The former institutes for surveying were primarily responsible for training future civil engineers and architects. In order to better utilise the available training capacities, it was also possible to study geodesy at the time, but only up to the intermediate diploma. After that, graduates had to transfer to other universities.
Instead of the regularly expected 5-6 geodesy students, the newly introduced numerus clausus in civil engineering meant that almost 30 enrolled students attended the opening event on the "measuring roof" of the high-rise building in autumn 1973. Among them were also "girls"! - unthinkable for the teaching staff until then. The institutes were initially overwhelmed. The newly acquired 6 pocket calculators (basic arithmetic operations) could not be made available to the students. In the first few months, calculations were carried out using logarithms or mechanical crank calculators.
When Prof. Möller, the then head of the institute, retired in 1993, the course was discontinued. The existing institutes were merged to form the Institute of Geodesy and Photogrammetry and were then only used to train civil engineers.
Of the 22 "Vordiplomanden", 11 alumni met again for the first time in Braunschweig on 12 September this year.
They represented a wide range of professions: a future research assistant in geodesy and geophysics, a head of authority in the cadastral administration, research participants in the Philippines, Antarctica and Iceland, a geodesist and economist responsible for sales and marketing in a globally renowned company, a geodesist and lawyer as a judge at the Higher Regional Court, a surveying assessor in the fields of property valuation, building law and urban planning and - not to forget - freelance publicly appointed surveying engineers from North Rhine-Westphalia, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony.
Markus Gerke was invited to visit the current institute. Prof Gerke introduced the alumni to the current focal points of research and teaching. After extensive discussions and questions, there was unfortunately not enough time for a tour of the institute.
The Alumni & Career Services of TU Braunschweig organised a campus tour to the "Hidden and Forbidden Places" of the TU. A particular highlight was the ascent to the "Messdach" on the Oker Tower.
A joint dinner rounded off the day. Many memories were refreshed, experiences were exchanged and former professors (Möller, Gerke, Schrader) and assistants (Prof Dr Bähr, Dr Fleischer, Doms, Dr Richter, Dr Knopp, Dr Ritter) were remembered.
The meeting ended with a joint breakfast the next morning.
We would like to thank Prof Gerke for the invitation and Mrs Stelter for the campus tour.
Written by: Michael Rohardt and Anne Brandt