Gdansk University of Technology
Encyclopedia
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
Politechnika Gdańska) is a technical university in Gdańsk
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
-Wrzeszcz
Wrzeszcz
Wrzeszcz is one of the boroughs of the Northern Polish city of Gdańsk. With a population of more than 65,000 in an area of 9.9 km² , Wrzeszcz is the most populous part of Gdańsk.- History :...
, and one of the oldest universities in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. It has nine faculties and more than 24 thousand undergraduate, as well as about 400 doctoral students. In 2004 it employed 2500 people, including 1200 academics.
The rector of the university is Henryk Krawczyk.
In 1995 Wirtualna Polska
Wirtualna Polska
Wirtualna Polska is the sixth-largest Polish web portal. It was founded in 1995. It has often been the leader in offering new services on the Polish market...
was founded here and the office of the company is still located in one of the former campus canteens.
History
The university was founded in 1904 as Königliche Technische Hochschule zu Danzig. At the time Gdansk, then known as Danzig, was part of the German EmpireGerman Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
. The history of Gdansk is complex and the city itself belonged, at different times, to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Poland and was a "free city"
Free City of Danzig
The Free City of Danzig was a semi-autonomous city-state that existed between 1920 and 1939, consisting of the Baltic Sea port of Danzig and surrounding areas....
. The names of the city's educational institutions were affected by the changes in the city status.
The university was known by different names:
- 1918–1921: Technische Hochschule in Danzig (Wyższa Szkoła Techniczna w Gdańsku)
- 1921–1939: Technische Hochschule der Freien Stadt Danzig (Wyższa Szkoła Techniczna Wolnego Miasta Gdańska)
- 1939–1941: Technische Hochschule Danzig
- 1941–1945: Reichshochschule Danzig
In the late 1930s, Polish students were subject to discrimination by German teachers, many of whom had joined the NSDAP Nazi Party. Following the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Polish students were expelled from the university. Instructors who were members of the NSDP taught classes in uniforms of the Nazi party and began each class with a Hitler salute
Hitler salute
The Nazi salute, or Hitler salute , was a gesture of greeting in Nazi Germany usually accompanied by saying, Heil Hitler! ["Hail Hitler!"], Heil, mein Führer ["Hail, my leader!"], or Sieg Heil! ["Hail victory!"]...
.
Toward the end of the war, the university was turned into a German army hospital. When the Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
captured the university/hospital, Russian soldiers shot dead some of the Germans and then closed all exits to the main building and burned alive the remaining wounded German soldiers. The Russians arranged stables and barracks in other buildings. In 1945, all Germans were expelled from the city of Gdansk and the burned ruins were turned into a Polish university (24.05.1945). In light of tragic history of the university under Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
rule, today's university officially does not continue traditions of pre-war schools and its history starts in 1945.
The school was reorganized and rebuild under the supervision of Stanisław Turski, a Polish mathematician and former inmate of German concentration camps
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
. Turski also served as the first post-war rector of the university.
Staff
Gdańsk University of Technology employs over 2500, including 1200 teachers:- over 100 full professors
- 135 senior doctor lecturers
- 576 doctors
Civil and Environmental Engineering
- Civil engineeringCivil engineeringCivil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including works like roads, bridges, canals, dams, and buildings...
(structural engineeringStructural engineeringStructural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
, construction engineeringConstruction engineeringConstruction engineering is a professional discipline that deals with the designing, planning, construction, and management of infrastructures such as highways, bridges, airports, railroads, buildings, dams, and utilities. Construction Engineers are unique such that they are a cross between civil...
) - Water resources engineering
- Transportation engineering
- Environmental engineeringEnvironmental engineeringEnvironmental engineering is the application of science and engineering principles to improve the natural environment , to provide healthy water, air, and land for human habitation and for other organisms, and to remediate polluted sites...
- Sanitary engineeringSanitary engineeringSanitary engineering is the application of engineering methods to improve sanitation of human communities, primarily by providing the removal and disposal of human waste, and in addition to the supply of safe potable water. Initially in the mid 19th century, the discipline concentrated on the...
Management and Economics
- undergraduate and graduate programs in Management and Marketing
- MBA
International cooperation
The Gdańsk University of Technology takes part in the European ERASMUS programmeErasmus programme
The Erasmus Programme , a.k.a. Erasmus Project is a European Union student exchange programme established in 1987...
.
