Construction of the central area on Uhlhornsweg began on 19 May 1980: the library, refectory building and sports facilities were built.

However, it was a long, arduous journey before the large building wing was completed: the state government of Lower Saxony had ordered a halt to the expansion of several universities at the end of the 1970s. Although the construction plans for the central section of the University of Oldenburg had been available since 1976, work could only begin 1,800 days later. According to the notice board erected by the university management in protest, 2,000 jobs were blocked as a result.

When the construction freeze was finally lifted and the ground-breaking ceremony could take place, the then Minister of Science and the Arts, Dr Eduard Pestel (left), and the acting President of the University, Prof. Dr Hans-Dietrich Raapke (right), sawed down the protest wall together as a symbolic act. Almost two and a half years later, in October 1982, the new buildings on Uhlhornsweg were handed over to the university.