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Born: 1919 in: Dresden Died: 20218 in: Limburg Faculty: Art History Acad. title: Prof. em. Dr.

Irma Emmrich was born on September 14, 1919 in Dresden and graduated from school in 1938 with a general higher education entrance qualification. Before taking up her studies in education at the University for Teacher Training in 1943, she did her Reich Labor Service, worked as a trainee in the "Maschinenfabrik Gäbel" in Dresden and then as a secretary in a transport equipment factory. She completed her studies in 1945 with a state examination and from then on pursued her career as a teacher. Until 1949, she worked at schools in Dresden and Freital, where she not only taught but also acted as principal. After successfully passing her higher teaching examination, she taught at the Dresden-Reick secondary school from 1950. From 1952, she then worked as a lecturer at the Dresden University of Transport.

Her academic career initially took her to Jena, where she completed her doctorate in 1954 and returned to Dresden in the same year. At the Dresden University of Technology, she began a position as senior assistant at the Institute for Social Sciences before being appointed to the lectureship for Marxist aesthetics in 1958. Emmrich initially returned to Jena for her habilitation in 1958. Back at the TUD Dresden University of Technology, Irma Emmrich was initially a professor with a teaching assignment in 1966 before being appointed Professor of Art Studies at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies in 1969.

Her work dealt with the history and theory of the visual arts, always looking for the interactions between art and society. She taught future architects and civil engineers not only to understand art in the context of the built environment, but also to interpret and evaluate it. She retired in 1980. With her Chair in 1969, Prof. Dr. Irma Emmrich was the first female professor of art studies and the second full professor ever at TU Dresden. This makes her a true pioneer and role model for all women in science.