The History of the University
In the Central European region, the first known university was established in Prague in 1348. This was followed by the founding of the universities in Krakow (1364) and Vienna (1365). The first Hungarian university was founded in 1367 in Pécs by King Louis the Great of Hungary. Over the centuries, Budapest—formerly medieval Obuda, Buda, and Pest—has played a key role in the country’s economic life and educational development. Church institutions and…
In the early 19th century, Hungarian industry and industrial education lagged behind more developed countries. Several of our predecessors made efforts to change this. Among them, Baron József Eötvös stands out as the intellectual founder of secondary technical schools. As Minister of Religion and Public Education, he initiated the establishment of a central model school in the capital to train foremen and supervisors for large-scale industry…
The Founding of Bánki. The Central Industrial School and the Technological Industrial Museum successfully fulfilled their tasks in their new location: the museum’s growing collection became an integral part of education, and the industrial school’s teachers were involved in the museum’s activities. The institution gained a reputation thanks to renowned teachers such as Dániel Arany, Aladár Edvi Illés, Jenő Egerváry, Ödön Faragó, Géza Jalsoviczky, Ödön Lencz, Gusztáv Klemp, Lajos Petrik, and many others who contributed significantly…
Based on Act LII of 1999, the Budapest Polytechnic was established as of January 1, 2000. Its predecessors were Bánki Donát Polytechnic, Kandó Kálmán Polytechnic, and the Light Industry Polytechnic. As part of the integration process and the parallel faculty accreditation procedure, the institution was reorganized into a five-faculty educational establishment, and training began in the following faculties: Bánki Donát Mechanical Engineering Faculty…
In its meeting on September 7, 2009, the Senate of Budapest Polytechnic determined that the institution had met the legal criteria for using the title of university. Based on this, and with the support of the Economic Council and the Senate, the leadership of the Polytechnic initiated—through the Minister of Education and Culture—a request to the Hungarian National Assembly, under Section 18 of the Higher Education Act, to grant the institution university status…
