Timeline 1918 - 1967: College of Technology

The name change of 1918 is not connected with any change in the profile, status or organisational form of the Stuttgart college, in contrast to all previous changes. It took place in the context of a major political change. The demise of the Württemberg monarchy in 1918 had made the adjective "Royal" obsolete. For almost the next 50 years, Stuttgart would be home to a College of Technology – the longest-serving title it has had to date.

The far-reaching political developments of the 20th century thus did nothing to change the name of Stuttgart College of Technology. However, they naturally brought about far-reaching changes for the college itself, both good and bad.

The stages in the college's history in National Socialist Germany are marked on the one hand by a democratisation of the college's administrative structure and the expansion of the natural sciences and engineering, and, on the other hand, an economic crisis, overcrowding at universities, increasing unemployment, a lack of identification with the republican state and widespread openness among students for nationalist and racist thinking. Under National Socialism Stuttgart College of Technology was also placed under central control in accordance with the Führer Principle, and was the target of National Socialist university policy proposals, which envisaged measures such as moving the college to Tübingen, where it would be merged with Tübingen University and with the College in Hohenheim. Yet the beginning of the Second World War in autumn 1939 put an end to these plans.

The Second World War changed teaching and research at the college at all levels. Students numbers initially fell even further compared to the pre-war period, then rose considerably above the 1939 level as the war went on. Research activities were focused on important war-related projects. The running of the university was increasingly disrupted by air raids, and from late 1943 onwards institutes were transferred to the region around Stuttgart if possible. By the end of the war around three quarters of buildings and facilities had been destroyed.

In February 1946 teaching recommenced at the college after a ten-month break. The professors' political credentials were submitted to a review, and a sizeable number were temporarily or permanently dismissed. Those wanting to study in Stuttgart had to serve several months' "building service" beforehand so that important buildings could be rebuilt with the college's own resources. Tables in the student refectory assuaged the worst of the hunger in the first few post-war years.

As life normalised and the economy began to recover, a time of growth and expansion also began for Stuttgart College of Technology. This brought one of the major long-term problems back to the fore: there simply wasn't enough space in the city centre, especially for the technical disciplines, which were growing in number and rapidly expanding. Thus, the most remarkable expansion of the College of Technology began to take shape in the new university site in Pfaffenwald in Stuttgart-Vaihingen, which was agreed upon in 1955 after a fierce debate, and which opened its doors in 1957 when the first departmental buildings were inaugurated.