1825 | Founding of the Karlsruhe Polytechnic School.
1832 | The Polytechnic School is divided into five Technical Schools: the Construction School, the Engineering School, the Higher Trade School, the Forestry School, and the Commercial School, each offering separate courses of study.
1836 | The Polytechnic School moves into its first building in today's Kaiserstraße.
1847 | The Technical Schools for chemistry and mechanical engineering are established.
1848 | Students of the Polytechnic move out to Ettlingen and demand the introduction of private lecturers, lectures in the humanities, the establishment of a central library, and academic self-governance.
1857 | The central library is established.
1860 | Karl Weltzien hosts the first international congress of chemists.
1864 | A new statute defines the Polytechnic as a “technical university”.
1868 | Like a university, the Polytechnic School is granted the right to post-doctoral qualifications and private lecturers.
1869 | Lothar Meyer establishes the periodic table of elements.
1885 | The Polytechnic School is renamed the Technical University.
1889 | Heinrich Hertz transmits electromagnetic waves wirelessly for the first time, laying the foundations for telecommunication.
1895 | The Technical College is given a university-like constitution with a rector (Rektor), senate, and faculty-like departments.
The Department of Electrical Engineering is founded.
1899 | The Technical University is granted the right to award doctorates and the right to conduct regular final examinations for the degree in engineering (Diplom-Ingenieur).
1902 | Grand Duke Friedrich I awards the Technical University the epithet Fridericiana.
1904 | Magdalena Meub begins her studies and is the first woman to successfully complete them.
1908 | Fritz Haber applies for a patent for the ammonia synthesis he has developed.
1915 | Irene Rosenberg is the first woman to gain a doctorate at the Technical University.
1920 | Joachim Teichmüller establishes lighting technology as a scientific subject.
1925 | The Technical University celebrates its 100th anniversary. The courtyard of honor (Ehrenhof) is designed.
1930 | The student house is equipped with a canteen and accommodation.
1931 | The university stadium is completed.
1933 | The National Socialists expel more than a quarter of the professors for racist and political reasons.
1944 | Air raids destroy a large part of the university buildings.
1946 | The Technical University begins reconstruction.
1956 | The nuclear reactor construction and operating company is founded. Construction of the nuclear research center begins near Leopoldshafen. The Nuclear Research Center and the Technical University sign a cooperation agreement. Leading scientists at the center are given professorships and institutes at the Technical University.
1958 | The Technical University has 5,000 students for the first time.
1958 | The Nuclear Research Center and the Technical University implement computers for the first time.
1958 | The Nuclear Research Center publishes the first edition of the Karlsruhe Nuclide Map.
1960 | The research focus on superconducting technology is established at the Nuclear Research Center.
1961 | At the Nuclear Research Center, Research Reactor 2 is the first reactor constructed in Germany to achieve a self-sustaining chain reaction.
1963 | The Society for Nuclear Research (Gesellschaft für Kernforschung) becomes the sponsor of the Nuclear Research Center. The federal government holds 75% of the stakes, and the state of Baden-Württemberg 25%.
1964 | Research and development for a breeder reactor begins at the Nuclear Research Center with a test facility.
1965 | The multi-purpose research reactor goes into operation at the Nuclear Research Center.
1967 | The Technical University is renamed the University Fridericiana Karlsruhe.
1968 | The university's computer center is established as a central facility.
1969 | The university opens the first German degree course in computer science.
1969 | A new constitution regulates the participation of all status groups at the university and professionalizes university management.
1970 | The nuclear fuel reprocessing plant begins operation.
1972 | The University of Karlsruhe is divided into twelve faculties, including the first German faculty of computer science.
1978 | The Society for Nuclear Research is renamed the Karlsruhe Nuclear Research Center. The name, which had long since been in use, now becomes the official name. The federal government now holds a 90% stake, the state of Baden-Württemberg 10%.
1981 | Research reactor 2 is shut down.
1984 | The University receives the first e-mail in Germany using the Internet protocol.
1992 | 21,782 students are enrolled at the university.
1993 | The University appoints its first female tenured professor.
1994 | The last experimental facility from the fast breeder project is shut down at the Nuclear Research Center.
1995 | The Nuclear Research Center is renamed Research Center Karlsruhe - Technology and Environment (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe - Technik und Umwelt), reflecting the change in its focus.
1997 | The university opens the Environmental Research Center.
2005 | The research center is renamed Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe in the Helmholtz Association.
2006 | The Research Center and the University win the title of University of Excellence with their merger proposal.
2009 | Founding of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology