History of the university

The university was established on 1 August 1971 on the basis of the Bavarian Universities of Applied Sciences Act of 27 October 1970. It is a corporation under public law. The Free State of Bavaria is its public agency. It covers the following areas of study: Engineering/Technology, Business, Social Sciences, and Design.

Proud of our roots

The teaching of Engineering/Technology at the university can be traced back to one of the oldest technical colleges in Europe, the “Städtische Polytechnische Schule” (Municipal Polytechnical School), which was founded in 1823 by Johannes Scharrer, Mayor of Nuremberg and creator of the first railway in Germany. Upon its nationalization in 1833, physicist Georg Simon Ohm joined its faculty and also took on the role of head of the institution between 1839 and 1849. As part of its one hundredth anniversary celebrations in 1933, the school, which had gone on to become the “Höhere Technische Staatslehranstalt Nürnberg” (National Higher School of Technology in Nuremberg), via the “Industrieschule” (Industrial School) and the “Königliche Bayerische Technikum” (Royal Bavarian Technical School), chose to honour its former professor with the name “Ohm-Polytechnikum Nürnberg” (Ohm Polytechnic, Nuremberg). In 1935, following the closure of the Städtische Bauschule (Municipal School of Building), the Structural Engineering department was established.

Business as an educational area of the institution developed from the Höheren Wirtschaftsfachschule (Business College) of the City of Nuremberg, which was established in 1963.

The social sciences programmes derived from the Höheren Fachschule für Sozialarbeit (Higher Technical College for Social Work) (since 1 June 1963) and the Höheren Fachschule für Sozialpädagogik (Higher Technical College for Social Education) (since 1 September 1968) of the City of Nuremberg. Their predecessor institutions were formed in 1925 and 1927.

The predecessors of the Faculty of Design were the “Offene Zeichensaal” (Public Art Room), which was founded in 1910, and the Höhere Fachschule für Grafik und Werbung der Stadt Nürnberg (Higher Technical College for Graphics and Advertising of the City of Nuremberg), which was founded in 1968. .

A renowned patron

By means of its law dated 4 August 1983, the Bavarian Parliament gave the university the name “Georg-Simon-Ohm-Fachhochschule Nürnberg” (Georg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg), thereby not only reviving the naming tradition of its greatest predecessors, but also honouring the renowned physicist, Ohm, who taught at the oldest of the university’s predecessor institutions between 1833 and 1849, and who was also its rector between 1839 and 1849.

University of Applied Sciences in 2007

On 1 October 2007, the university became the “Georg-Simon-Ohm-Hochschule für angewandte Wissenschaften - Fachhochschule Nürnberg” (Georg-Simon-Ohm University of Applied Sciences), or the Georg-Simon-Ohm-Hochschule Nürnberg for short.

Nuremberg Institute of Technology in 2013

Upon the ceremonial presentation of the certificate of appointment on 22 March 2013, the university officially became the “Technische Hochschule Nürnberg Georg Simon Ohm” (Nuremberg Institute of Technology), known as “Technische Hochschule Nürnberg” or “TH Nürnberg” (Nuremberg Tech) for short.

With this name, we remain true to our patron, while at the same time highlighting the fact that we are a university of applied sciences with a special profile.