Every five years, civil engineers who began their studies at TU Braunschweig in autumn 1975 meet again with active professors at their alma mater. On the weekend of 8 November 2025, the time had come again.
In 1975, under the impression of the first oil crisis, only just under 100 first-year students enrolled, with a female quota of just 2%. Today, more than 50 fellow students are still in contact, with 30 sprightly gentlemen aged between 68 and 86 and 10 female partners meeting up in Braunschweig that weekend.
One of the academic "achievements" of this civil engineering class of 1975 was the revival of the graduation ceremony with the presentation of certificates. The semester speakers had negotiated this with Professor Duddeck in return for the delivery of 3 crates of sparkling wine.
Before 1981, students could collect their diploma certificates - produced on clunky matrix printers as digitisation began - individually from the faculty office.
This time, Professor Manfred Krafczyk, Vice President for Digitalisation and Sustainability, welcomed the assembled alumni, who discussed the current status and latest developments in teaching and research with him. They were then given a tour of the central campus around Pockelsstrasse by Mr Karsten from the Alumni Office.
The day before, Professor Patrick Schwerdtner, Head of the Institute of Construction Management and Economics at TU Braunschweig, had taken a lot of time to present the state-of-the-art research facilities that have been established on the North Campus in recent years and to give an insight into some of the current research tasks, such as the Digital Construction Site.
In the seminar room on Schleinitzstrasse, which has remained virtually unchanged for decades, the alumni were given an insight into social perspectives on "building in nature". In a delicious satire on the stereotypes of construction and investment, with scenes from well-known blockbusters with international film stars, but also with instructive videos on construction operations, Professor Schwerdtner presented his construction film, which is the subject of an annual film evening organised by the construction student council in the packed Audimax.
The fact that, in addition to reviving their own memories from their student days, the encounters with today's academic world went far beyond the purely informative character can also be seen from the fact that some of the 1975 class are still actively involved in working life: active in self-employment, involved as consultants, as senior members of a company management team or, last but not least, as honorary professors and ... still enjoying their professional work as engineers*!
* Unfortunately, our two female students at the time were unable to attend the alumni meeting, which is why, regrettably, gendering has become obsolete in the above text.
Author: Hans-Joachim Bargstädt
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