The Imperial and Royal Technical Military Academy was a military training facility founded in 1717 for certain officer groups of the Habsburg monarchy. The location of the academy changed several times in the course of its existence: originally located in Vienna, it was located in Klosterbruck near Znaim from 1851 to 1869, in the Stiftskaserne in Vienna from 1869 to 1904 and finally in Mödling from 1904 to 1918. The Higher Technical Education Institute Mödling emerged from the academy in 1919.

Franz von Lauer entered the Imperial Army as a military engineer in 1755 and ended his career as Feldzeugmeister. After serving in the Seven Years' War, by 1783 he had reached the rank of oberst, or colonel. He fought against Ottoman Turkey at Belgrade and became a general officer for his distinguished effort as a siege specialist.