GHDI logo
German History in Documents and Images
return to system

The Completion of the First Phase of Construction and the Opening of Ruhr University in Bochum (June 30, 1965)
On July 18, 1961, the parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia decided to build Ruhr University in Bochum, the first new university founded in the Federal Republic. A festive opening ceremony was held on June 30, 1965, and teaching began on November 2 of that year. To improve educational opportunities in North Rhine-Westphalia, other universities went up quickly: in 1965, the Medical Academy in Düsseldorf was elevated to the status of a university and universities were opened in Dortmund and Bielefeld in 1968-69. In 1972, comprehensive colleges were founded in Duisburg, Essen, Paderborn, Siegen, and Wuppertal. Until 1972, costs for university construction projects ran as high as 1.4 billion DM.