University of Education Weingarten

The predecessor to the University of Education Weingarten was the Reutlingen Educational Institute (Reutlinger Pädagogisches Institut), a facility founded in 1947, which focused specifically on teacher training for German elementary schools (Volksschulen) and the first elementary and middle schools (Grund- und Hauptschulen). In 1949, the institute relocated from Reutlingen to Weingarten. The two-year course of study concentrated on teaching methodologies within the school curriculum. 

At the beginning of the 1960s, the state government decided to transform the Educational Institutes of Freiburg and Weingarten into faith-based, i.e. Catholic, universities. In 1962, the University of Education Weingarten was established. An amendment to the state constitution in 1969 brought about the end of its denominational association. Institutes of education (Pädagogische Hochschulen) became academic institutions on the basis of the 1971 law that outlined the legal status of educational and professional institutions of higher education (Gesetz über die Rechtsstellung der Pädagogischen und der Berufspädagogischen Hochschulen).

In 1984, institutes of education obtained the right to confer doctoral degrees in conjunction with an academic university. Since 1987, they may do so independent of a university. Today they are entitled to award the degree of Dr. paed. or Dr. phil. Furthermore, institutes of education now also have the right to confer post-doctoral qualifications (Habilitation).

The matrix structure was introduced at the University of Education Weingarten in 2005, which emphasizes the interdisciplinary nature of teaching and research here.

Since 2006, the University of Education Weingarten – in partnership with the Ravensburg-Weingarten University of Applied Sciences – has been running a joint bachelor’s/master’s degree program for secondary school teaching at vocational schools in the field of “Automotive Engineering / Manufacturing Technology.” Since that time, two similar degree programs, “Electrical Engineering / Physics” and “Computer Science / Business Administration,” have been established.

The year 2007 saw the establishment of the first bachelor’s degree programs in “Elementary Education” and “Media and Education Management.” Over the past several years, five more programs began offering master’s degrees.

At the start of the 2011/2012 winter semester the new rules and regulations governing teacher certification went into effect. They outline an eight-semester course of study required for certification to teach at the elementary school level as well as at various types of secondary schools (Werkrealschule, Hauptschule, Realschule).