Professor in Stuttgart

Bit by bit an engineering laboratory begins to form ...

At the end of the 19th century the engineering laboratory became the central facility for the engineering sciences. It served the dual purpose of research and providing practical training for students (in the form of experiments). Bach took an unconventional approach to circumventing funding shortages for this project as well. The key acquisition for the engineering laboratory, which was intended to focus specifically on studying engines and steam-powered machinery, including steam boilers, was a steam engine. Bach needed 5 years (1880-1885) to complete this acquisition, as the shortage of funding forced him to buy the engine bit by bit.

"I wish only to remind everyone that in 1880, in order to obtain a steam engine on which the students might at least practise indexing, I began to purchase a steam cylinder, the cost of which was 1440 marks, which was paid in the financial years 1880 and 1881/82. By the financial year 1885/86 it had been possible, whilst keeping to the available funding for teaching aids, to acquire the remaining parts of a steam engine, i.e. to return the steam cylinder and obtain an entire steam engine, so that the acquisition of teaching premises could then be tackled."

The establishment of laboratories was the crux of the dispute between the proponents of theory and practical experience. Supporters of laboratories were given support by the Association of German Engineers and by an expert commission consisting of representatives of the colleges of technology, business and politics. They drew up a policy document calling for the provision of sufficient funds for the establishment and planning of engineering laboratories at colleges. The WIV also petitioned the Ministry of Church and Social Affairs, likewise demanding an expansion of the laboratory. In 1897 the funding for the new building was finally granted – the appointments that Bach had been offered by other colleges and universities precipitated this decision (see Popular man). The newly constructed engineering laboratory was opened in 1900.

The VDI's decisions of 1895 and the lobbying by industry in their favour led to success not only in Stuttgart but elsewhere too. In the years that followed, engineering laboratories were established in other cities, including Berlin (1899), Dresden (1902), Braunschweig (1903), and Gdańsk (then Danzig) and Darmstadt (1904).