Historic School Board Minutes with a new look
A newly launched platform that provides access to the rescanned manuscripts of the minutes allows users to research the history of ETH Zurich using mobile devices.
How did the School Board discuss the application to employ the first female assistant? When was electric lighting installed in the main building? What arguments convinced the School Board to establish a new institute? You can now carry out research into these questions via the Schulratsprotokolle Online platform.
For over 15 years, the ETH Zurich University Archives have offered digital access including full text search to the decisions of the President and the minutes of the Swiss School Board meetings from 1854 until the formation of the ETH Domain in 1968. The Schulratsprotokolle Online platform was launched with a new modern design at the start of January 2021. It is now optimised for use on mobile devices, and scans are generated using an IIIF viewer. The handwritten Minutes of the School Board Meetings – dating back to before the school acquired its first typewriter in 1902 – have been rescanned in colour and with excellent image quality to ensure improved legibility.
An important source on the history of ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich was founded as the Federal Polytechnic Institute in 1855, with its current name dating back to 1911. The Minutes of the School Board Meetings are the most important source on the history of the institution. The volumes for each school year include the decisions of the President of the School Board, the minutes and annexes from meetings of the Swiss School Board, and a register.