20 Years Bucerius Law School

Explore the (hi)story of Bucerius Law School and its people, reminisce about your favorite Bucerius moments and share your memories with us.

We would like to thank you for the first twenty years of Bucerius Law School – for your courage to always venture on new paths with us, your unfailing support and your trust, which makes our law school what it is. We look forward to the next 20 years with you!

Global Greetings

Our international network is our institution's pride and joy. We nurture it, and we care deeply about it – both at an institutional and a personal level. It is the wonderful people all over the world who have embraced the Bucerius spirit who make our network what it is.

What does Bucerius mean to them? Find out in these Global Greetings!

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International alumni

since 2000

Outgoing students

since 2000

Partner universities

in 2020

20 Years of Internationalization: It's in our DNA!

Take a stroll with us down memory lane in this interview with Kasia Kwietniewska, Head of the International Office, who has witnessed and accompanied the internationalization of Bucerius Law School pretty much from the beginning.

Read interview

Then | Now

20 years seem like an eternity when we look at these photos. These little gems from our archives are something we definitely do not want to keep from you...

Oktober 2, 2000: The first opening of the Academic Year takes place at Hamburg City Hall.

Nowadays, the opening ceremony takes place in the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and is livestreamed over the internet. Unfortunately in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event had to be cancelled at the last minute.

Our first year students during their immatriculation ceremony in 2000. Back then, the large majority of students was male.

By now, the law school's efforts to achieve a more balanced gender ratio among our LLB students is clearly noticeable with more than 46% female students in 2020.

In 2020 students were studying in containers in the inner court yard and greenhouses stood where a colourful library, lunch hall and kindergarden can be found today.

One auditorium, one library and several remodellings later, the campus remains ever-changing: The design competition for the new annex was launched in 2020.

The "Great Hall of Exhibits" of the Botanical Institute was still filled with exhibits during the inspection of the building by Jürgen Büring, the first CEO of Bucerius Law School. (Photo: Rompel)

Today, the first floor of the former Hall of Exhibits is called the "Moot Court" - even though it hosts a great variety of events.

The ground floor of the Hall of Exhibits serves as a reception area where a team of student receptionists greets our guests.

The library in the year 2000: Situated in today's "Moot Court" it was home to only a few reference books and even fewer working spaces.

Nowadays, the Hengeler Mueller-Library offers 528 working spaces and - on top of an extensive set of services - over 125,000 print and over 10,000 digital media as well as numerous licensed online and offline databases.

The construction site of the "Audimax" in 2003.

Today, the Audimax is known as the "Helmut Schmidt Auditorium" and offers an attractive space for conferences, lectures and celebratory events with a capacity of 431 people.

Well, and despite all these changes... (Photo: Rompel)

... some things just stay as they always have been.

20 Highlights from 20 Years of Legal Research

"In the eight years since its founding in 2000, Bucerius Law School in Hamburg has developed a distinctive profile characterized by an academic focus on business law with an international orientation. The school's academic productivity measures up to that of any German law faculty."

German Science Council, 2008

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In the spirit of our founding father

"Gerd Bucerius, who himself held a doctorate in law, would be thrilled about Bucerius Law School. Just one thing may bother him, because he was a very humble man: that it bears his name. He would be especially pleased with three aspects: First, that young people show the courage to be independent and study at a school that ventures on new paths. Second, the ambition of our school to lead them into an international world and to recruit international students to Hamburg. Third, he would take pleasure in the free spirit and the business-oriented concept of the programs. I think Gerd Bucerius would say: "You have understood what I find important.""

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Karsten Schmidt, formally amicably connected to Gerd Bucerius and Member of the Board of the ZEIT-Stiftung, today Honorary Dean of Bucerius Law School

Anniversary fundraising campaign of the Bucerius Alumni Association

On the occasion of our law school's 20th anniversary, our Bucerius Alumni Association has set up a fund for students to help them cope with financial hardships. The goal is to enable all students at their alma mater to complete their studies successfully and without financial worries and to contribute to equal opportunities for all. The fund is open to both domestic and international students.

We thank our alumni for this wonderful initiative. Support them!

Donate now!