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The History of the Department
1945/46
Both staff and students are involved in the
reconstruction of the badly damaged university.
Students team up in construction crews with the
prospect of being given priority in re-enrolment in
exchange for their help.
1946
Resumption of teaching at the THM. About 3,000
students are accepted – most of them war veterans.
Besides studying, the students have to commit
themselves to fifty hours of auxiliary service work per
semester. Applicants who have completed school in
1946 are not admitted.
1950
Renaming and realignment of the Chair of Aircraft
Engines and Engine Science which had been set
up in 1936. It is then called Chair of Internal Com-
bustion Engines and is headed by Wilhelm Endres.
During the following years it goes through more
changes in name. For many years, for example, it
is called Chair of Internal Combustion Engines and
Motor Vehicles. Today, this chair exists under the
name Chair of Internal Combustion Engines
1951
Gustav Niemann establishes the Chair of Machine
Elements and works in the fields of toothed wheels
and gear manufacturing on which he publishes some
pioneering works.
The ‘Bockerlbahn’ train transporting rubble away from the university building.
University applicants carrying out reconstruction work on the university
premises, 1946. Those applicants who had not participated in the war had
to clear rubble for many months, before they were accepted for a course
of study.
The Student Ancillary Service hour card of the applicant Karl Rihazek,
1947/48. This applicant worked for 1,058 hours, before he was able to
start his studies.