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The Hochschule Bremen is rich in tradition, innovative, international and practice-oriented.
Being rich in tradition and innovative at the same time has always been a distinguishing feature of the Hochschule Bremen. While its beginnings can be traced back to the end of the 18th century, today the HSB systematically focuses on innovation and internationalisation. This extraordinary combination has decisively shaped its character over the past decades. Today, the Hochschule Bremen embodies the highest level of competence in applied and practice-oriented teaching and research.
Not only the name has changed, but also the status: Pupils became students, and 76 years later the technical secondary school of the late 19th century became a practice-oriented university of applied sciences. This also increased the demands on teachers and students.
This gain in prestige was accompanied by the fact that it was no longer the education authority but the authority for science and research that became responsible. The merger with the three other universities of applied sciences in the city of Bremen to form the Hochschule Bremen at the Neustadt location expanded the number of disciplines and has had a profound and lasting impact on the character of the Hochschule Bremen because it opened up the opportunity for interdisciplinary teaching and research.
Change and continuity characterise the eventful path from the 105 students of the building trade in 1894 to the approximately 8,700 students enrolled in the engineering, economic and social science degree programmes in 2020.
In 1894, the Technikum of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen took up its teaching activities, initially with the Baugewerkschule, which in the course of time developed into today's Faculty of Architecture, Construction and the Environment. In 1895, the Seemaschinistenschule (later: Schiffsbetriebstechnik, transferred to the Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences in 1975) was added, followed in the same year by the schools of mechanical engineering and ship building.
The Technikum was originally located in a new building at what is now Langemarckstraße 113, which was erected as a school building between 1892 and 1894. It was not until 1906 that it moved to the building on the opposite side of the street (today the M-building of the Hochschule Bremen), and the complex at 113 Langemarckstraße could immediately serve as a school building. During the First World War it was used as a military hospital, later as council offices. After the latter moved out, the Hochschule Bremen occupied the building for its growing space requirements. Since 2018, Langemarckstraße 113 has been the address of the International Graduate Center, with numerous offices, seminar rooms and four lecture halls.
When the originally completely separate Bremen universities of applied sciences were established by law in 1970 and merged into the HSB in 1982, presumably no one had any idea of the significance this type of university would one day have, particularly in terms of regional economic effects and as a driver of innovation for regional development. One million people, or 40 percent of all students in Germany, are currently enrolled at universities of applied sciences – and the trend is ongoing.
Today, HSB is the second largest scientific institution in the state of Bremen with a recognised, central place in the higher education system. With application-oriented teaching and research and its hallmark of internationality, it is indispensable for the local science and innovation system and scores as an indispensable location factor for the region. The graduates contribute to the supply of skilled labour in all relevant fields, and research is carried out in close cooperation with companies and organisations.