Bringing current research questions into teaching and building bridges between theory and practice is an aspiration that university teaching must always measure up to. In the recent history of architecture, there are good opportunities for this, as is shown in this article on the basis of a course on postmodern architecture in Northern Germany that was offered in the winter semester 2021–22 by the Chair of Architectural History and Urban Building Culture at the TH Lübeck. The interdisciplinary seminar addressed master’s students of architecture and urban planning. For the participants, postmodernism was largely unfamiliar territory. An interesting range of case studies emerged, from prominent objects, such as the theatre in Itzehoe by Gottfried Böhm (1984–1997), to quite inconspicuous buildings ‘from the second and third row’ that have only local significance and whose worthiness as monuments remains to be discussed. Schleswig-Holstein – unlike Berlin, Stuttgart or Frankfurt – has not been a centre of postmodern architectural discourse.
In summary, the event can be considered successful in two respects. On the one hand, a so far under-researched area was opened up to a small extent. Especially in less prominent regions, the universities can contribute to the state of research. At the same time, knowledge about the era and suitable methods for its research were imparted to future architects and urban planners. In the past, critics have stated that insensitive renovations often disfigure rather than beautify post-war modernist buildings. As buildings from the 1980s and 1990s will soon be rehabilitated and reconstructed, a new generation of architects may be better able to recognise and preserve the specific qualities of this architecture