kk Polytechnic Institute

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The kk polytechnic institute on Karlsplatz . Now the main building of the Vienna University of Technology

The Imperial and Royal Polytechnic Institute in Vienna was founded in 1815 by Emperor Franz I of Austria . Today's Vienna University of Technology emerged from this institute . The building is a listed building . From 1847 to 1857 it also served as the seat of the Austrian Academy of Sciences .

history

kk Polytechnic Institute, around 1823
Bust of Johann Joseph von Prechtl

In April 1805, Emperor Franz I of Austria commissioned the Studienhofkommission to prepare an expert report for the establishment of a Vienna Polytechnic Institute. Johann Joseph von Prechtl was given the task of preparing an organization and study plan in March 1810. In 1815 Prechtl was appointed director of the planned institute.

The École polytechnique, built in Paris in 1795, is considered a model for the institute . The institute itself became the model for the establishment of the polytechnic schools in Karlsruhe (1825) and Hanover (1831).

When it opened on November 6, 1815, the institute was still housed in the existing rooms on the site of the planned new building. Three of the originally planned eight professors taught 47 students. The move to the new house took place in autumn 1818.

The constitution of the polytechnic institute, based on Prechtl's proposals, included, in addition to the technical institute with scientific requirements, a conservatory for science and the arts (permanent collection) and, as a third aspect, an association for the promotion of national industry . The basis for the Imperial and Royal National Factory Product Cabinet was the factory product collection donated to the Institute by Emperor Franz I in 1815. A large part of this collection was given to the Technical Museum on permanent loan in 1912 .

The institute was also involved in the events of the revolutionary years 1848/49. Auditors and professors formed a technician corps in the Academic Legion . In March 1848, lectures were stopped and resumed in October 1849. After students and assistants were charged and sentenced for high treason, the institute was considered politically unreliable and received military leadership from 1852 to 1858.

In October 1865, Emperor Franz Joseph I established a new organizational statute. With immediate effect a director was no longer appointed by the government, but a rector was elected from among their ranks by the professors. The first elected rector was Josef Philipp Herr in 1866 . The Matura was introduced as a prerequisite for studying and at the same time an initially voluntary final examination was established.

In April 1872 the institute became a technical university. The organizational statute introduced in 1875 remained in force until 1945. The state examination was established in 1878 as the end of the course. The title of Dr. techn. was allowed to be awarded by the university from 1901. The first doctorate took place on February 22, 1902.

During the First World War, the number of listeners fell and teaching staff was also absent due to service obligations. In March 1917 a request from the professors was granted and the engineering title was legally protected. After the end of the war, the university lost a significant part of its catchment area due to the collapse of the monarchy.

From April 1919 women were allowed to enroll in technical courses.

Memorial plaque to the victims of racism and fascism in the courtyard of the Vienna University of Technology

After the invasion of the National Socialists in March 1938, Rector Karl Holey and Vice Rector Friedrich Böck resigned from their offices. Two deans, 13 professors and two assistants were replaced by National Socialists. 11 private lecturers and 7 honorary lecturers were deprived of their license to teach, and three lecturers and teachers also resigned from their offices. Jewish students were also banned from continuing their studies and, from October 1938, from entering the house. The previously awarded title "Ing." was established by the introduction of the Imperial German study regulations in "Dipl.-Ing." and "Dr. techn." in "Dr. Ing." changed.

After the end of the Second World War , 41 of the 56 professors were dismissed as politically charged and 55 students in the winter semester 1945/46 were excluded from studying for the same reason. However, many of the professors later returned to the university.

With the new university organization law that came into force in October 1975, the technical university was renamed the technical university . With the entry into force of the University Act in 2002 , the Vienna University of Technology acquired full legal capacity from January 2004. Since then, the university has been run by a rector and four vice-rectors together with the newly created university council. The university's statutes and the nomination for the rector are drawn up by the senate.

building

Pediment with allegorical representations

The classicist building of the university on Karlsplatz , planned by Andreas Fischer and Joseph Schemerl von Leythenbach, has an elongated facade with free-standing columns in front to emphasize the central projection. The allegorical representations of the genius of Austria, Minervas with the symbols of trade and industry, history and a father who recommends his sons to the genius were created by Joseph Klieber in the years 1816-1818. The ballroom was completed in 1842 according to plans by Peter von Nobile .

During the revolutionary years of 1848/49, lectures were stopped and soldiers were temporarily quartered in the building. By the time the soldiers withdrew in the autumn of 1849, major damage was caused to the building, but also to the inventory.

The building was extended by a third floor in 1897/98. The extension of the side wing to Karlsgasse was built in 1907–1909.

During the First World War , part of the premises was used as a war aid hospital. Many of the laboratories were also used for military research.

The ever-increasing space requirement led to the building being further increased in 1934/35.

Dome hall after renovation (2014)

In 2008 and 2009, the central projection was renovated and the dome hall made usable as an auditorium. The auditorium on the ground floor was enlarged by including the two side rooms covered with vaults. On the first floor, opposite the ballroom, offices were converted into an open foyer area.

On the fourth floor, the dome hall was redesigned by removing the fixtures from the 1950s into a lecture and event room with a capacity of 240 people, with a floor space of 25 × 22 meters and a height of 10 meters (in the middle). The wooden construction of the domed hall made of De L'Orm arched trusses with attached mansard roof was exposed and now gives the room its original effect.

In the summer and autumn of 2014, the Federal Real Estate Company renovated the facade and windows in coordination with the Federal Monuments Office . The work extended to the main wing and the resource wing. On the facade, the plastering and the sheeting of the cornices and the window sills were repaired or renewed. The window renovation was carried out identically to the existing building for reasons of monument protection.

Others

  • Antonio Vivaldi was buried on July 28, 1741 in the cemetery that was on this site before the building was erected .
  • The future mayor of Vienna, Karl Lueger, was born in this building on October 24, 1844 .
  • The later composer and musician Josef Strauss is one of the graduates .

Picture gallery

Statues above the entrance to the Karlstrakt:

literature

  • Joseph Neuwirth : The KK Technical University in Vienna 1815-1915. Memorial. Vienna 1915.
  • KK Polytechnisches Institut - Technical University - Vienna University of Technology . University archive of the TU Vienna, Vienna 1997.

See also

Web links

Commons : Main building of the Vienna University of Technology  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b University Archive of the TU Vienna ( Memento of the original from May 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (last accessed October 10, 2014) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.tuwien.ac.at
  2. Architekturzentrum Wien (last accessed October 10, 2014)
  3. TU Univercity 2015 ( Memento of the original from October 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (last accessed October 10, 2014) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.univercity2015.at
  4. Window and facade renovation at Karlsplatz 13 (last accessed June 22, 2020)

Coordinates: 48 ° 11 ′ 56 "  N , 16 ° 22 ′ 11.7"  E