Studying in the post-war period A personal insight into the life of Hans-Joachim Hartwig
What was it like to study at Technical University of Braunschweig 70 years ago? How did a civil engineering student master his studies, and how did he apply his specialist knowledge afterwards? The history of a university consists largely of the experiences of its students and their campus life. This is why the university archive collects documents not only from faculties, institutes and administrative offices, but also from students. In future, bequests will also form the basis for the university’s history.
Students from a measurement group in the forest, 1951, photographed by Hans-Joachim Hartwig. Photo credit: Hans-Joachim Hartwig
Hans-Joachim Hartwig (1929-2015) was one of these students. He graduated with a degree in engineering in 1954, as documented in his examination file (UABS N 1 H 430). While still at university, he married Johanna Hanke in 1952.
Last year, the university archive received a wonderful addition to its collection from their daughter, Christine Hartwig-Thürmer: a small collection of documents shedding light on the life of the future chief engineer. Among these documents is a rent receipt book from 1953 to 1955 for an apartment on Friedrichstraße. Two photos show his greatest architectural achievement, the Kaiserleibrücke bridge between Frankfurt am Main and Offenbach. The bridge was built under Hartwig’s supervision from 1960 to 1964 by the MAN factory in Gustavsburg. Since then, it has spanned the Main River for 220 metres as part of the A661 motorway.
The accompanying photos are particularly beautiful, providing a visual record of the graduate students from his final class in 1951 with their professor, Dr.-Ing. Egbert Theodor Harbert, and on an excursion to the transport exhibition in Munich.
Kaiserlei Bridge over the Main River, Frankfurt am Main, built under the supervision of Hans-Joachim Hartwig. Photo credit: Hans-Joachim Hartwig
In addition to providing documents, Christine Hartwig-Thürmer has written a text offering personal insights into her father’s life and studies in the post-war period and his subsequent development. The text can also be found in the archive and is currently available to read here.
Hartwig’s daughter contacted our Alumni & Career Service Centre in July 2024. Having discovered the documents and photos in her father’s estate, she recognised their value for our archive as a historian. A personal handover appointment with the university archive was quickly arranged. As well as the meeting in the archive, there was time for detailed discussions and a joint campus tour, which was particularly important to Ms Hartwig-Thürmer: “I would also like to see the college/university that gave my father the solid foundation for his successful career.”
Maike Stelter from the Alumni & Career Service Centre during the campus tour for alumni. Photo credit: Christine Hartwig-Thürmer
The donated documents were added to the G015 collection (Smaller estates and parts of estates, G015 No. 41) and are now permanently stored in the university archive for future use.
If you would like to learn more about the history of Hans-Joachim Hartwig, you can read a chapter about him in the Library of Generations or listen to Christine Hartwig-Thürmer’s audio contribution on the Kaiserlai Bridge.
Text: Maike Stelter Tanja Wolf