The locations of the anniversary WürFHel

The Jubilee WürFHel is located in the Maurice-Vast-Straße green space, right next to the Westfalenhalle subway station. "The WürFHel can be seen as an exciting addition to the sustainability project that has just been created in the immediate vicinity," explains Ulrich Finger, Head of the Parks Department.

The Parks Department, Signal-Iduna and BVB transformed a 50,000 square meter area around the Signal-Iduna building on the B1 into a flower meadow and thus a habitat for insects. The WürFHel seat and the oak tree planted in its center fit perfectly into this environment. This is because the WürFHel is sustainably built from wood, currently the only available building material that is renewable. "It stands for the connection between architecture and nature," says Ulrich Finger.

On the Emscherpfad, near Dorstfelder Allee, the Jubiläums-WürFHel invites walkers to enjoy the view of nature. The Faculty of Architecture plants trees here with the new students at the start of each winter semester. The area was made available by the city's Parks Department. "In recent years, a project partnership has developed between the Fachhochschule Dortmund, in particular the Faculty of Architecture, and the Parks Department, from which both partners benefit greatly. The WürFHel are symbolic of this here, but also in other municipal parks and green spaces," says Ulrich Finger, Head of the Parks Department, about the good cooperation.

The Parks Department is responsible for the planning, care and maintenance of the city's green spaces, which cover an area of more than 9 million square meters. These tasks, which were previously carried out by the Civil Engineering Department, have been covered by the newly established Green Spaces Department since 2020. The establishment of an independent department reflects the growing demands placed on the city of Dortmund by changes in people's leisure and mobility behavior and the consequences of climate change on urban green spaces. The aim here is to find innovative and future-oriented solutions.

As a local recreation area, Fredenbaumpark is the ideal setting for the Jubiläums-WürFHel. Situated in the middle of a meadow, the mega seat WürFHel offers a cozy spot to relax or move your studying, learning and working to the greenery. If it gets too hot, the shade of the tree canopy that grows out of the WürFHel provides sufficient cooling.

With its proximity to the "Hochschule vor Ort", the Fachhochschule Dortmund branch on Bornstraße, the WürFHel also emphasizes Fachhochschule Dortmund's passionate commitment to and in Nordstadt. The city of Dortmund also values the park, as Ulrich Finger, Head of the Parks Department, explains: "The Fredenbaumpark will be further developed in its importance as a recreational park in the coming years and strengthened and highlighted as a park. The Fachhochschule Dortmund's WürFHel is a first signal for this incipient development."

"If not here, where else? Here, the WürFHel joins the ranks of extraordinary architectural art objects, both inside and outside the building," says Ulrich Finger, Head of the Parks Department, about the location in the park of the Baukunstarchiv am Ostwall (on the corner of Viktoriastrasse and Junggesellenstrasse). As a form of landscape architecture, the WürFHel blends in perfectly with its green surroundings.

The inner-city location is also intended to emphasize the connection between Fachhochschule Dortmund and the city of Dortmund. The university and the city cooperate in all scientific disciplines taught at the Fachhochschule Dortmund - from Applied Social Sciences, Architecture and Design, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science and Information Technology to Mechanical Engineering and Business Studies. This close and fruitful partnership plays a decisive role in shaping the city and the region. And will continue to do so for the next 50 years!

"The partnership with Sparkasse Dortmund is extremely important for Fachhochschule Dortmund," says Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Schwick, Rector of Fachhochschule Dortmund. "Sparkasse Dortmund is a reliable financial partner at our side, which is even more important in these difficult times. It has also enriched the Deutschlandstipendium for many years as a sponsor of numerous scholarships."

Jörg Busatta, member of the Management Board of Sparkasse Dortmund, emphasizes that the partnership is also extremely valuable for Sparkasse Dortmund. "We very much appreciate what Fachhochschule Dortmund does for people and how it has a diverse and constructive impact on the city," he said. He accepted the thanks and the certificate "on behalf of our customers, who make our work possible in the first place."