Zurich University of the Arts

Zürcher Hochschule der Künste ZHdK

Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK, German: Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) has approximately 2,500 students, which makes it the largest arts university in Switzerland. The university was established in 2007, following the merger between Zurich’s School of Art and Design (HGKZ) and the School of Music, Drama, and Dance (HMT). ZHdK is one of four universities affiliated to Zürcher Fachhochschule.

ZHdK offers Bachelor’s and master's degree courses and further education programmes in art, design, music, art education, theatre, film, dance, and transdisciplinary studies. It is also active in research, especially artistic research and design research.

Affiliated to ZHdK are the Museum of Design, Zurich, the Theater der Künste (Theatre of the Arts), the Mehrspur Music Club, and the Media and Information Centre (MIZ).

Established on 1 August 2007, Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK) resulted from the merger between the School of Art and Design (HGKZ), which had arisen from the municipal School of Applied Arts (founded in 1878), and the School of Music, Drama, and Dance (HMT). The founding president of the new arts university was Professor Hans-Peter Schwarz. Since November 2009, Professor Thomas D. Meier has been president of ZHdK.

The School of Art and Design (HGKZ) arose from the municipal School of Applied Arts (founded in 1878). It was located in a building constructed by architects Adolf Steger and Karl Egender, which today also houses the Museum of Design, Zurich.

The School of Music, Drama, and Dance (HMT) was the result of a merger in 1999 between Winterthur and Zurich conservatories of music, Zurich’s Jazz School, Zurich’s Theatre and Acting Academy, and the Swiss Professional Ballet School. ZHdK’s programme in Theatre Studies (affiliated to the Department of Performing Arts and Film) was originally established in 1937, in the context of the Schauspielhaus Zürich (the city’s principal theatre), and known as the Bühnenstudio Zürich. It was renamed Schauspiel-Akademie Zürich in the early 1970s.