Fields of Study and Profiles:

Historical Musicology

The Chair of Historical Musicology is concerned with the history of music and music in history. One focus is on sources ranging from music manuscripts to printed music, ego documents as well as instructional works and musical instruments, but also on historical sources of all kinds that help to understand and illuminate the context of the music in question. In addition, there are empirical approaches, such as the development of repertoire and the documentation of facts.

History of Jazz and Popular Music

The master's program profile "History of Jazz and Popular Music" is dedicated to the scholarly study of the various genres and styles of jazz and popular music in history and the present. This includes their historical and current production, distribution and reception practices as well as their social, cultural, regional, ethnic, economic and media contexts.

Transcultural Music Studies


The UNESCO Chair of Transcultural Music Studies (TMS) is dedicated to music and its study from a cultural studies perspective. All musical styles existing worldwide are of interest. The chair studies music as an "intangible cultural heritage" in collaboration with an international network of experts and offers many practical applications in music and science, such as exhibitions and concerts.

History of Jewish Music

The Chair for the History of Jewish Music in Weimar is the first fully equipped chair for Jewish music history in Europe. Within the Master's program "Musicology", the study profile "History of Jewish Music" includes a scientific examination of the diversity and plurality of Jewish music, which is fundamentally understood as an expression of Jewish identity.

Music Practice

The profile Music Practice is similar to the Bachelor supplementary subject Music Practice a special feature of the Weimar education and complements the scientific education with artistic-practical experiences.

The students can choose from the instrumental and vocal offerings of the university and help to design projects; this results in a special suitability of the graduates of this profile for music mediating professions, where the historical component can be taught at the same time.

Arts Management

In the subject "Arts Management" the conditions and changes of production, distribution and reception processes are examined. Another focus is on the organizational principles and transformations of the cultural field, the cultural industries and institutions, and the role models of the actors in the cultural field. Central reference disciplines for arts management studies are cultural studies, cultural policy, cultural sociology and cultural economics / business management studies.

The combination of musicology and arts management can only be found in Germany at a public university in Weimar. In addition, the choice of subject combination is not limited to the university, but subjects from FSU Jena can also be chosen. It is possible to choose "Intercultural Music and Event Management" as a Bachelor's minor and various profiles of the Master's program "Arts Management".