Welcome to the

Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies of the Universität Hamburg.

The Department has a long and distinguished history that is older than the University.

A professorhip was established in 1914 as part of the "Kolonialinstitut", which was founded in 1908. It took the title "Seminar für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens" and "Institut für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets" after 1988. Its present title is "Abteilung für Kultur und Geschichte Indiens und Tibets". Renown names such as the Indologists Sten Konow, Walther Schubring, Ludwig Alsdorf and Franz Bernhard are linked to the Department. New teaching posts have been established, and the Department's status as a leading research institution has been enhanced.

Research and Teaching

The Department sees its role in advancing the knowledge and understanding of the cultures and societies of South Asia in a broad perspective, both though high quality teaching and research. It offers a range of studies in the cultural, religious and philosophical areas of research. Pursuing these fields requires solid language skills in the Indian languages and Tibetan.