Courses initiated by an engineering society
Tallinn University of Technology traces its beginning to 17 September 1918, when the Estonian Technical Society opened specialized technical courses in Tallinn. They initially occupied the basement of the A. M. Luther furniture factory. The courses began amid German occupation and wartime instability; even their name was restricted by the occupying authorities. They preceded the fully institutionalized university of later years.
Many founders had studied engineering in Riga, St Petersburg or Western Europe and sought to train local people for industry, construction and transport. Alongside the first course director, Karl Ipsberg, early teachers included Herman Reier and Ferdinand Peterson. The society had to find classrooms, staff, equipment and an appropriate teaching language simultaneously. Approximately 115 students initially registered.
References: [1]
Resuming classes and finding funds during war
The War of Independence soon interrupted teaching as many staff and students went to the front. Only some foundation courses continued in spring 1919. In autumn the school moved into St Canute’s Guild building at 20 Pikk Street. The military had used it as a tailoring workshop, making the release of rooms a direct condition for teaching. A society notice also discussed scheduling mathematics, mechanics and other classes early in the morning so soldiers stationed in Tallinn could combine service with attendance.
The same notice set fees for the second half of the year at 150 marks and allowed students to reapply the following semester. The Ministry of Education also provided assistance. The statute adopted on 14 May 1920 formally made the school state-supported, while the society retained a role as founder through its governing bodies. Fee reductions and assistance for poorer students became management responsibilities.
Technical education at several levels
Early teaching served several qualifications and occupations. The 1919 regulations distinguished higher-level training for engineers, designers and architects from training for technicians, foremen and draftspeople. The 1920 statute detailed preparatory, lower and higher stages. Preparatory courses connected graduates of basic schools with technical education, while admission to regular courses combined prior knowledge, examinations and practical experience.
The listed fields included mechanical, electrical, shipbuilding, civil, hydraulic, architectural and chemical engineering. Common foundations included mathematics, physics, chemistry and drawing, followed by specialized subjects such as machinery, bridges, water supply and drainage, or industrial chemistry. Education courses for vocational-school teachers reflected the new state’s shortage of people able to train future technical workers as well as of engineers.
From attending lectures to independent design
The 1919 regulations divided a semester into fifteen weeks of lectures followed by three weeks of practical work and preparation of designs. Students could organize subjects around their progress while respecting prerequisite knowledge. Professional study included independent design assignments. Graduation projects required calculations, overall drawings and detailed drawings, making the demonstration of engineering competence part of completion.
Teachers also developed technical terminology and Estonian-language textbooks, turning knowledge acquired abroad into material that could be taught and discussed locally. Laboratories, workshops and a technical library gradually appeared. From 1919, the education authorities funded study at Western European technical institutions to help train future staff. Domestic teaching and overseas training supported one another.
Connecting laboratory work with industry
The early statute primarily defined the school as a training institution without setting out a comprehensive research mission. One practical route into research grew from teaching equipment: preparations for materials testing began late in 1922, and the State Testing House started work on 1 April 1923 under Ottomar Maddison. It initially focused on materials tests and electrical and thermal measurements.
Ash from oil-shale combustion has binding properties, prompting investigation of artificial stone made from it: its strength, resistance to moisture and thermal conductivity. Since those properties also depended on chemical composition, the school’s chemistry laboratory joined the analysis. After the State Central Laboratory merged into the institution in 1924, staff worked in mechanical, thermal, electrical and chemical fields, charging for commissioned tests to support operations. Teachers, instruments and local industrial problems entered a shared working process.
References: [5]
The 1918 beginning and the 1936 reorganization
From the late 1920s, a prolonged debate concerned whether higher technical education should concentrate in Tallinn or Tartu. The existing technical school was at one stage scheduled to close. A new institute was finally established in Tallinn in 1936, taking over some teachers, students, laboratories and premises in Kopli. Continuity involved organizational rebuilding and interruptions.
Uus Eesti reported an opening ceremony on 15 September 1936, with Paul Kogerman as director and nearly 400 students preparing to begin, about 300 of whom already had experience studying technical subjects. Parts of the premises remained shared with a secondary technical school. The private courses of 1918, state statute of 1920 and institute of 1936 mark successive stages in acquiring staff, funding and institutional foundations.