Building bridges on the Life Science Campus Freising-Weihenstephan

On the occasion of its 150th anniversary, the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has a new building on the Life Science Campus Freising-Weihenstephan: the “TUM Jubilee Bridge”. It leads along Thalhauser Straße and connects the campus centre with the northern campus area. The road crossing is named after Professor Thomas Scharnagel, a pioneer in agricultural science. Initiated by President Wolfgang A. Herrmann measures the TUM Jubilee Bridge about 180 meters – from the Maximus-von-Imhof Forum in front of the central lecture hall building to the Hans Eisenmann Forum. “I wanted to see the separate campus areas linked together to send out a signal for our expansion plans,” said the president. This ensures a comfortable and safe road crossing. The costs amounted to approximately 3.5 million euros, which were raised by TUM from own funds and sales proceeds.

The footpath and cycle path over the jubilee bridge commemorates Thomas Scharnagel (1880 – 1953), who ran the Bavarian seed breeding institute Weihenstephan (1928 – 1950) and was a professor at the present TUM. “He was responsible for researching and breeding high-yielding wheat varieties with a high baking capacity and mildew and frost-resistant barley varieties,” said the President at the inauguration. In cooperation with the aquatic systems biology of the TUM and the fish farms located there, the bridged biotope was completely preserved. Animals taken before construction and stored in a temporary solution have now returned to their former environment undamaged. “The life science campus is to grow together with the new bridge. It symbolically links the different scientific disciplines,” said TUM President Wolfgang A. Herrmann, who announced an interdisciplinary research center for the North Campus as the next new building project.

Lord Mayor Tobias Eschenbacher praised the bridge construction over Thalhauser Straße: The modern architecture impressively takes up the future-oriented claim of the TUM at its Freising location and invites to “open up the campus north of Thalhauser Straße within walking distance and to experience how future-oriented the teaching and research centre of the Technical University of Munich is developing”.

This news was first published on tum.de