About Folkwang
Connecting the arts
The Folkwang University of the Arts is the central training centre, and the only one in North-Rhine Westphalia, for Music, Theatre, Dance, Design and Academic Studies. It has been bringing various disciplines and art forms together under one roof since 1927 – based on the Folkwang idea of an interdisciplinary co-operation between the arts. With campuses and event venues in Essen, Bochum, Duisburg and Dortmund, Folkwang is right amongst it all and firmly rooted in the Ruhr metropolis.
An international impact
The ‘Folkwang School for Music, Dance and Speech’ was founded in 1927 – at the same time as the existing Essen School of Trades and Applied Arts was renamed the ‘Folkwang School of Design’. The Folkwang name has thus been synonymous with teaching, studying and producing art for more than ninety years. The original training format of interdisciplinary co-operation has acted as a beacon at an international level.
New ideas every day
As a place of interdisciplinary artistic, educational and academic research, teaching and practice, the Folkwang University of the Arts consciously gears itself around current transformation processes. Its some 1,600 students and 420 teachers bring the arts themselves to life, providing trendsetting ideas and inspiration.
A number of public events
The varied training provided at the Folkwang University of the Arts is reflected in the more than 400 public concerts, exhibitions, dance and theatre performances, symposia, lecture series and interdisciplinary productions that take place every year. These are not only held on the university’s own seven stages, but also in co-operation with renowned concert halls, theatres, museums, churches, and cultural and educational organisations.
Special people
International students, top-class teachers and highly committed staff enrich and shape the profile of the Folkwang University of the Arts. And our graduates and alumni take the Folkwang name out into the world, with the likes of Pina Bausch (dancer and choreographer), Armin Rohde and Karoline Eichhorn (actors), Frank Peter Zimmermann (violinist), Lothar Zagrosek (conductor), Hagen Rether (cabaret artist), Timm Rautert, Jitka Hanzlová (photographers) and Klaus Rinke (conceptual artist) all having studied here.
