Heinrich Barkhausen lends his name to this very building. But what significance does the Barkhausen-Bau hold here at Helmholtzstrasse 18? It is the main building of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology of the Dresden University of Technology.
Construction of the initial section occurred between 1951 and 1954. Karl Wilhelm Ochs designed it in a New Objectivity architectural style. Notice the artificial stone plaster facade. The entrance stands out. It has a glazed, elevated measuring tower and a terrace roof. The interior boasts an elegant staircase. Elongated window facades flank the glass entrance area on both sides. These two-story side structures feature shallow pitched roofs with simple cornices.
The building expanded by 1958. It became a four-winged structure reaching Georg Schumann Street. This section has four stories and a partial basement. The final construction phases concluded in 1965. These included the large antenna tower on Georg Schumann Street. Also, the connected lecture hall building on Nöthnitzer Street. Since 1994, the large lecture hall there, I-90, has been named the Heinz Schönfeld Lecture Hall.
Now look toward the inner courtyard. It is a square space. Predominantly, it serves as a parking lot and delivery area. However, there is a small park on the south side. This sunken garden includes a small pond. It is affectionately known as Barkhausen Pond.
Small towers sit on the connecting structures between the building wings. The university’s amateur radio station resides in one. Another houses the Turmlabor. It is a university group for electrical engineering.
Heinrich Barkhausen himself was a notable figure. Born in 1881, he became the first professor of electrical engineering in Dresden in 1911. This made him the world’s first chair in this discipline. In 1919, he discovered the Barkhausen effect. This provided evidence for the magnetic domain theory of ferromagnetism. Imagine the clicks heard in a loudspeaker. These clicks demonstrated the movement of magnetic domains.
Barkhausen’s contributions extend further. In 1920, he invented the Barkhausen–Kurz oscillator with Karl Kurz. It was the first vacuum tube electronic oscillator to use electron transit-time effects. Moreover, in 1921, he derived the Barkhausen stability criterion. It remains essential in designing electronic oscillators and feedback amplifier circuits.
Even after the destruction during World War II, the institute was rebuilt. Today, it proudly retains his name: Barkhausen-Bau. And now, in more recent times, from 2015 to 2018, the Center for Advancing Electronics Dresden was constructed here. This six-story laboratory, seminar, and office building enhances the Barkhausen-Bau. The integration of historic structure and modern research underscores the Barkhausen-Bau as a center of innovation.