University of Karlsruhe - Definition and Overview

The Universität Karlsruhe (TH) is a mainly technical university in the city of Karlsruhe, Germany.

History

The University of Karlsruhe was founded as Polytechnische Schule (polytechnical school) on October 7, 1825. In 1865 Grand Duke Frederik I of Baden (German: Friedrich) ranked it as Hochschule (college), which is the reason why the university is also known since 1902 by the name Fridericiana. In 1885 the college was renamed to Technische Hochschule (technical college). In 1967 the university finally got its current name.

Academics

The university has 11 faculties:

1. Mathematics
2. Physics
3. Chemistry and Biology
4. Social sciences
5. Architecture
6. Civil engineering and Geology
7. Mechanical engineering
8. Chemical engineering
9. Electrical engineering
10. Computer Science
11. Economics

Famous people and discoveries

• Ferdinand Redtenbacher (1809-1863), founder of mechanical engineering in Germany .
• Carl Benz (1844-1929), the inventor of the automobile, studied here and received an honorary Ph.D. in 1914.
• Karl Ferdinand Braun (1850-1918) developed the cathode ray tube in 1897 which is widely used in today's televisions. In 1909 he received the Nobel Prize for it.
• Otto Lehmann (1855-1922), the "father" of liquid crystal research.
• Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1857-1894) discovered electromagnetic waves in 1887 which are the basis of radio. The SI unit of frequency, hertz is named after him.
• Fritz Haber (1868-1934) developed the high-pressure synthesis of ammonia in 1909 and won a Nobel Prize.
• Wolfgang Gaede (1878-1945) founded vacuum technology.
• Wilhelm Nusselt (1882-1957) co-founded technical thermodynamics.

External links

• University Homepage (http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/Uni/index_en.html)
• Facts & Figures (PDF,2003) (http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~presse/download/dec_2003.pdf)
• Even More Facts & Figures (PDF,2004,German) (http://www.uni-karlsruhe.de/~presse/download/dfz0504.pdf)