Lviv Polytechnic traces its roots to a Real School established in 1816 by decree of Austrian Emperor Franz I in Lemberg (present-day Lviv). Though often cited as founded in 1844, it actually evolved from this Real School, becoming the Imperial‑Royal Technical Academy under Austrian rule.

In 1844, the institution was formally reorganized as the Tsisar-Royal Technical Academy, modelled on Vienna’s Polytechnic, combining technical and commercial education and pioneering higher technical education in Ukraine.

Under Rector Julian Zachariewicz (appointed in 1877), a striking neoclassical main building was erected on Bandera Street. That same year, the academy was renamed Higher Polytechnic School, marking its evolving identity within the Austro-Hungarian academic network