History
The OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts (TH OWL) has been bearing its name since 2019 but can look back on half a century of university history. As early as 1891, there was a technical college in Lemgo where students could also study electrical engineering. This was followed by an engineering school in the 1920s and 1930s. In the course of the new foundation of state engineering schools after the Second World War, the "State Engineering School for Mechanical Engineering Lemgo" started its operation on October 1, 1964 with 36 students of mechanical engineering. On August 1, 1971 it became the "Fachhochschule Lippe" with its seat in Lemgo.
Anniversary 2021
A reason to celebrate: In 2021, the OWL University of Applied Sciences and Arts (TH OWL) will celebrate 50 years of university history.
To the 2021 anniversary
Milestones
Before and after its foundation, the following institutions, events and developments have shaped the TH OWL of today:
| 1964 | new foundation: The State School of Engineering Lemgo with 36 mechanical engineering students is founded. Four years later, the electrical engineering department is founded. |
| 1971 | Foundation of the university - On August 1, the University of Applied Sciences Lippe (FH Lippe) is founded as one of 15 state universities of applied sciences in the state of NRW. |
| 2002 | Growing together - The university grows and becomes the University of Applied Sciences Lippe and Höxter (FH LuH), because in the course of the dissolution of the North Rhine-Westphalian comprehensive universities, the Höxter department (until then part of the University of Paderborn) becomes part of the university. The name of the university is supplemented accordingly. From 2007 the university will be called 'Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe'. |
| 2011 | Expansion of study places - over 6,000 students for the first time |
| 2016 | PhD opportunities - Founding of the Graduate Center.OWL |
| 2017 | Historical main building - The main building at the Lemgo site is classified as a historical monument. |
| 2018 | ICL e. V. - Foundation of the Innovation Campus Lemgo e. V. by the Technical University OWL, the Old Hanseatic City of Lemgo, the district of Lippe, the Fraunhofer IOSB-INA, the Paderborn-Lippe District Craft Association, the Lipperlandhalle GmbH and the Chamber of Industry and Commerce Lippe zu Detmold. |
| 2019 | New name: Technical University of Applied Sciences East Westphalia-Lippe |