Kleve Campus

The 19 snow-white buildings, which have a combined 48,000 m² of floor space and line both banks of the Spoy Canal, aren’t merely buildings – they’re bridges spanning gaps between people and culture. They bring together our student body – over 7,200 students representing over 120 different nations – and they connect our university to the local population in Kleve.

The site of Rhine-Waal’s Kleve Campus wasn’t chosen by chance: it was seen as a ripe opportunity by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the county government of Kleve. Close to 15 acres of old harbour space, fallen into disuse and disrepair, was tansformed in an astonishingly quick time into an attractive quayside promenade just minutes from the city centre. The green banks of the Spoy Canal and the tranquil flow of water draw people from all over the region – students and locals – to relax and stroll the campus grounds.

Kleve wasn’t interested in erasing the past, though. Sitting at the heart of the campus is a relic from the days when the harbour was frequently used to transport grain to the city and surround areas. The massive, red-brick grain storehouse, or Kornspeicher in German, was kept, but repurposed to house our Student Service Centre, Language Centre and university library with over 3,000 metres of shelf space. To better fit its new role, the Kornspeicher was affectionately redubbed the Wissensspeicher, or ‘knowledge storehouse’. The Wissensspeicher stands adjacent to a massive, grain-hauling crane, which was erected during campus construction as a tribute to the past history of the site.

The marquee harbourside building, however, is certainly Building 1. As the largest building on campus, this building houses numerous lecture halls and our massive Audimax, which has space for up to 500 people and is used for lectures and important functions alike. All lecture halls feature the latest in smart classroom technology, to make learning easier and more intuitive no matter the subject.

Finally, the third centrepiece of our campus is certainly the canteen. Situated adjacent to the Spoy’s historic turning basin, the forum area in front of the canteen offers students and passers-by a chance to sit and socialise or just gaze at the water, while the cateen itself offers quality and healthy meals cooked fresh every day.