Technology ushers in a new era

Bauakademie by Schinkel, steel engraving by E. Mandel in the year 1853

© TU Berlin

The eventful history of the Technische Universität Berlin extends all the way back to the time of King Friedrich II. Originally founded in 1770, the School of Mining was integrated into the “Königlich Technische Hochschule zu Berlin” (TH) in 1916. The TH was established in 1879, when it merged with the School of Architecture, founded in 1799, and the Academy of Trade, founded in 1821. Karl Friedrich Schinkel and Christian W. Beuth, the “father of engineering”, are some of the most well-known representatives of these two institutions.

The creation of the TH turned out to be an important step in historical terms, as it bolstered the importance of engineering in the face of emerging 19th-century industrialization. The need for trained engineers was on the increase, as were calls for engineers to receive more recognition from society and from the scientific establishment. In 1899, the German Kaiser and King of Prussia, Wilhelm II, granted technical universities in Prussia the right to bestow doctoral degrees – the first technical universities in the German Reich to be granted such privileges. A festive ceremony was held in the atrium of the TH in Berlin to celebrate this occasion. And so it was that engineers finally received the same formal recognition as did classically trained academicians.

The old northern front of the main building, which was considerably damaged during the Second World War and replaced by a modern front in the 1960s

© TU Berlin

The TU Berlin sees itself in the tradition of the TH, a university that earned a fine reputation by conducting technical research in Berlin and thereby contributing to the city’s emergence as one of Europe’s largest industrial metropolitan areas. The TH Berlin continued to evolve and eventually became - as the Association of German Engineers described it in 1906 - “an intellectual center, a much envied model and focal point of technical progress” not only for Prussia and Germany, but for the Western world. A number of Nobel Prize winning scientists studied and taught at the TH Berlin well into the 1930s. These included the chemists Carl Bosch and Fritz Haber, as well as the physicists Gustav Hertz, Eugene Paul Wigner, Wolfgang Paul, George de Hevesy, Dennis Gabor and Ernst Ruska. In 2007 the chemist Gerhard Ertl received the Nobel Prize for chemistry. The scientist from the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society has been honorary professor at the TU Berlin since 1986.

Starting in 1933, National Socialist ideas also began to impact academic life at the TH Berlin. This was indeed the darkest chapter in the university’s history. Discrimination started against scientists who were either Jewish or overly critical, subsequently resulting in their expulsion from the university, for example Gustav Hertz and Georg Schlesinger, the pioneer of modern production sciences who together with Albert Einstein founded the Technion Haifa.

New beginnings and new visions

Laying the foundation stone for the northern campus of the TU Berlin on 21st July 1958

© TU Berlin

The university’s reopening in 1946 was purposely conceived as a new beginning, so as to make a clear break with the National Socialist past. This fresh start was also to be expressed in its new name: as Germany’s first technical university it was named simply “Technische Universität”. Its educational mission was reallocated as well with an emphasis on “universal education”. By including the Humanities in its compendium of subjects, the TU Berlin became the first technical university in Germany to present a humanistic element in its scholastic profile. The aim was to breach the gap between technological research and social responsibility. The challenge of gaining insight into interaction between society and technology remains an important issue even today.

Right from its inception, the TU Berlin was open to embracing reforms and innovations. Fundamental changes within the German university system eventually led to the student movements of the late 1960s. Given its central location, the TU Berlin was often the focal point of student activities in Berlin during this time frame. The 1960s and 1970s were characterized by a significant expansion of German universities, with the number of students attending the TU Berlin increasing accordingly. Forthermore, parts of the former Pädagogische Hochschule (college of education) Berlin were merged with the TU Berlin on April 1, 1980.

Since the 1980s, however, universities have also felt the direct impact of public funding constraints. The fall of the Berlin Wall prompted a sudden explosion of science and research capacities in Berlin, with costs rising as a result. Initiation of the so-called University Contract Agreement (Hochschulverträge) posed a real challenge to the Federal State of Berlin. Since the late 1990s, this agreement provides financial planning security to universities, but in return demands that they adopt a number of reforms. The TU Berlin has consistently met these challenges by adopting lean, modern university administration practices, by modifying the scholastic program to fit our Bachelors/Masters program and by ensuring excellence in research.

New opportunities: Helping to craft the future

Since it is our aim to attain a top position among leading technical universities, the TU Berlin will single-mindedly follow its present course, thereby further sharpening its academic and research profiles. The University Organizational Plan (Hochschulstrukturplan) of 2004 defines seven promising fields that give practical expression to this ambition. By improving and further developing these selected scientific areas, the TU Berlin believes it has found the key to success. Furthermore, other university-related endeavors such as teaching and academics, promoting young scientific talent, gender mainstreaming and continuing education programs will also profit from our research excellence.

Meeting the challenges of the “Bologna Process” is a further area of focus for the TU Berlin. Components of our new, internationally-compatible syllabus include a forward-looking educational profile, a good ratio of teachers to students, shorter times-to-degree and a comprehensive quality assurance program.

In support of our reform programs to promote research and academics, measures will be put in place to ensure a modern system of university governance and efficient management practices. Efficiency, customer-orientation and a willingness to serve are the basis of this modernization process.