History from 1867 to date
In 1867, King Karl von Württemberg established the chair „Technische Mechanik, Trassieren und Erdbau“ at the Polytechnikum Stuttgart (now University of Stuttgart). The first professor on this chair was Professor Christian Otto Mohr, who is famous for the circles of Mohr. He developed graphical methods for statics at the Polytechnikum Stuttgart.
Professor Mohr moved to the Polytechnikum Dresden and was followed by Professor Edmund Friedrich Autenrieth in 1873 who held the position until his retirement in 1907.
His successor was Professor Karl Johannes Kriemler. Professor Kriemler moved to civil engineering in 1919.
In the same year, Professor Dr. rer. nat. Richard Grammel founded the “Institut für Technische Mechanik und Wärmelehre” (Engineering Mechanics and Thermomechanics). Professor Grammel was rector in 1929-1930 and 1945-1948 and founded the journal “Ingenieur-Archiv”. Grammel worked on gyrotheory, which became a lasting topic within the institute.
His work on gyrotheory was continued by Professor Dr. rer. nat. Kurt Magnus in 1958. Professor Magnus moved to the polytechnical school in Munich in 1966.
In the 1960s, the mechanics institutes of the larger polytechnical schools were doubled. This happened for instance in Munich, Hamburg, Hannover and also Stuttgart. Typical for that time, the new institute was named Institute B for Mechanics and the existing Institute for Mechanics, which was still headed by Professor Magnus, continued in 1965 under the name Institute A for Mechanics.
In the 1968, Professor Magnus was succeeded by Professor Dr. rer. nat. Richard Eppler who is famous for airfoil design.
In the interim period 1989 – 1993, the institute was headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Helmut Sorg.
In 1993, the Institute A for Mechanics was taken over by Professor Dr.-Ing. Lothar Gaul. Professor Gaul developed the research on experimental mechanics in the institute. In 2006 both mechanics institutes were given more descriptive names. The Institute A for Mechanics was renamed into the Institute for Applied and Experimental Mechanics.
Professor Dr.-Ing. Arnold Kistner headed the institute in an interim period in 2014.
Since September 2014, the institute is headed by Prof. Dr. ir. habil. Remco Leine. The focus in research and teaching is on the interplay of nonlinear dynamics/mechanics and nonsmooth dynamics. In 2015, the name of the institute was changed to the Institute for Nonlinear Mechanics reflecting its current research focus.