In historical building at 1 Kronvalda Boulevard, where the educational institution was already in the 19th century and where the Faculty of Electrical and Environmental Engineering was located for many years, now the history room of our university – RTU History Museum Exhibition Hall – has been created.
Upon entering the hall, on the left, it is possible to trace the history of the university within 155 years. The conditional timeline begins in the 1860s – in May 1861, when Tsar of Russia Alexander II approved the Statutes of the educational institution Рижское политехническое училище (Rizhkoje Poljitehnjicheskoje Uchiljishe; Riga Polytechnic School, also – Riga Polytechnicum) and on 14 October 1862 the Preparatory courses of the polytechnicum were launched.
Therefore, 14 October 1862 is considered to be the birthday of technical university education in Latvia and RTU.
The time line is conditionally divided by significant years in the history of the university: 1862 (beginning of the university) – 1896 (renaming Riga Polytechnicum as Riga Polytechnic Institute) – 1919 (technical faculties as a part of various universities) – 1958 (renovation of Riga Polytechnic Institute) – 1990 (renaming RPI as Riga Technical University).
The area on the right side of the exhibition hall is dedicated to RTU faculties. Each of the current nine faculties has its own stand and touch screen with more information about the history of the faculty from its beginnings to the present day.
The faculties of RTU have changed their names several times as the time has developed, therefore the alphabetical order of the faculties is also «getting old». Therefore, the faculties’ stands are arranged according to their official year of foundation – from the oldest to the youngest.
The exhibition hall has been created thanks to the contribution of RTU students, lecturers and sponsors: «Knauf», «Vivacolor», RTU Institute of Design Technologies, Saldus Technical School.