The Department of Sacred Music and Musicology at the University of Greifswald continues the tradition of the Greifswald School of Sacred Music, which was founded in Szczecin in 1939 as a seminar for sacred music of the Pomeranian Protestant Church and relocated to Greifswald after the end of the war.


These are the skills that you should bring:

Potential students must have fundamental knowledge of music theory, good organ and piano playing skills as well as good singing skills and be enthusiastic about choral work.


Course contents:

The degree course qualifies students to become professional sacred musicians in nine semesters. It imparts knowledge and skills in artistic practice classes and academic subjects. The organs of the three main churches St. Jacobi, St. Marien and St. Nikolai, the annual festivals and courses (Greifswalder Bachwoche, Greifswalder Sommerakademie Orgel) and the musical work with the cathedral choir set the tone for sacred music studies in Greifswald. Part of the special profile is how the degree course is integrated into the teaching at the university’s Faculty of Arts and Humanities. The collaboration with the Faculty of Theology (liturgy and hymnology) and the organisation of university church services contribute to the practical training. The areas of popular music, brass ensemble conducting and children’s choir conducting are part of the degree course just as much as the opportunity to play music in an orchestra, big band or chamber choir.


Admission requirements ...

... are a general higher education entrance qualification and a successful completion of the entrance examination. If an applicant is particularly talented, the general higher education entrance qualification may be waived. More information can be found on: www.musik.uni-greifswald.de/en. Entrance examinations usually take place in January, March, June and October.


Graduates of this degree course ...

... usually work in parishes as choir and band leaders, organists, music teachers, concert organisers, musical disseminators and partners in the organisation of church services. They may be assigned regional tasks.


Künstlerische Reifeprüfung (Artist Diploma):

The Department of Music offers postgraduate programmes for qualified and gifted students. In the subjects of Organ, Organ Improvisation and Choral Conducting, the artistic skills of advanced students with exceptional aptitude can be supplemented and deepened in a four-semester course of study.


These subjects are studied:

Instrumental training

  • Liturgical organ play
  • Organ improvisation
  • Piano playing
  • Basso continuo and score playing
  • Harpsichord and/or jazz-rock piano
  • Popular music

Cantorial training

  • Choral conducting
  • Singing
  • Children’s choir conducting
  • Orchestral conducting

Musicology and Teaching of Music

  • Music history
  • Instrumentology and acoustics
  • Organology and the history of organ styles
  • Music theory and composition
  • Historical performance practice
  • Methodology of instrumental teaching

Theologian-Liturgical Training

  • Theological basics
  • Liturgy
  • Hymnology


Further links: