After less than four years of planning, Bielefeld University opened its doors. It was built as a "Reformuniversität" (Reform University), a concept developed by Helmut Schelsky, an educational sociologist from Münster, who was instrumental in its foundation. With far reaching aims to reform nearly every area of higher education, the University made a valuable contribution to educational reform in Germany in the second half of the 20th century. Despite having to revise some of its original aims in the period that followed due to deteriorating financial and economic conditions, the University upholds its interdisciplinary, innovative and reformative character to this day.