"The most important task of our knowledge of nature is to enable us to foresee future events, so that we may arrange our present actions in accordance with such foresight." (Heinrich Hertz)

Famous scientists

Great names were the godfathers of the department.

Heinrich Hertz succeeded in proving the existence of electromagnetic waves in Karlsruhe in 1886/88, Otto Lehmann discovered liquid crystals in 1888 and Ferdinand Braun developed the electron beam tube named after him in 1897. Together with Guglielmo Marconi, he received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1909 for his work in the field of wireless telecommunications. Karlsruhe's electrical engineering has its roots in physics. In 1894, an independent department for electrical engineering was founded, whose first professor was Engelbert Arnold. Prof. Karl Steinbuch, who is considered the founder of computer science, was a professor at the department from 1958-1980.


Ferdinand Braun * June 6,1850 Fulda † April 20, 918 New York 1883-1885 Professor for (Experimental) Physics in Karlsruhe. He initiated the establishment of the subject of electrical engineering at the university.	Heinrich Hertz * February 22,1857 Hamburg † January 1,1894 Bonn 1885-1889 as experimental physicist in Karlsruhe. He discovered the electromagnetic waves in 1886/89.

Otto Lehmann * January 13,1855 Constance † June 17, 1922 Karlsruhe 1889-1922 Professor for physics in Karlsruhe. He was a pioneer in the research of liquid crystals.	Engelbert Arnold * March 7, 1856 Schlierbach, Canton Lucerne † November 16, 1911 Karlsruhe 1894 first professor of the newly founded Electrical Engineering Department.