Two hundred years ago, in 1810, Wilhelm von Humboldt's vision of a new type of university became reality. The newly founded Prussian alma mater was the first to introduce the unity of research and teaching, to uphold the ideal of research without restrictions and to provide a comprehensive education for its students. These principles of Wilhelm von Humboldt and a select group of contemporaries soon became general practice throughout the world. A new era of university and academic research had begun.

2010 marked the 200th anniversary of the Humboldt-Universität. Numerous events from October 2009 to December 2010 honoured the ideas of its founding fathers. In dialogue with the city of Berlin, the alma mater celebrated science, research and teaching, and the relevance of Humboldt’s founding principles for the present day. During it’s history, the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has undergone many profound changes. The most recent reformation followed the Peaceful Revolution in East Germany in 1989. Many new outstanding professors were appointed from East and West, from Germany and from abroad.

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin has academic partnerships with more than 400 Erasmus partners in Europe, with over 150 university partners worldwide, with partners in two Erasmus Mundus programmes and four Erasmus Mundus External Cooperation Windows Programmes with over 1,500 mobile students. All partnerships were formed on the basis of research collaboration at the faculty level. Among these over 500 partners, the university management cooperates closely with twenty strategic partners.