Ulrich Rückriem completed an apprenticeship as a stone mason and worked at the cathedral works in Cologne. He studied at the Cologne Art College and was a professor at art academies in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt/Main and Hamburg.
Rückriem was invited to documenta in Kassel in 1972, 1982, 1987 und 1992, and in 1978 to the Venice Biennale. Typical for his minimalist oeuvre are square or rectangular blocks of stone, which he cuts up and reassembles, often placing several in relation to each other. Many of his works were placed in public spaces, among them in Berlin, Cologne, Essen, Munich, and in Basel.
