History

Since its founding in 1949, the Institute for Systematic Musicology at the University of Hamburg, is characterized by an important professional tradition.Numerous influential researchers worked here or were awarded their academic degrees at the institute. Especially  in the areas of musical acoustics, psychoacoustics, and music psychology, the institute's achievements are still present in international research in systematic musicology.

Besides professors like Heinrich Husmann, Hans-Peter Reinecke, Vladimir Karbusický, Helmut Rösing and Albrecht Schneider, the three founders of the German Society for Music Psychology (German Society for Music Psychology/Deutsche Gesellschaft für Musikpsychologie, DGM) - Helga de la Motte-Haber, Klaus-Ernst Behne and Günter Kleinen obtained their doctorate at this institute.

The Institute for Systematic Musicology is part of the Faculty of Humanities, Department of Cultural Studies, at the University of Hamburg and cooperates with international research institutes and Hamburg's cultural and economic institutions.

In the winter semester of 2016/2017, students from the Institutes for Systematic and Historical Musicology devoted themselves to the history of their institutes in a project seminar. The results of their research can be found on the blog History of the Institutes for Historical and Systematic Musicology at the University of Hamburg.

Research and Studies

 The research and teaching focus of the Institute for Systematic Musicology is musical acoustics and music psychology. Further subjects include music sociology, popular music studies, music and media, and ethnomusicology. As a result, the students are optimally prepared for various professional goals. As part of the bachelor's degree, students at the institute acquire comprehensive basics in all sub-areas of systematic musicology. The consecutive Master’s degree is the ideal continuation of the skills and knowledge acquired in the Bachelor’s degree. Within four semesters, the focus on just one subject offers an in-depth examination of current research topics and questions in the spectrum of systematic musicology shown above. After that, numerous doctoral and post-doctoral candidates qualify at the institute.

Location

The Institute for Systematic Musicology is located together with the Institute for Historical Musicology and University Music in a villa built in 1883 in the neo-renaissance style not far from the Hamburg Alster. The Dammtor train station with convenient connections to local and long-distance transport is in the immediate vicinity. In addition to central university facilities such as the State and University Library, important cultural institutions such as the Hamburg State Opera, the Laeiszhalle and the North German Broadcasting Corporation are just a few minutes' walk away.