Technische Hochschule Darmstadt
| Technische Universität Darmstadt | |
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Former names
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Technische Hochschule Darmstadt |
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| Type | Public |
| Established | 1877 |
| Budget | € 451.9 million |
| President | Hans Jürgen Prömel[] |
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Academic staff
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2,756 |
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Administrative staff
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2,014 |
| Students | 26,360 |
| Location |
Darmstadt, Hessen, Germany 49°52′30″N 8°39′23″E / 49.874995°N 8.656517°ECoordinates: 49°52′30″N 8°39′23″E / 49.874995°N 8.656517°E (inner city)49°51′40″N 8°40′50″E / 49.86113°N 8.68056°E (Lichtwiese) |
| Campus | Urban/Suburban |
| Affiliations | |
| Website | www.tu-darmstadt.de |
The Technische Universität Darmstadt (unofficially Technical University of Darmstadt or Darmstadt University of Technology), commonly referred to as TU Darmstadt, is a research university in the city of Darmstadt, Germany. It was founded in 1877 and received the right to award doctorates in 1899. In 1882 it was the first university in the world to set up a chair in electrical engineering, and founded the first faculty for it in 1883.
TU Darmstadt is a member of TU9, a network of the most notable German Technische Universitäten (universities of technology).
On 10 October 1877 Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse, elevated the Polytechnische Schule to Technische Hochschule zu Darmstadt and thereby raised the status of this educational institution to that of a university so that the Abitur (a school leaving certificate from German Gymnasium schools qualifying for university admission or matriculation) became a requirement for admissions. In 1899 the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt was granted the right to award doctorates.
The University's history is varied: its early phases began with the Höhere Gewerbschule (Higher Trade School), which was founded in 1836 and received its own building near the 'Altes Pädagog' on Kapellplatz in 1844, followed by the Technische Schule (Technical School) in 1864 and the Großherzoglich Hessische Polytechnische Schule (Grand Ducal Hessian Polytechnic) in 1868. At that time, heated discussions were continually held in political circles on the issue as to whether such a poor state as the Grand Duchy of Hessen could afford a technically oriented higher educational institution, or even a polytechnic. After the foundation of Technische Hochschule Darmstadt in 1877, student numbers kept on being so low that in the years from 1881 to 1882 there were long debates in public about closing down the University. In this difficult situation, the local government and the University made the courageous decision to set up the first chair of electrical engineering worldwide. Thus the Faculty of Electrical Engineering came into being as the sixth faculty of the Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, which was a novelty in academia, because until then no other university had had such a faculty. This forward-looking higher education policy paved the way for Darmstadt to take up a leading position in the rapidly developing field of electrical engineering, which in turn led to a continuously rising number of students, so that the closure of the university never was demanded again.
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