The Society of Friends of the University of Wuppertal (GFBU) was founded one year after the university was founded on the initiative of WZ publisher Dr. Hellmut Giradet (died 1973).

Since its foundation, many friends have been won over, numerous projects initiated and supported, series of events launched and sponsorship and doctoral prizes awarded.

In order not only to be able to repeat these successes, but also to continuously expand the range of activities in the future, it was decided that the GFBU would in future act as an interdisciplinary association of friends, alumni and partners of the university. As part of this, the GFBU was renamed "Friends and Alumni of the University of Wuppertal", or FABU for short, in February 2015 with a new concept.

On the following pages you can read about the history of the GFBU from its foundation to its reorganization.