Hochschule für Gestaltung Offenbach

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University of Art and Design Offenbach
Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Offenbach am Main

Established:	1837
Type:	Public university
President:	Bernd Kracke
Staff:	27 (full professors/teacher for special tasks)
Students:	595 (winter semester 2007/08)
Location:	Offenbach am Main, Germany
Campus:	Urban
Website:	http://www.hfg-offenbach.de

The Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Offenbach am Main is an art and design university of the German State of Hesse. The school is divided into two departments. It was given university status in 1970. The degree course offers a choice of five different final examination topics: art, communication design, media arts and design, stage design [Dept. of Visual Communication] and product design [ibid.]. Additionally, the college offers a one-year (2-semester), project-oriented postgraduate course.

HfG Offenbach was founded 1832 as an „Artisan School“ for a better training of new artisans, it soon became a „Arts and Crafts School“ where crafts, artistic and theoretical subjects were taught at the same time. 1970 the „Offenbacher Werkkunstschule“ was transformed into an artistic-scientific university of the Land Hesse. Anologous to its lawful educational obligation to „teach and develop artistic forms and contents“ and to „educate the new artistic and artistic-scientific generation“ (§4 paragraph 2 of the Hessische Hochschulgesetz) the activity profile of the HfG today encompasses artistic and scientific lecture and research in the diverse fields of visual communication and product design under special consideration of electronic media and newest technologies.