Ry Højskole is a modern folk high school with its vision set on the future and its roots firmly grounded in tradition. It was founded by Helge Hostrup in 1892 in the town of Ry, which grew as a station town around the railway, which arrived here in 1876. In addition to the town’s community hall, which is used today as the school’s sports hall, the local authorities granted the school the use of a plot of land at Møllesø, where the Ry Højskole was built.Svend Thorhauge (b. 1971), have been the school’s tenth Principal since 2004.

Today, Ry Højskole is a cultural meeting place for people interested in music, theatre, art, journalism, outdoor living and politics. All members of our teaching staff are artists in their own right, and life at our school is characterised both by concentrated immersion in individual subjects, and by the meeting between the various creative, expressive, physical and communicative subject areas. Most of our students are between 20 and 25 years old and come from all over Denmark, but we also have a small group of international students.

In the course of the year, Ry Højskole hosts a number of public events. Both its theatre and café are frequently used for concerts, and Ry Folkeuniversitet uses the school’s lecture hall. The original school building has a capacity of 65 students, a limit which we expect to reach in 2007. The conference section has 23 rooms sleeping a total of 45. Ry Højskole has a modern kitchen based primarily on organic produce.

Our conference section is also used for short-term folk high school courses in the summer, so in June, July and August, Ry Højskole caters for about 110 summer students. The short-term courses are based on the same subject areas as the longer spring and autumn courses and include choral song, willow weaving, painting, ceramics, music, outdoor living, cooking and much more.

After a number of years of general stagnation for many folk high schools, Ry Højskole has attracted rising student since 2004, resulting in a sound financial situation for the school. Ry Højskole cooperates increasingly with local organisations and expects to act as a driving force in the cultural development of the new and larger Municipality of Skanderborg.