Technische Universität Darmstadt

 

 


 

Ubicación

 

 

Darmstadt - A City of Science and the Arts

 

Surrounded by the densely wooded recreational areas of the Odenwald and the Bergstraße, the Taunus and Spessart, Darmstadt lies 30 km to the south of  Frankfurt and  60 km to the north of Heidelberg,  i.e. it is situated right in the heart of the southern Rhine-Main-Area, which is one of Europe´s most commercially flourishing regions, and is only twenty minutes´ drive away from the international airport Frankfurt/Main (http://www.flughafen-frankfurt.de/).

With a population of about 140.000, Darmstadt is a city without skyscrapers, urban motorways or extensive office and administration blocks, but with a face that is still characterized by Darmstadt´s development into the grand-ducal residence to which many urban features bear witness. Take, for example, the baroque  castle in the city centre facing the old town hall built at the time of the Renaissance or the great number of parks and small castles spreading across the municipal area. This may give the impression that Darmstadt is a provincial town with modest ambitions, but it is precisely for those reasons that its inhabitants enjoy a friendly atmosphere in pleasant surroundings.

The typical Darmstädter likes to refer to himself as ´Heiner`, and ´Heiner` seems a little aloof from a stranger´s point of view. But whoever wants to get to know him  will discover personal qualities such as his open-mindedness, his inquisitive curiosity, and his humorous, good-natured self-criticism. A certain element of the Enlightenment is also common to the city´s great sons who, however, did not always have an easy time in Darmstadt: Justus Liebig, the founder of agricultural chemistry; Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, physicist and aphorist; and Georg Büchner, doctor, poet and revolutionary.

´Darmstadt keeps the arts alive`. This advertising slogan has been used for a long time to attract people to the city and its cultural ambience: the ensemble of Art Nouveau Museum and Art Nouveau villas on Mathildenhöhe, the artists´ quarter on Rosenhöhe, the Porzellanschlößchen (which houses an exhibition of precious faiences and porcelain from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), the Landesmuseum (Hesse State Museum), and the State Theatre.

In 1997 the city´s name was officially changed to Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt (Darmstadt - City of Science) in appreciation of the city´s good reputation as a place of many public and private scientific institutions, research-orientated branches of industry, and three institutions of higher education.Although it is a well-known location of chemical and specialized engineering companies as well as the Graphic Trades (Publishing, Printing and Paper Processing), Darmstadt tends to be known as a major centre of Information and Communication Technology due to the large number of software firms that have been set up in the city and its surrounding area during the last few years. This development is well known among experts in the respective fields who therefore, as a token of respect, refer to Darmstadt as the ´secret software-capital of Germany`. The reasons for the city being attractive for this future-orientated branch of industry are closely connected with the profile and potential for higher education of the city´s Technische Universität (Darmstadt University of Technology) and Fachhochschule Darmstadt (Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences).

On the one hand, former students at these places of learning, who are now engineers and computer scientists and wish to become self-employed or are planning to set up a company, are actively supported by the Technologie- und Innovationszentrum -TIZ- (Centre of Technology and Innovation), which was founded in 1999 on the initiative of the University and the city. On the other, research institutes and software firms, whose efficiency depends largely on successful graduate recruitment, choose to establish themselves in Darmstadt in order to take advantage of the availability of highly qualified manpower in the fields of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering  and Microelectronics.

The city´s hallmark as Wissenschaftsstadt Darmstadt is also based on the traditionally close links between scientific institutions and the TU Darmstadt, whose successful cooperation in the areas of teaching and research is the reason for the high level of scientific activity of institutions such as the Technologiezentrum – TZD - der Deutschen Telekom AG (Research and Technology Institute of the German Telecom, PLC), the Gesellschaft für Schwerionenforschung - GSI- (Heavy-Ion Research Institute), the Fraunhofer Institut für Graphische Datenverarbeitung – IGD - (Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics), the Fraunhofer Institut für Betriebsfestigkeit - LBF- (Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability), the Deutsche Kunststoffinstitut – DKI - (German Institute of Plastics Materials) as well as the GMD-Institutes für TeleKooperationsTechnik (GMD Institute for Telecollaboration Technology – TKT)- and Integrierte Publikations- und Informationssysteme – IPSI - (GMD Institute for Integrated Publication and Information Systems). Moreover, the European Space Operation Centre - The univercity's old central building, historical drawing, view from the back ESOC - and the European Organization for Meteorological Weather Satellites - EUMETSAT - enable the scientists of the TU Darmstadt to utilize international links for their work.

Darmstadt, however, is not only a city of science and technology where people like to work, but it is also a place where they enjoy their leisure time by exploring the many activities and events that are on offer, e.g. by attending a concert, visiting an exhibition, having a stroll around a traditional market or taking part in a boules game in the plane-tree grove on Mathildenhöhe. Once a year all the people identifying with ´Heiner` celebrate in their own honour: on the first weekend in July the Heinerfest is held, and then the whole city becomes one great fairground with merry-go-rounds, shooting galleries, a ghost train and hot dog stalls. This shows another face of Darmstadt.


 

Milestones in the University´s History

 

On the tenth of October in 1877 Ludwig IV, Großherzog von Hessen und bei Rhein (Grand Duke of Hesse), named the Polytechnic School ´Technische Hochschule zu Darmstadt` (Darmstadt Polytechnic) and thereby raised the status of this educational institution to that of a university so that the Abitur (A level, i.e. advanced school-leaving certificate) became the basis for admission. In 1899 the TH 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 Hesse could afford a technically-oriented higher educational institution, or even a polytechnic. After the foundation of the TH 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 both the local government and the University made the courageous decision to set up a Chair of Electrical Engineering. Thus the School of Electrical Engineering came into being as the sixth faculty of the TH Darmstadt, which was a novelty in academia because until then no other polytechnic had had its own Faculty of Electrical Engineering. 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 THDarmstadt  never was demanded again.

In 1895 new buildings were opened in Hochschulstrasse: the Alte Hauptgebäude (the ´Old Main Building` of the University) and an institute building directly opposite. During the two decades before the First World War, all disciplines of the University underwent diversification and expansion. New disciplines such as Paper Making and Cellulose Chemistry were introduced, and as early as 1913 a Chair of Aeronautics and Flight Mechanics was set up.

Meanwhile, however, the political climate had become stormier, and a growing political polarization exploded in Darmstadt over the question of foreign students. The TH Darmstadt had an extraordinarily large number of foreign students. In 1906, for instance, as many as three quarters of the Electrical Engineering students were from abroad, mainly from states of eastern Europe. This was obviously one of the reasons why the nationalist movement among the students soon gained the upper hand.

After the First World War there was an urgent need for reform of the education system at the TH Darmstadt, which was seen as a prerequisite for meeting the requirements of a modern industrial society. Intense discussions were held on the aim of extending the curriculum beyond the purely technical education in order to prepare the engineer for his leading role in society. A concrete step in this direction was taken in 1924, when the General Faculty, which until then had combined all the non-technical subjects, was divided into a Department of Mathematics and Natural Science and a Department of Cultural Studies and Political Science. Moreover, the measures taken to provide students with knowledge outside their own narrow field of study included the upgrading of Economics and the creation of professorships in Political Science, History of Technology and Sociology.

The seizure of power by the National Socialists in January 1933 rapidly caught on the universities. As early as in October 1933 the new constitution according to the Führerprinzip (Leadership Principle) came into force: the rector became the Führer of the university, appointed by the Führer of the state. This ´National Revolution` was greeted enthusiastically at the TH Darmstadt too, so that it is difficult to say whether the universities were forced into line in compliance with orders from above or whether they fell in line with the pronouncements on the Third Reich.

The exodus of Jewish scientists left its mark on Darmstadt too. The TH Darmstadt lost some of its most respected scientists who went into exile. Among them was, for example, Gerhard Herzberg who emigrated to Canada and later on to the USA where he was awarded the Nobel prize for chemistry in 1971.

In September 1944 eighty per cent of the city, including many of the TH buildings was destroyed during a bomb attack. For a short period in 1945 the TH Darmstadt had been closed by decree of the Allies before it was reopened in 1946. In spite of the difficult post-war situation, TH staff and students alike managed to settle down to university work in the severely damaged TH buildings, which had to be used as a makeshift solution.

As early as 1947 the TH Darmstadt played host to the first Internationale Kongress für Ingenieurausbildung - IKIA - (International Congress on Engineering Education), at which the participants discussed the moral responsibility of the technical intelligentsia and of the scientific elite in policy and society. In view of the disastrous consequences of the war, the participants committed themselves henceforth to do research and teaching in engineering and scientific disciplines solely for the peaceful development of mankind.

The post-war period of reconstruction was largely based on a major development programme in the sixties, by means of which universities and the state reacted to the continuously rising student numbers. Since almost no land was available in the city centre for new construction projects, the decision was taken in 1963 to use the Lichtwiese (a former airfield on the outskirts of the city) as a site for building extensions to the TH. Thus in the late sixties and in the early seventies numerous buildings, including a new student cafeteria, were erected there and ultimately became the University´s second campus.

After 1968 the university reform, having been initiated by the student movement, was beginning to take shape both at the national and the regional level. It aimed at creating clear university structures and the involvement of all university members in decision-making processes. In 1970 the Higher Education Laws of the Federal State of Hesse came into force. These gave the TH Darmstadt, along with other Hessian universities and polytechnics, a new structure based on the introduction of a Presidential Statute and a unified administration as well as the subdivision of the University structure into Schools.

In the mid 1970s there was another rapid rise in student numbers. Staff development, however, lagged far behind, resulting in inevitable restrictions on admission imposed either by the central government or by the University. Regardless of the staff´s heavy workload, the TH Darmstadt managed to set the course for the future, as evidenced by the School of Information Science, established in 1974, the Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Technikforschung – ZIT - (Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies on Technology), founded in 1987, and the School of Materials Science, established in 1989. This School, which offers a new course of studies has been housed in a new building on the Lichtwiese since 1996.

For more than a hundred years the TH Darmstadt has not only offered a wide range of subjects, but also has had the legal status of a university. For these reasons and also with the objective of sharpening public awareness of the University´s status at home and abroad, the TH Darmstadt was renamed ´Technische Universität Darmstadt` (Darmstadt University of Technology) on the first October in 1997.

Aeropuerto de Frankfurt

 

A simple connection - the Airport railway stations

Frankfurt Airport has two railway stations, which are both directly connected to Terminal 1. The Regional railway station (platforms 1 - 3) is for trains to and from the vicinity, while the long-distance railway station (platforms 4 - 7) connects the Airport to destinations throughout Germany and in neighboring countries.

Please find out from which platform your train is due to leave for operational reasons the platform may change. Therefore, please consult the platform information given on monitors at the station.

 

Frankfurt Airport's regional railway station

Platforms 1 - 3 for S-Bahn, regional and local trains to and from Frankfurt central station, Wiesbaden, Koblenz, Mainz, Hanau and Saarbruecken, as well as night trains after 00.30.

  • Opening hours: 24 hr
  • DB Travel Center (tickets and reservations: 06.00 - 22.30)
  • DB Service-Point (information: 0.30 - 5.00 and 7.00 - 21.00)

Train services via Frankfurt central station remain unchanged.
 

Frankfurt Airport's long-distance railway station

Platforms 4 - 7 for long-distance trains (ICE, EC, IC)

  • Opening hours: 05.00 - 00.30
  • DB Travel Center (tickets and reservations: 06.00 - 22.30)
  • DB Service Point (information: 05.00 - 00.30)

 

Arriving in Terminal 1

If you arrive at Terminal 1 and are traveling on by rail, first pick up any baggage you may have in Arrivals. The way to the railway stations is signposted from here. If your train is due to leave from platforms 1 - 3, make your way to the Regional railway station. If your train will leave from platforms 4 - 7, go to the long-distance railway station.
 

Arriving in Terminal 2

If you arrive at Terminal 2 and are traveling on by rail, leave the Terminal after collecting your baggage by taking the direct shuttle bus service to the Airport railway stations. The bus stop is situated right in front of the exit on Level 2. The bus arrives every ten minutes between 05.00 and 00.30. Between 00.30 and 05.00, follow the signs for "Railway Stations via Sky Line". Once you have arrived in Terminal 1, make your way to the Regional railway station if your train leaves from platforms 1 - 3, or to the long-distance railway station if your train leaves from platforms 4 - 7. There are signs pointing the way to both railway stations.