As a member of the RKM(Rectors' Conference of Universities of Music), the University of Music Würzburg is showing solidarity with the universities in Berlin. Surprisingly, the budget there was massively cut at the beginning of the year, with serious consequences for education and studies. Austerity measures in the field of education not only have fatal consequences for society in the short term, but also in the medium and long term. With this in mind, we appeal to those responsible.

On behalf of the University Board,

Prof. Dr. Christoph Wünsch, President

Read the full RKM press release from March 3, 2025 here:

Statement on planned cuts for the Berlin music universities

The Rectors' Conference of German Music Universities in the HRK (RKM) is deeply dismayed by the cuts that the Berlin Senate and House of Representatives are demanding from Berlin's universities and research institutions. At their most recent winter conference, the 24 German universities of music addressed the issue and consider the quasi-termination of the 2024-2028 university contracts to be a wrong and devastating decision.

The Chairman of the RKM, Prof. Christian Fischer, commented: "The German conservatoires are appalled by this action, which is contrary to the terms of a recently signed higher education agreement. This is the opposite of a forward-looking education policy. This precedent jeopardizes the existence of the artistic universities in Berlin, the excellence of artistic and pedagogical education and will have catastrophic consequences at all levels of musical and cultural education, not only in Berlin."

The Board of the RKM strongly supports the statements of the Berlin University of the Arts and the Hanns Eisler University of Music Berlin and appeals to the Berlin Senate to fund the universities and their importance for society as providers of ideas and drivers of cultural education and as places of democratic values in a sustainable manner instead of making haphazard cuts.

The University of the Arts Berlin and the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin are existentially affected by cuts: not only is the current university budget to be cut by 8% in 2025, but further cuts in basic funding have been announced by the state for the years 2026/2027 during the term of the current university funding contract 2024-2028 (see, among other things, the press release of the University of the Arts Berlin and the statement of the Hanns Eisler School of Music Berlin as well as their information page).