Technische Hochschule Georg Agricola

The Institute of Technology Georg Agricola (common abbreviations: THGA or TH Georg Agricola ) is a private, state-approved and state refinanced Fachhochschule (University of Applied Sciences) in Bochum. Founded in 1816 as a Mining School, it has developed into a modern university, which since 1995 has been named after the polymath Georgius Agricola, a pioneer of mining and mineralogy.

For the winter semester 2017/2018, nearly 2,400 students were enrolled. Of these, 88% were male, 9% were students of other nationalities, and 51% completed extra-occupational studies.

Mining has a long tradition in the Ruhrgebiet. In order to train the management personnel for the mining industry, a separate school was founded. When the Mining School was founded in 1816, its aim was to provide people with a broad base of technical knowledge so that the tasks underground could also be carried out professionally. The graduates of the Bochum mountain school had a good reputation. In 1864, the merger of the Märkischen and the Essen-Bergischer Bergwerkwerkschaftskasse resulted in the Westfälische Berggewerkschaftskasse(WBK), which remained until 1990 carrier of the school. Already at that time, the mountain school, in addition to the training of specialists, had to master other tasks, such as carrying out scientific examinations and making flöz cards.

In 1963 the traditional climbing training at the mountain school ended. It was replaced by the introduction of the Mining Engineering School. At the mountain school, the operator training courses were continued. In 1971, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia granted the possibility of founding universities of applied sciences. Here was the same year from the School of Engineering, the University of Applied Sciences Mining(FH mining), which existed until 1995 a federally recognized private university in Bochum.

After the coal crisis began in February 1958 and thus the demand for trained miners decreased, the Bochum mountain school was renamed to the engineering school for mining. The range of courses was extended and from then on graduates were allowed to hold the title of engineer. In order to counteract the crisis, a total of nineteen mining companies were merged in 1968 in Ruhrkohle AG.