How it all began...
The roots of the Department of Civil Engineering at Hochschule München go back almost two hundred years:
1822: Founding of the Munich School of Building Trades
1909: Transfer to the Munich State School of Architecture, which later became the Munich State School of Architecture.
1924: Opening of the City of Munich’s Higher Technical College (later the Oskar von Miller Polytechnic).
In 1971, Munich University of Applied Sciences was founded as the successor to the engineering colleges and a number of higher technical colleges. As was customary at the time, the existing educational institutions were merged to form a university of applied sciences, namely:
• the Oskar von Miller Municipal Polytechnic
• the Munich State School of Architecture, Academy of Construction Engineering
• the Munich College of Business Studies
• the (previously private) Bohne School of Engineering
• the Higher Technical College for Youth and Social Work
• the Higher Technical College for Social Pedagogy
• the Department of Commercial Art at the Academy of Graphic Arts
In 2007, the “University of Applied Sciences – FH Munich” was renamed “Hochschule München”.
The subject area of Architecture and the subject area of Civil Engineering, both with a long tradition
The first chairman of the School of Building Trades was Dr. Vorherr, a Royal Building Officer and member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
In a letter to the Ministry of the Interior, he set out the complete organisation of the new school of civil engineering, from which the following excerpts are taken: “The building trade is one of the most important matters in the state and deserves our full attention … a school of building trades, as a branch of public education, will simultaneously help to awaken an appreciation of art and a sense of what is better and more beautiful amongst the people, and ensure that public and private benefit are the aims of architecture.”
Below are proposals for teaching staff, which “should not incur any costs, which is why teaching would have to be regarded as part of the Higher Building Commission’s operations”, and a curriculum.
The report then concludes with the words:
"Yours most humbly and most faithfully, with the deepest reverence, Your Royal Majesty’s most humble and most loyal subject"
The interested reader may well learn here how to sign future letters to the authorities!
Dr Vorherr was keen to use rewards to encourage his pupils’ diligence and enthusiasm for their work.
From 1834 onwards, a school fee of 4 guilders was charged to pupils from well-off families.
According to a statement drawn up by the architect Fladt in 1824, the total monthly expenses for a student architect were estimated on average at 9 guilders and 25 kreuzers, with the more than spartan breakfast consisting of a ‘sip of water’; the document included, amongst other things, the following entry: “I have found that a single handkerchief per month is entirely sufficient to meet the requirements of cleanliness; for this purpose, one should choose a handkerchief of a dark colour. Anyone who needs to economise can certainly clean their own clothes and polish their own boots. Finally, all items that cannot be regarded as essential must be dispensed with in any case. These include, first and foremost, smoking tobacco and snuff, all forms of entertainment, as well as visits to dance halls and theatres.”
The Construction Trade College
The building trades college gradually gained an excellent reputation.
In 1841, 155 pupils, including 44 from abroad, attended the school (according to a report in the *Münchner Politische Zeitung* of 2 April 1841). Building trade schools were established in Athens and St Petersburg modelled on this one.
In 1845, the school moved from the Hofwaisenhaus am Kreuz to a house at No. 8 Kaufinger Straße.
Dr Vorherr died in 1847, and the Royal Senior Building Officer Carl A. Reuter succeeded him as head of the School of Civil Engineering.
In 1852, a second and third course were introduced, with the aim of “preventing fatigue and strain through an appropriate rotation of subjects”.
In 1877, the organisation moved to the premises at 123 Gabelsberger Straße.
In 1883, a fourth course was added, and the curriculum comprised the following courses:
1. Mechanics with exercises – 5 hours
2. Construction Machinery and Mechanical Technology 2 hours
3. Chemical Engineering 3 hours
4. Design with practical exercises – 28 hours
5. Architectural theory 2 hours
6. Bridge, road and hydraulic engineering 12 hours
7. Firefighting 1–2 hours
Total hours per week: 55 h
From 1920 onwards, a civil engineering department was established; whilst lessons for courses 1 and 2 were taught jointly, separate departments for structural engineering and civil engineering existed for courses 3 to 5.
After 1945, the State School of Architecture was temporarily housed in the Gisela Oberrealschule on Elisabethplatz.
Between 1954 and 1956, a new building was constructed on the corner of Barer and Karlstraße to designs by the architectural consortium comprising Adolf Peter Seifert, Rolf ter Haerst and Franz Ruf; this uncompromisingly modern flat-roofed structure was regarded as one of the most remarkable examples of contemporary architecture in Munich.
Between 1968 and 1970, a second block of buildings, designed in the same architectural style, was added; it has housed the Department of Civil Engineering ever since.
Bibliography:
100 Years of the Bavarian School of Architecture, Munich 1822–1922 (Printed by Knorr und Hirth GmbH, Munich)
Habel, Hallinger, Weski: Monuments in Bavaria – Munich, the State Capital, Centre: *Münchner Politische Zeitung*, 2 April 1841