Studying at the Caspar David Friedrich Institute in Greifswald means engaging with art and research at a small university steeped in tradition. The Caspar David Friedrich Institute at the university, which was founded in 1456, has its origins in the 18th century academic drawing room, which was under the direction of Johann Gottfried Quistorp from 1788 onwards. To a certain extent, it formed the foundation or starting point for the Caspar David Friedrich Institute. Incidentally, Caspar David Friedrich, who gave his name to today's institute, also studied in this drawing room. The Seminar for History of Art was founded in 1907, followed by the Institute for Art Education in 1946. The bachelor's and master's degree courses in Fine Arts and History of Art were established in 2001.

The Caspar David Friedrich Institute is thus the only art department in Germany that enables students to study History of Art and Fine Arts at one institute. Embedded in this are the complementary specialisations of art theory and art education.

It is exactly this interplay between academic and artistic disciplines enabled by the amalgamation of the areas of History of Art and Fine Arts under one roof that gives the Institute a special profile and provides the opportunity for equally specific study profiles. The aim is to link art history, art practice and art education degree courses at important confluences, in so doing expanding conventional teaching content through integrative programmes. In the bachelor's and master's degree programmes, in particular, students can choose appropriate modules to set special focuses at the interfaces between the History of Art and the Fine Arts.