The most important information in brief: From 29 September, the Institute for Educational Research (IfB) will be located in a new building in the former Federal Railway Headquarters on Döppersberg. From this date, you will find all lecturers and all rooms of the IfB there without exception. From the winter semester 2025/2026, the majority of all IfB seminars will also take place in the Bundesbahndirektion. IfB lectures will then take place almost entirely on the Grifflenberg campus. The FMM and FZ buildings on the Freudenberg campus, where the IfB was previously housed, will no longer be in operation from 8 September 2025. Consultation hours and examinations will no longer take place at the Freudenberg campus from 8 September 2025. All teacher training students will be affected as far as educational science or special education courses and examinations are concerned. You will find more detailed information below:

Availability during the relocation phase

The move will take place between 9.9.2025 and 26.9.2025. From this date onwards, neither lecturers nor secretariats or the Dean's Office of the IfB will be available on site (in their offices). In particular, telephone availability will be limited during these days. From 29.9.2025 you can reach us in the new building. During the relocation phase, all lecturers and all work areas can still be reached by email.

Our new building - the former Federal Railway Headquarters

The new building is located in the former Federal Railway Directorate directly on Döppersberg. The building will probably also be called "Bundesbahndirektion" in the future. The abbreviation for the building (e.g. in StudiLöwe) is "BBD". Room numbers will therefore be presented with the abbreviation "BBD".

So: Whenever you see a BBD in a (seminar) room in the future, it is a room in the Federal Railway Directorate.

Where is the Federal Railway Directorate located?

The new building is located on Döppersberg directly at Wuppertal Central Station opposite platform 1. Students arriving at the central station by bus or train cannot miss it. You can find the new location on Google Maps here.

How and where can I enter the Federal Railway Directorate?

The Federal Railway Directorate has a total of three entrances:

• West entrance (on the Stadtsparkasse Wuppertal side): direct access to the IfB and the ZSB.
• South entrance (opposite platform 1): full disabled access, also with direct access to the university premises.
• East entrance (Primark side): This is the entrance for city employees and members of the public. Access to the university premises is not possible from this side.

In future, students will always enter the building via the west entrance (the side by Stadtsparkasse Wuppertal). Background: IfB and ZSB are moving into the new building together with parts of the city administration and the job centre of the city of Wuppertal. The eastern part of the building (Primark side) will be used by the city of Wuppertal. The western part (Stadtsparkasse Wuppertal side) will be used by the university. Construction work is expected to continue in the municipal part of the building until November 2025. The east entrance is therefore still closed.

When will teaching start in the Bundesbahndirektion?

The new building will also be put into operation for teaching at the start of the winter semester 2025/26. From then on, the majority of IfB seminars will be offered in the Federal Railway Directorate. You can recognise courses in the Federal Railway Directorate by the abbreviation BBD in StudiLöwe (see below).

Room numbers for seminar and office rooms

The Federal Railway Directorate has a total of 9 seminar rooms. This means that in future many seminars offered by the IfB will take place in the new building. In StudiLöwe you can recognise the new rooms by the abbreviation BBD (in each case before a room number). The room numbers have a simple structure. They have a first number (e.g. 02) which stands for the floor and a second number for the room number on this floor. Seminar room BBD.02.01 therefore stands for seminar room 1 on the second floor. The numbers for office rooms are structured according to the same principle (first part stands for the floor, second part for the room number).

What will change for courses?

Nothing will change in terms of content. But the new building is old and when it was built in 1875, nobody expected that a university would ever offer its courses in the rooms. The large seminar rooms are (up to 17 metres) long and only around 5 metres wide. The challenge was to make the old rooms fit for the future. You can therefore expect a number of new features in the seminar rooms. The large seminar rooms each have two large modern displays at the front, one of which is always multifunctional. There are support displays at the sides, which are designed to provide a good view from all positions in the room. The displays can be controlled separately and allow lecturers to utilise them in many new ways. Several rooms are fully hybrid-capable and offer the opportunity to connect students and external experts in teaching with good video and audio quality. The entire media technology will be installed in the course of September and will be available at the start of the semester.

Opening hours

The opening hours of the new building remain unchanged. The Federal Railway Directorate is accessible Monday to Friday from 7 am to 10 pm.

Car parks

There are no university car parks at the Bundesbahndirektion. It is therefore worth changing to public transport. If you come to the university by car, you will have to use the free car parks on Grifflenberg or the pay and display car parks in the surrounding area.

Student Council

The IfB student council will also be housed in the Bundesbahndirektion from 29.9.25. The student council room is located in BBD 04.64 - i.e. on the 4th floor in room 64. The student council room has become really nice and the IfB student council is looking forward to seeing you.

Common rooms and study rooms

There will be an area of approx. 190 square metres in the Federal Railway Directorate where students from all faculties can spend time. The area will be divided into a lounge area, a group study area and a quiet area for studying. However, this part will only be put into operation in the course of the 2025/26 winter semester. The common rooms for students are located in BBD.03.53 (3rd floor, room 53)

Cafeteria

In the future, there will be a small cafeteria in the Federal Railway Directorate, where coffee, snacks and small (healthy) meals will be available. The cafeteria will be located in the basement of the Federal Railway Directorate and will open in the course of the winter semester 2025/26. Until then, however, there will be a variety of alternatives in the immediate vicinity for culinary well-being. In the future, there will also be a restaurant in the new station building, which will hopefully also offer something for less money. Construction work is currently in full swing!