History of the Institute for Steel Construction

Already at the beginning of the 20th century a chair for statics and iron construction existed at the Technical University Hannover in the department for Civil Engineering, since 1938 under the name statics and steel construction.

In 1938 Helmut Pfannmüller was appointed professor of statics and steel construction at the Technical University Hannover.

From 1943 to 1945 Helmut Pfannmüller was Rector of the Technical University Hannover. Above all in this role he can be classified as a "beneficiary" of the National Socialist regime. However, he was responsible for the preservation of the library holdings, which he had outsourced shortly before the end of the war and thus prevented their destruction.

In 1953 the chair was divided and Helmut Pfannmüller headed the chair of Steel Construction, from 1956 the Institute of Steel Construction, until his retirement in 1970.

Helmut Pfannmüller

Born October 1, 1902 in Bad Wimpfen, Germany
Studied civil engineering at the TH Darmstadt
1931 Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) at the TH Darmstadt
1937 Habilitation at the TH Darmstadt
1938 Professor of steel construction at the TH Hannover
1970 Emeritus status
Died 28.11.1977 in Hannover


Joachim Scheer

Born 5th March 1927 in Bückeburg
Studies of civil engineering at the TH Darmstadt
1959 Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) at the TH Darmstadt
1971 Professor of steel construction at the TU Hannover
1976 Professor of steel construction at the TU Braunschweig
1992 Emeritus status
1994 Honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Munich
Died 21th august 2020


Günther Lacher

Born 18 August 1929 in Dortmund, Germany
Studies of civil engineering at the TH Darmstadt
1962 Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) at the TH Darmstadt
1978 Professor for Steel Construction at the University Hannover
1994 Emeritus status
Died October 5, 2014 in Hannover


Peter Schaumann

Born April 16, 1954 in Hamburg, Germany
Studies of civil engineering at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum
1984 Doctorate (Dr.-Ing.) at the Ruhr-Universität-Bochum
1996 Professor for Steel Construction at the University Hannover, since 2006 Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz University Hannover
2022 Emeritus status