Timeline 1967 - 2018: Universität Stuttgart

The renaming of the college as a university reflects the change in the way the former College of Technology sees itself. Thanks in no small part to figures such as Max Bense, Käte Hamburger or Golo Mann, philosophy and other humanities had moved into the public limelight in the first decades after the war and influenced the mood in which the name change took place. Yet to this day the Universität Stuttgart has continued to reflect its origins in the College of Technology, as the engineering sciences still play a dominant role in its profile and weighting of subjects.

As the university of the state capital and also one of the most important urban regions in Germany, Universität Stuttgart plays an important role in providing training in the humanities and social sciences. Just like in the early 20th century, in the late 1960s the major humanities disciplines were deliberately expanded to allow prospective students from the Stuttgart region to study while living at home. Yet the humanities were also the very area that most clearly reflected the changing course of university policy. As early as the mid-1970s, at the time of the economic crisis following the abrupt awakening from the dream of limitless growth, the humanities were hit particularly hard by the first wave of cuts. The proposal to abolish humanities courses for prospective teachers was only abandoned after massive protests.

As in all stages of its history, recently the range of subjects taught at the university has repeatedly been expanded and adapted to new scientific and social challenges, such as the introduction and expansion of computer sciences. Recent changes, to name but one, have seen international courses being added to the university's training profile.

The internal structure of the Universität Stuttgart has also constantly seen transformations in line with guidelines set by state and federal governments. Thus the former Secondary and Vocational School, now a modern university, is still the subject of reforms and attempted changes.