At the Riga Polytechnic there existed different departments and among them the department of technical chemistry. The departments have not been installed from the beginning, they were founded consecutively. When studies started at the Polytechnic they were organized in special classes (Fachschulklassen) and these existed from 1863 until the year of studies 1867/68. They are the precursors of the departments which we nowadays call “faculties”. From the year 1867/68 on the department is called “Department for Technical Chemistry” (Chemisch-technische Abteilung) and from 1869 on every department was presided by a “Dean” (Dekan). Studies at the departments were organized in a way that the students corresponded to the needs of the industry and its production. But students were not only prepared for the industry but also for being school teachers in natural sciences. From 1867, when students had finished their studies they were handed a diploma as a “Chemists”. Later from the late 80th to the end of the century students got different diplomas. Those with excellent notes got a diploma as an “Engineer in Chemistry” while those with not so excellent notes got a diploma as a “Technical Chemist”. During their studies they learned to know different sections of chemistry as “analytic” or “physical” chemistry among others. For a while the famous chemists Wilhelm Ostwald who later got awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry” taught in this department. Among the alumni of this department we later find Paul Walden, Maximilian Glasenapp and other scientists whose importance goes beyond the Baltic States. The Department of Technical Chemistry existed until 1896 when the Riga Polytechnic was reorganized into the “Polytechnic Institute” during the period of Russification and its name changed to “Department of Chemistry”.