UG buildings: the Röling Building

The University of Groningen as we know it now is more than the Academy Building alone. In this series, based on the podwalk and the Dutch booklet In the footsteps of the Academy , we will put the spotlight on various buildings - and a work of art - of the UG and their history. In this episode: the Röling Building.

The Röling Building houses the Faculty of Law, the oldest Faculty of the University, with over 4000 students and more than 450 staff members. The faculty was previously housed in the Harmonie building, together with the Faculty of Arts. Both faculties had been struggling with lack of space for some time.

The new Röling building solves that problem. The red-brick building from 1992 is designed by Italian architect Giorgio Grassi and was to become the home to the Public Library (OB). In 2019, the OB moved to the new Forum Groningen. To create sufficient space for the Faculty of Law, an extra floor was added to the top of the building. The end result is beautiful: the building is a pleasant and functional teaching and research environment for both staff and students.

The building is named after Professor Bert Röling, who was Professor of Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Criminology from 1949 until his passing in 1985. He was a judge on the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal that was founded after the Second World War to put Japanese war criminals on trial. He was allowed to represent the Netherlands on the tribunal, because the Dutch East Indies suffered extremely under the Japanese occupation.

Want to find out more?

Check out the previous edition on

• The Academy Building

• The Ubbo Emmius monument

• The University Library

Are you interested in the buildings and history of the UG? You can download the podwalk ‘In the footsteps of the Academy’ for free. Go to the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Android) and search for ‘Op stap met Aletta’. The walking route is also available as a book from the I-Shop (University shop) for €9.95.