Schools, libraries, colleges and universities are more than repositories of knowledge and buildings for the production and transfer of knowledge. Together with town halls as well as cultural and religious buildings, they are among the structures that shape the cityscape and create a city’s identity.

At present, the image of the Ruhr region is gradually changing to become a “knowledge metropolis”. Nevertheless, it is still surprising for many people that educational buildings were constructed in such great numbers, in such diversity and with such commitment – especially during the era of industrialisation and in the post-war period. These structures often characterise the cities of the Ruhr region to this day.

Subsequent to the two books “Kultur@StadtBautenRuhr” and “Religion@StadtBautenRuhr”, this publication again tells the stories of striking individual buildings and explores overarching aspects of educational buildings in thematic essays. In addition, it takes a look at the educational landscape of the Ruhr region as a whole. All the buildings are showcased with plans, drawings, models and other archival material from the Baukunstarchiv NRW, which are presented to the public for the very first time.

Texts by Alexandra Apfelbaum, Stefan Berger, Sonja Hnilica, Michael Imberg, Markus Jager, Judith Klein, Anna Kloke, Gudrun M. König, Joachim Kreische, Hans-Jürgen Lechtreck, Sonja Pizonka, Detlef Podehl, Christin Ruppio, Michael Schwarz, Wolfgang Sonne, Christos Stremmenos, Barbara Welzel and photography by Lukas Höhler and Detlef Podehl.