[1] The university cooperates closely with the local economy and has partnerships with well-established companies such as Daimler, Porsche, Bosch, Festo, Eberspächer which have major operations in the vicinity.

In 1868, Stuttgart's Royal Württemberg School of Construction opened a department to train mechanical engineers.

[2] The Esslingen MBA was one of the pioneers of international, English-language programs at Fachhochschulen, the forerunner of Universities of Applied Sciences, in Germany; the Fachhochschulen had been allowed to offer international degrees such as the MBA through the 1998 modification of the Hochschulrahmengesetz (Higher Education Framework Act).

The huge concrete block from the 1960s is prominently situated on the city's northern hills and provides a good view of Esslingen and the entire Neckar Valley.

The tradition is said to derive from an incident in 1922 where a group of students, tipsy after a gathering, for unknown reasons resolved to carry a ladder through the city.