Indian Students in Germany: Overnight Success or a Century of Engagement?

When headlines recently announced that the number of Indian students in Germany has crossed 60,000, many celebrated it as a dramatic rise — an overnight success story of India’s growing global academic presence. Yet, behind these numbers lies a much longer history. The Indian student journey to Germany is not new. It stretches back a century, to the 1920s, when small groups of Indian students and intellectuals made their way to German universities, leaving behind a legacy of cultural exchange, intellectual curiosity, and political imagination.

The 1920s: First Steps, Big Dreams

In the aftermath of World War I, Berlin and other German cities became unexpected hubs for Indian students and exiles. By 1923, records show Indians were enrolling in German universities, drawn by affordable education and the reputation of German science and technology.

The 1920s Indian community in Berlin was small — perhaps just a few hundred — but remarkably influential. They included students in engineering, medicine, and chemistry, alongside intellectuals and political exiles like Virendranath Chattopadhyaya and M.P.T. Acharya.

Spaces such as the Indian Club in Charlottenburg and later the famous Hindustan House became vibrant meeting points. Here, students and thinkers not only shared meals and cultural familiarity, but also debated India’s future, nurtured anti-colonial networks, and forged a sense of community in foreign surroundings.

As Kris Manjapra notes in Age of Entanglement, the admiration for the German Humboldtian model of higher education even reached Indian university leadership. Ashutosh Mukherjee, Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University, was so inspired that he invited Prince Wilhelm to his university — a symbolic attempt to transplant Germany’s research-driven, inquiry-based approach to Indian soil.

Today: From Hundreds to 60,000

Fast forward to 2025, and the scale could not be more different. Germany now hosts over 60,000 Indian students, making India the largest group of international students in the country. What explains this surge?

• High-quality, research-oriented education rooted in the tradition admired a century ago.

• Affordability, with little to no tuition fees compared to other destinations like US and UK.

• Rise in the English-language programs across engineering, computer science, AI, and business.

• Strong employability pathways, with Germany’s industries eager for global talent.

  
  

The profile of Indian students has also shifted. While the pioneers of the 1920s were a mix of revolutionaries and researchers, today’s students represent India’s growing middle class, looking for globally competitive education and career opportunities.

Continuity Across a Century

So, is the presence of Indian students in Germany an overnight success? Clearly not. What looks like a sudden surge is, in fact, the culmination of a century of engagement:

• The 1920s pioneers carved out spaces of community and intellectual exchange against the odds.

• The post-independence decades saw Indo-German collaboration in building institutions like the IITs.

• The 21st century boom reflects global shifts: Germany’s rise as a knowledge hub, India’s expanding youth demographic, and deepening bilateral ties.

  
  

Each era built on the foundations of the one before.

Looking Ahead

As Indian students continue to choose Germany in record numbers, they are part of a much longer narrative — one that connects Hindustan House in Weimar Berlin with modern lecture halls in Munich, Aachen, Heidelberg, and beyond.

This is not a story of sudden success. It is a story of endurance, of continuity, and of evolving engagement. And by remembering its roots, today’s generation of Indian students in Germany can see themselves not as newcomers, but as inheritors of a century-old tradition of Indo-German academic exchange.