire
BCB Logo, Address, and Links

Bard College Berlin, A Liberal Arts University gGmbH

Mailing address: Platanenstrasse 24, 13156 Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 43733 0
Fax: +49 30 43733 100
Email: [email protected] 
[email protected]

Directions | Contact Us | Impressum | Cookie Policy | Data Policy

Bard College Berlin is institutionally accredited at the national level in Germany by the Wissenschaftsrat.

In the United States, Bard College Berlin is accredited through
Bard College by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Qualifying students receive both a German BA and an American BA. 
© 2023 Bard College Berlin, A Liberal Arts University gGmbH
Wordpress Blog
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
YouTube