History

The Hertie School of Governance was formally founded as a private, non-profit institution in October 2003 by the Hertie Foundation and was established as one of the first professional schools for public policy in Germany.

By offering programmes emphasising academic excellence and practical orientation in the reunified capital of Berlin, the Hertie School of Governance became a unique educational institution in Germany.

The Hertie School began by organising panels, symposia, and discussions, thus providing a platform where policy-makers, professionals, and practitioners from the media, NGOs, and business engage with academia. In February 2005, the School was granted official state recognition and given the authority to award the academic title Master of Public Policy as an institution of higher learning by the Berlin Ministry of Science, Research, and Culture (Senatsverwaltung für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kultur).

The first cohort of students in the two-year Master of Public Policy programme began their studies at the School in September 2005, and the programme has grown considerably with each passing year. In September 2008, the School launched its second master's programme: the Executive Master of Public Management. Together with the Freie Universität Berlin and the Social Science Centre Berlin (WZB), the Hertie School established the Berlin School of Transnational Studies in 2008, with its own PhD programme.