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.

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Source: Fragen an die deutsche Geschichte: Ideen, Kräfte, Entscheidungen von 1800 bis zur Gegenwart. Historical exhibition in the Reichstag Building in Berlin. Catalogue, 3rd expanded edition. German Bundestag: Bonn, 1977, p. 406.