Main building RWTH Aachen, University building in Aachen, Germany

The Main Building of RWTH Aachen is a large structure on Templergraben street housing lecture halls, administrative offices, and research spaces. The facility features multiple specialized areas designed for teaching and research activities.

The polytechnic school was approved for Aachen on 14 November 1863 after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Koblenz also bid; Aachen offered the Templergraben site and about 200,000 talers toward construction. Robert Ferdinand Cremer's Italianate design was chosen on 28 April 1865, and the foundation stone was laid on 15 May in the presence of King Wilhelm I. The building was completed in 1868.

The building's name recalls the 1863 decision to place the Polytechnic School in Aachen, chosen over Cologne, Düsseldorf and Koblenz. The foundation stone was laid on 15 May 1865 in the presence of King Wilhelm I, who granted architect Robert Cremer the title of Baurat on the same day. The ceremony coincided with celebrations of the Rhineland's 50 years under Prussian rule, moved from Cologne to Aachen for the occasion.

The building is busiest during lecture periods when access to some areas may be restricted to students and staff. Finding information is easier near the central service points located throughout the structure.

The building was constructed between 1865 and 1870, not completed in 1865; it was finished in 1868. Architect Robert Ferdinand Cremer had to choose between a Gothic and an Italianate design, and the Berlin ministry picked the Italian style on 28 April 1865. The foundation stone was laid on 15 May 1865 in the presence of King Wilhelm I, who granted Cremer the title of Baurat that day.