200 Years of KIT – 100 Objects. Parts of a Whole

KIT as guest at ZKM | Karlsruhe

In 2025, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), one of the oldest technical universities in Germany, celebrates a milestone birthday: 200 years have passed since the founding of the Polytechnische Schule Karlsruhe as its first predecessor institution.

From April 11, 2025, KIT will be a guest at the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe with a multifaceted exhibition to mark the 200th anniversary of its founding. KIT presents its history in 100 objects - on site on the museum balcony of the ZKM and virtually. Many members and alumni of KIT and its environment have responded to the "Call for Objects" and thus contributed to the exhibition's great treasure trove of objects and stories: historical scientific equipment, objects from everyday life and real rarities, such as the hydrogen van from the 1980s, mechanical engineering models from 1860, design icons, such as the Sistrah lamp from 1930, or a robot from the modern ARMAR family, as well as numerous historical documents and artifacts. On the one hand, they represent the KIT institution and, on the other, offer insights behind the scenes. The exhibition conveys how KIT's current university mission developed from the teaching of technology that began in 1825. At the same time, it shows how large-scale research emerged from the work begun in 1956 to develop a new source of energy. The anniversary exhibition also sheds light on KIT's current identity as the research university in the Helmholtz Association and as one of the largest and oldest scientific institutions in Germany. 
 

Vernissage

When: Friday, April 11, 2025, 7 pm
Where: Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe, Lorenzstraße 19, 76135 Karlsruhe