History
The predecessor to the Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections was the "Arbeitsstelle für Hochschulgeschichte" (Department for University History). It was a subsection to the Vice-Rectorate of Social Sciences and was managed by Arthur Weichold (later by honorary appointment), the longtime chief editor of the scientific journal of TU Dresden, until 1965. In 1979, the Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections was established as part of the Philosophy and Cultural Studies section. The main task of the Office for Academic Heritage consisted of the preservation and cataloging of the scientific, technological and artistic collections, which was based on the legal regulations issued by the German Democratic Republic and focused on the handling of monuments, cultural assets and museum collections. The first directors were Dr. Werner Klaus (until 1985), Dr. Hartmut Herbst (until 1988) and Dr. Peter Schubert (until 1993). When the university was reorganized in 1990, the Office for Academic Heritage was assigned to the Institute for the History of Technology and Technical Sciences. Dr. Klaus Mauersberger assumed the management of the Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections from 1993 to 2015.
In 2004, the Office became one of TU Dresden's central service units, reporting directly to the University Executive Board. At that time, the position of secretary created in 1954 in the "Artistic Advisory Board" was integrated into the Office for Academic Heritage, which was occupied by Werner Scheffel von 1953 to 1975, by Professor Jürgen Schieferdecker from 1975 to 2002 and by Maria Obenaus until 2015.
Today, TU Dresden's Office for Academic Heritage, Scientific and Art Collections cooperates closely with the establishments and institutes of the University, as well as with national and international university collections.