The vernissage of the exhibition "150 Years of Architecture Teaching at TUD Dresden University of Technology 1875-2025" on June 23, 2025 in the foyer of the BZW at TU Dresden was well attended. Numerous students, colleagues and alumni attended the event. The exhibition marks the anniversary of the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape at TUD and takes a look at its own history to mark the occasion. Highlights document the historical development from the building construction department of the Royal Saxon Polytechnic in Dresden, which opened in 1875, to the Faculty of Architecture and Landscape at the TUD. The exhibition was curated by the Chair of Architectural History and Architectural Theory (Prof. Dr. Sonja Hnilica and her team). The main content and the graphic design were developed by students.

In her welcoming address, Prof. Dr. Roswitha Böhm, Vice-Rector University Culture at TUD, underlined the importance of historical research in a subject such as architecture, which is characterized in a special way by the interplay of transformation and tradition. Dean Prof. Gesine Marquardt then explained how the faculty and its stakeholders have changed since 1875. For example, the number of students has multiplied from around 50 in 1875 to over 1,200 today. Landscape architecture was added as a separate degree program in 1970. Women have been admitted to full degree courses since 1907. The first female professor was appointed in 1993, and today the faculty has completed the transition with a balanced gender ratio. Then as now, the faculty pursues a cross-sectional teaching approach in which design projects are combined with a wide range of theoretical subjects. In her speech, curator Prof. Dr. Sonja Hnilica emphasized how strongly political upheavals have shaped the institution, from the Kingdom of Saxony through the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the GDR to reunified Germany.

© Andreas Matthus

The exhibition focuses on the work of 40 teachers from all eras. On display are teaching concepts, research and artistic works or buildings by personalities such as Ernst Giese, Cornelius Gurlitt, Fritz Schumacher, Emil Högg, Leopold Wiel, Werner Bauch, Helmut Trauzettel, Carlo Weber and Manfred Zumpe. A continuous change in architectural concepts can be seen: from the Gründerzeit to the modern reform movement, Heimatschutz and industrial building in the GDR to postmodernism.

The exhibition also makes the following clear: the buildings and the TU Dresden campus were planned over decades by the faculty's teaching staff. Important names in this context are Karl Weißbach, Martin Dülfer, Karl Wilhelm Ochs, Heinrich Rettig and Fritz Schaarschmidt. This architectural ensemble is a document of the faculty's research work and architectural creativity. Unfortunately, the main building of the former Polytechnic, which opened in 1875 and was home to the building construction department until 1945, designed by Rudolf Heyn, has not survived. The building, which was destroyed during the war, is shown as a model in the exhibition.

Due to the large number of visitors, the exhibition has been extended until July 25.

Location: Foyer of the BZW, Faculty of Architecture and Landscape, TU Dresden, Zellescher Weg 17, 01069 Dresden.

Open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 8 pm. Admission is free

© Andreas Matthus