Technical University of Magdeburg
The Technical University of Magdeburg , known from 1953 to 1961 as the University of Heavy Mechanical Engineering in Magdeburg and from 1961 to 1987 as the Technical University of Magdeburg , was an engineering -oriented university with the right to award doctorates and habilitation , which existed from 1953 to 1993. It had its seat in the city of Magdeburg , at that time the district town of the district of Magdeburg in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and currently the capital of the German state Saxony-Anhalt . The university, which focused on training and research in the field of mechanical engineering , was named after Otto von Guericke from 1961 . In October 1993, the Technical University and two other Magdeburg universities became the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg .
history
The University of Heavy Engineering in Magdeburg went back to the previously existing technical college for heavy engineering in Magdeburg, which arose from the mechanical engineering school founded in 1871. It was founded by resolution of the responsible ministry on August 6, 1953 and was one of the first new universities to be founded in the GDR. Teaching began in October 1953 with 532 students and 27 teachers in the form of a pre-study internship in a Magdeburg mechanical engineering company; the official opening took place on March 3, 1954. After its founding, the university initially received the existing premises of the Magdeburg Engineering School for Civil Engineering, in 1956 the first newly constructed building with the Institute for Materials Science and Testing was handed over and the foundation stone laid for a comprehensive new university building in Magdeburg city center.
The focus of training and research at the university within the framework of the university landscape of the GDR was the area of heavy machinery and plant construction . After it was founded, Faculty I for mathematics, natural sciences and basic technical sciences was created at THM in 1954 and Faculty II for mechanical engineering technology and Faculty III for mechanical engineering in 1956. The course with a standard period of eleven semesters was based on the curriculum of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Dresden University of Technology . The first doctorate was carried out at the university in August 1957, and the first 174 graduates completed their studies in 1959.
In May 1961 the name was changed to Magdeburg Technical University and the name Otto von Guericke was given . In the same year, the THM received the first ZRA 1 mainframe computer installed at a university in the GDR . In 1963 the number of places was around 490 per academic year in 16 fields of study, in which 2618 students were enrolled, of which 1965 studied directly at the university and 653 completed distance learning . At this time, 298 people were employed in research and teaching at THM, including 44 professors and lecturers. In addition to the technical engineering subjects, there were also courses in physics and chemistry , and the THM was also involved in the training of medical students at the Magdeburg Medical Academy in these subjects .
In 1965 a Faculty IV for electrical engineering was founded. With the third university reform in 1968, the course was restructured into a two-year basic course, followed by two years of specialist studies, followed by either a one-year in-depth course with a diploma as a degree or a three-year research course with the aim of obtaining a doctorate. The content of the course has been geared to a greater extent to the natural sciences, technical, technological and economic basic subjects, and the practical relevance of the training has also been strengthened. In addition, as part of the reform, as at the other universities in the GDR, cross-faculty sections were formed to which the management tasks were assigned. In 1987 the THM was converted into a technical university . After the political change in the GDR and German reunification , the Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg was established on October 3, 1993 from the Technical University of Magdeburg, the Medical Academy Magdeburg and the Magdeburg University of Education .
literature
- Carmen Schäfer: On the history of the Magdeburg University of Heavy Mechanical Engineering from 1953 to 1961 with special consideration of the development of the faculties and their institutes. Final thesis at the Technical College for Archives Potsdam, Magdeburg 1993.
- Carmen Schäfer: University reform 1968 at the Technical University "Otto von Guericke" Magdeburg. Diploma thesis at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences, Department of Archives, Library and Documentation, Magdeburg 1995.
- Isa Schirrmeister: Development of the Technical University Otto von Guericke Magdeburg 1961-1963. Magdeburg University Archives ( online ; PDF document; 235 kB).
