The Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG) Offenbach am Main is an art and design university in 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 and product design. Additionally, the college offers a one-year (two-semester), project-oriented postgraduate course. HfG Offenbach was founded in 1832 as an Artisan School for better training of new artisans. It soon became an Arts and Crafts School where crafts, artistic and theoretical subjects were taught at the same time. In its enumeration The cyclopædia of education from 1883 states that the Art-Industry school in Offenbach is notable among European institutions. In 1970 the Offenbacher Werkkunstschule was transformed into an artistic-scientific university of Hesse.