A brief history of HWR Berlin

Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft Berlin (FHW Berlin)

The Fachhochschule für Wirtschaft Berlin (Berlin School of Economics) was founded in 1971 as the successor to the Wirtschaftsakademie Berlin, which had been created in 1965 by a merger of the Hochschulinstitut für Wirtschaftskunde and the Höhere Wirtschaftsfachschule.

Initially, the FHW Berlin only offered one Economics programme. But soon the range of studies expanded, and the courses it offered also included international and interdisciplinary degree courses. The school further extended its programmes at the end of the 1990s to include an MBA programme, thus becoming one of the first universities in Germany to offer an MBA degree. The Berufsakademie Berlin, formerly an independent higher education institution, was integrated into the Berlin School of Economics in 2003. Around the same time, two departments and a central institute were founded as academic units. The FHW Berlin existed for almost 40 years and established itself as one of the leading universities offering programmes for the young generation of managers in Germany.
 

Fachhochschule für Verwaltung und Rechtspflege Berlin (FHVR Berlin)

The FHVR Berlin was founded in 1973 as an educational institution specializing in programmes providing the qualifications needed for careers in the higher levels of the West Berlin civil service sector. From 1990 on, the FHVR Berlin offered these programmes for the entire city and its surrounding region.

The two initial departments, “Public Administration” and “Legal Studies”, were soon joined by the department of “Police and Security Management”. From the early 1990s, the FHVR Berlin was also involved in conducting the theoretical study phases for consulate secretaries at the German Federal Foreign Office.

To begin with, the university was located in the centre of West Berlin but in 1994 it moved to a new location at the education and administration complex in Friedrichsfelde. In 1994, the FHVR Berlin offered its first external Public Management study programme open to anyone pursuing a career outside the civil service sector. It continued to expand its range of Bachelor and Master programmes, some of which were also available to external applicants. Finally in 2003 the Berufsakademie Berlin was integrated into the FHVR as the Department of Cooperative Studies Business • Technology.
 

Merger: FHW + FHVR = HWR Berlin

In 2009 the FHW Berlin and the FHVR Berlin merged into the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht Berlin (HWR Berlin). The university, with two campus locations in Schöneberg and Lichtenberg, offers its students a variety of more than 60 different study programmes.