B.A. Historical Sciences

Students in front of a building entrance

Degree awarded	Bakkalaureus Artium/ Bakkalaurea Artium (B.A.)
Duration and credits	6 semesters; 180 ECTS credits
Starts in	April (summer semester) and October (winter semester)
Language of instruction	German

Why study Historical Sciences with us?

A knowledge of history is often indispensable for making sense of current challenges. As you progress through the B.A. Historical Sciences degree programme, you learn how to successfully draw comparisons with the past in a theoretically and methodologically sound way. This degree programme combines ancient, medieval, modern and contemporary history with legal, art and church history as well as the up-and-coming field of “digital history”. Particularly noteworthy are:

Great freedoms and individual specialisation during the course of the degree programme
Advanced courses in foreign languages, European cultural area studies and methodology of working with historical source material
Practical orientation through a compulsory internship and participation in a five-day excursion

This undergraduate programme provides the foundations for study in a related master's degree programme, such as the University's M.A. History and Society, where you can study the subject in a more profound way.

For details, please consult the Academic Advice Service's infosheet [German content].

Features

The freedom to explore the subject and set your own, individual focus without having to commit to a sub-area too soon (module combinations or focus on a sub-discipline)
Core subjects: Ancient History, Medieval History, Modern and Contemporary History, Eastern European History, Church History, Art History and Visual Culture, Digital History and Legal History
Advanced courses in foreign languages, European cultural area studies and methods for working with historical source material
Practical orientation through a compulsory internship and participation in a five-day excursion

The skills acquired in the Historical Sciences degree programme open up a wide range of high-profile career prospects for you:

A career in academia
Historical research for private clients such as local authorities, companies, political governing bodies, NGOs or in policy consulting,
Research institutions and universities
Museums or archives
various occupations in the media and in press and public relations work: e.g. in journalism or in editorial work for magazines and newspapers, in publishing, in educational institutions, libraries, in cultural promotion, monument preservation and museum education.

The degree programme comprises four module areas and the bachelor's dissertation.

A: Introductory modules

You will complete six of the eight introductory modules. You will choose modules from the following areas, the first three being compulsory: the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, modernity, art history, ecclesiastical history, European constitutional history, Roman law, and digital humanities.

B: Focus areas

You will choose two larger specialisations, as well as one or two further ones, of the following: ancient history, the Middle Ages, Eastern-European history, art history and visual culture, ecclesiastical history, history of law or digital history.

You will choose the topic for your bachelor's dissertation from one of the focus modules you picked in module group B.

C: Consolidation modules

In the consolidation modules you will strengthen your methodological competencies gained in module areas A and B. You will critically reflect on the knowledge gained in these modules, discover the interlinkages between them and apply your knowledge in practice. In addition to attending theory classes, you will go on one or more excursions and complete an internship in Germany or abroad in this module group.

D: Competency modules

In this module group, you will have the opportunity to supplement your historical knowledge with advanced knowledge and skills in one of four areas: The University offers the following fields of action as a specialisation:

Foreign languages
Cultural area studies
Theology, philosophy and psychology
Law, society and state

For further details, please consult the Academic Advice Service's infosheet [German content] and the module catalogue [German content].

This degree programme starts in the October (winter semester) and April (summer semester) each year.

With abitur or European qualifications

Prospective students with a higher education entrance qualification from Germany or the EEA region (e.g. German abitur or the Austrian matura) can enrol directly for this degree programme during the enrolment period.

Prospective students with non-EEA qualifications

How to apply

What German language skills do I need?

Information for international students

Infosheet on the degree programme

For details, please consult the Academic Advice Service's infosheet [German content].

You will need German language skills at level B2 CEFR or higher to study this degree programme. If German was the language of instruction for your secondary school education or prior tertiary education, your academic certificates suffice as proof of your language skills. Otherwise, you will have to provide a recognised German language certificate along with your application for a place of study.

If you can provide recognised certificates for German language skills at level B1 CEFR at the time when you apply for a place of study, you may receive a conditional offer. In that case, you will be required to provide a recognised language certificate at level B2 CEFR by the time you enrol on the degree programme.

If you would like to learn German or advance your language skills, the University's Language Centre and its German Courses Passau division offer a variety of German language classes. However, if you would like to apply for a place of study on one of the University's German-taught degree programmes, you must meet the stated language requirements before you apply.

Apply now!