History of the German Technical University in Brno

The attempts to establish a technical educational institution in Brno

In 1725 the Olomouc Academy (in connection with the Olomouc University) was established. The education in this school included (beside classes of justice, riding, fencing and dancing) teaching arithmetic, geometry, geography, civil and military engineering. In 1810 the Academy was extended with the Department of Agriculture.
In 1832 the proposal of the Moravian Estates recommended to reorganize the Academy and move it to Brno. In 1834 the second proposal considered the establishment of a technical school connected with the Francis Museum (established in 1817). This proposal was approved by Emperor Ferdinand I. in 1843, but because of the lack of money on the part of Estates, it wasn't realized.
On the 28th November, 1847 Emperor Ferdinand I. approved the establishment of a technical school in Brno. The school was established as a state institution since its foundation despite the fact that is was granted a donation by the Moravian Estates.
On the 24th January 1849, the Moravian Municipal Assembly passed a decree on the establishment of the Technical College, the official title of the school in German was k.k. Technische Lehranstalt. The school was described as a bilingual German-Czech institute but the teaching in Czech never started.

The establishment and development of the Technical College

In March 1849, Florian Schindler, director of the Lvov Technical Academy, was entrusted with a preparation of the educational program.
On the 13th September 1849, Emperor Franz Josef certified the organizational rules of the Technical College:

"Ich genehmige die Errichtung der technischen Lehranstalt in Brünn nach den hier gestellten Anträgen und trage Meinem Minister des öffentlichen Unterrichtes auf, das hiezu Erforderliche unverzüglich einzuleiten."

In October 1849, competitions for professorships were advertised with the knowledge of Czech being a necessity.Twelve departments were established: mathematics; descriptive geometry and theoretical mechanics; physics; natural history; mechanical theory, technology and machines drawing; civil engineering; chemistry; practical geometry and forestry; agriculture; mercantile theory and national economy; book-keeping; commercial geography, commercial statistics and history of commerce. There were three external teachers for French, Italian, and calligraphy and also two assistants: for descriptive geometry and chemistry.
In December 1849, the first five professors were appointed.
On the 14th January 1850, the Technical College was festively opened. The College had two "faculties", the technical and the commercial ones, and the one-year preliminary course (existed from 1849 to 1855). Florian Schindler (1809-1885) was appointed the director of the College. The residency of the College was an old building in Trnita street.

The first building of the Technical College about 1850

In 1860 the new building of Technical College was finished (now in Komensky's square).

New building of the Technical College in Brno (about 1860)

Professors' staff of the Technical College in 1867

The establishment and development of the Technical University until 1918

On the 8th July 1867, the Emperor approved a new organization chart including curricula, disciplinary rules and library rules. The name of the school was changed to "Technical Institute". The students were explicitly required to have a good knowledge of German, implying that Czech is not supposed to be a teaching language. The director of the Technical Institute was elected from the professors' staff.
The institute had two sections: for machinery (5-year course) and for chemical technology (4-year course). The civil engineering course wasn't established until 1870. 14 professors constituted the professor's staff.
On the 4th May 1873, the Brno Technical Institute was declared to be a university and its name was changed to Technical University (k.k. Technische Hochschule). The name German Technical University appeared only in 1911. The university had four faculties: civil engineering, mechanical engineering, chemical technology, and general faculty.
In 1879 there were the first state examinations at technical universities. In the 1880's the number of students dropped. The school had 22 professors and 17 assistants.
In 1899 the school celebrated 50 years of existence. The Czech Technical University was established (now Brno University of Technology) .

The building of the Technical University about 1900

In 1901 the technical universities were given the right to award the doctor's degree.
In 1902 the Electrotechnical Department was established.
In 1906 the teaching of actuary mathematics started.
In 1910 the second building of the school was opened (architect Ferdinad Hrach, professor of the school).
In the years1914-1918, during the First World War, 9 professors, 7 assistant professors and 25 assistants were enlisted. After 1919, many of them came back to Brno from Russian captivity. The buildings of the school were used as a military hospital.

German Technical University in the years 1918-1945

On the 28th October, 1918 the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic evoked the consideration of the abolition of the German Technical University. Large numbers of young people, who came back from the war and started their study, hindered this decision.
In March 1919, the professors took a vow of loyalty to the Czechoslovak Republic.
In the 1930's the economic crisis evoked the consideration of the union of Prague German Technical University and Brno German Technical University, but it wasn't realized.
In December 1938 the representatives of the school and German Ministry of Education discussed the situation of the following school year.
From 1st September, 1939, the school was controlled by the German Ministry of Education.
After the closure of the Brno Czech universities, the German Technical University has taken over all the equipment and buildings of these schools. The Faculty of Science was established, which (e.g.) prepared secondary school teachers. A majority of the students were girls and foreign students. A lot of professors, assistant profesors and assistants were drafted to the army.
On the 18th October, 1945, the German Technical University of Brno was dissolved by a decree of the President of the Czechoslovak Republic (the institutes with their equipment were incorporated into the Czech Technical University).