Theological College Reutlingen

Methodist theological education in German-speaking Europe goes back to 1858 (school founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in Bremen). Reutlingen School of Theology was founded in 1877 as “Predigerseminar der Evangelischen Gemeinschaft” (Preachers’ Seminary of the Evangelical Association).

After the church unification between the Evangelical Association and the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1968, "Reutlingen Theological Seminary" became the theological school for the German speaking part of the newly founded “Evangelisch-methodistische Kirche” (United Methodist Church) in 1971. After the reunification of the two German states in the early 1990s the Methodist seminary in Bad Klosterlausnitz (in the former German Democratic Republic) merged with RST.

Since then RST is the only United Methodist institution of theological higher education in German-speaking Europe. In 2005 RST was accredited by the German Federal Council of Sciences to become a recognized University of Applied Sciences. This certification indicates that RTS complies with the national and international standards for research, teaching, and service. In 2008, after a successful accreditation process the school was renamed as it is now called Theologische Hochschule Reutlingen (Reutlingen School of Theology).