Josef Werndl

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Photography around 1875
Signature of Werndl

Josef Werndl (born February 26, 1831 in Steyr , Upper Austria ; † April 29, 1889 there ) was an Austrian arms manufacturer.

Life

education

He was the son of the arms industrialist Leopold Werndl and Josepha Müller (born on January 4, 1806 in Klein-Boding in Pernarotte 5 in Frankenfels , died on November 10, 1867 in Steyr ). After his training as an armorer and his first work experience in Prague and Vienna , he went on extensive study trips to England , Thuringia and to the factories of Remington and Colt in the USA . After his return in 1855, he took over his father's business, Josef and Franz Werndl & Comp., Weapons factory and sawmill .

Act

M1867 Werndl – Holub
One of the generators for the electrical exhibition in 1884 ( Museum der Stadt Steyr )
Werndl caricature from 1868

Werndl's success was based, among other things, on the interchangeable construction: masses of highly precise workpieces that could be interchanged with one another. He began converting the 500-employee factory to modern production techniques and, together with his foreman Karl Holub, developed the pioneering tabernacle lock for breech loaders , with which he prevailed  against rival Remington, whose system was considered by the rear- loading commission, for orders from the Austro-Hungarian Army . The arms factory quickly grew to 6,000 employees and was  transformed into a joint stock company as the Austrian Arms Factory (OEWG), of which Werndl became the general director. Production rose to around 8,000 rifles per week.

With a contract dated July 24, 1868, Werndl undertook to deliver 100,000 model 67 breeches to the War Ministry. When the production facilities could not be expanded quickly enough, among other things due to basic disputes, delivery bottlenecks occurred. Here the dependency of the Austrian military quickly became apparent, because no other (above all domestic) company was capable of producing breech-loading rifles in such high quality and quantities. The Austrian military newspaper noted that there were more machines in Werndl's factory than in all other Austrian rifle factories combined. A cartoon by Werndl appeared in the satirical magazine Kikeriki in 1869 with the text: “What do people want from me? If I deliver the rifles on time, I guarantee the war will take place; If I am late with it, I guarantee peace. Whether I deliver a rifle or not, I definitely guarantee ! "

Werndl promoted the "production of electricity from hydropower", also to compensate for the deteriorating order situation on the arms market. The OEWG produced dynamos as well as incandescent and arc lamps . On the occasion of the Electrischen-Landes-Industrie-Forst and culturhistorischen exhibition in 1884 (August 2nd to September 30th) he had numerous streets and squares up to the exhibition site on Karl-Ludwig-Platz (today Volksstraße) illuminated with incandescent and arc lamps. The gas light remained in part of the streets and alleys to demonstrate the superiority of electric lighting. What was new was that the electrical energy came from hydropower , unlike previous exhibitions in Vienna and Paris . Werndl built the first high-performance run-of- river power plants , making Steyr the first larger city to be illuminated with electricity from hydropower. This was only temporary, however, because the lighting fixtures were dismantled again soon after the exhibition ended. On August 19, Emperor Franz Josef visited the exhibition, Crown Prince Rudolf and Crown Princess Stephanie followed on September 19.

The cooperation with Holub and the railway engineer Ferdinand Mannlicher made the Austrian arms factory one of the world's most important arms manufacturers, with over nine million arms of various sizes produced between 1869 and 1911. With over 15,000 employees at times, the OEWG was the largest arms factory in Europe.

Werndl built modern houses, schools and swimming pools for his workers, as well as the Steyr swimming school . - Buildings that still characterize the city of Steyr, especially the Wehrgraben district , today. He paid above-average wages and provided all employees and their relatives with free medical care.

death

News of death in the "Alpen-Boten"
Werndl family grave at Taborfriedhof

On Good Friday 1889, Werndl contracted life-threatening pneumonia after driving to Letten ( Sierning municipality ) in an open horse-drawn wagon in the rain . On April 29, he died at 5:45 a.m. at the age of 58 in his house in Petzengütl . He was laid out in public in the palm house of his Voglsang Castle and then buried at the Taborfriedhof in Steyr.

Awards

Order of the Iron Crown III. class

Werndl was repeatedly awarded high medals. Emperor Franz Joseph I paid tribute to Werndl's many services to the state, the city of Steyr and industry on February 13, 1870 by being awarded the Order of the Iron Crown III. Class . According to the statutes of the order, this award was linked to the hereditary knighthood, but Werndl never applied for this ennoblement. " I was born as Werndl, and as Werndl I want to die." ”And“ I would rather be the first commoner than the last noble ”.

family

Josef Werndl married Karoline Heindl, born in 1829, on his return to Steyr in 1853. This connection resulted in two daughters who both married into respected aristocratic families: Caroline (1859–1923) and Anna (1861–1943). Anna Werndl married Josef Friedrich Count von Lamberg-Ortenegg-Ottenstein (1856–1904) in 1880 , Caroline Werndl married Baron Mayer von Mayrau in the first marriage, and after his death in the second marriage Baron Max von Imhof zu Spielberg and Oberschwemmbach ( 1858-1922).

Coat of arms for the daughters of Josef Werndl, 1903.

In 1902, Caroline and Anna submitted an application to Emperor Franz Joseph I for the nobility " on the basis of the entitlement acquired by their father ", which on January 8, 1903, was also granted. They justified their request - which was strange in itself, since the fatherly claim referred to a nobility rank that was significantly lower than that which they had already acquired through marriage - as follows: “ Although we were granted their rights by marrying nobles If we have attained class, it would be for us to attain the nobility ourselves in order to honor the memory of the merits of our father in a pious way, because of our social position and for the sake of our children. "With the award of the nobility by Emperor Franz Joseph I as" geb. von Werndl ”the daughters also received a coat of arms. This showed “ a blue-clad youth growing out of a silver field behind a battlement wall with a sword raised above his head. Above the shield is a crowned tournament helmet from which a young man grows out of the eagle flight, divided by silver over red and left gold over blue, as if in a shield. Helmet covers: right red-silver, left blue-gold. "

Josef Werndl's nephew Ernst Werndl made a name for himself as an engineer and inventor. His son was called Ludwig.

souvenir

Detail of the citizens' window: Josef Werndl, Pastor Georg Arminger, Citizen Corps Commander Franz Pichler and Mayor Georg Pointner

Werndl is depicted on a glass window in the choir of the parish church. This citizen window commemorates the 900th anniversary of Steyr in 1880 and the visit of Emperor Franz Josef I (installed in 1893). A glass window dedicated to Werndl was donated in 1892 by his daughters Karoline Baroness Imhof and Anna Countess Lamberg . It is the fourth window on the south wall and shows u. a. the death of St. Joseph and the Werndl coat of arms.

As early as May 1, 1889, the Steyr municipal council decided to erect a bronze statue in a suitable place . On November 10, 1894, the Werndl monument on the promenade was inaugurated. The sculptor who created the monument was Viktor Tilgner .

By the Schwimmschulstrasse road branches off to the west Josefsgasse was named in 1880 after him. It is located in the workers' settlement on the Eysnfeld built by Anton Plochberger and Franz Arbeshuber on his behalf . Other streets there also bear the first names of family members, but Werndlgasse is dedicated to everyone. In 1913, Rieplgasse in Vienna- Floridsdorf (21st district) was renamed Werndlgasse .

  • The monument on the promenade

  • The Werndl window in the parish church

  • Memorial plaque on the birthplace

  • Memorial plaque on the Petzengütl

Further history of the arms factory

The OEWG was later heavily involved in arms production for the First World War . In 1934 it merged into part of Steyr Daimler Puch AG , which after the connection was in turn incorporated into the Reichswerke Hermann Göring in order to prepare for the Second World War . Prisoners from the Steyr-Münichholz subcamp were also used.

Cars had been built in Steyr as early as 1920, and after the Second World War the production of tractors and trucks began. With Steyr Mannlicher , the tradition of gun production continues.

literature

Web links

Commons : Josef Werndl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans Stögmüller: Josef Werndl and the weapons factory in Steyr , Ennsthaler 2010 p. 153 ff
  2. ↑ Kikeriki! humorous folk newspaper. No. 28. (9th year) July 15, 1869 (title page)
  3. ↑ Hans Stögmüller: Josef Werndl and the weapons factory in Steyr , Ennsthaler 2010 p. 227 ff Chapter: The electrical adventure
  4. ^ Karl-Heinz Rauscher: The King of Steyr. Comments on Josef Werndl , Weishaupt Verlag 2009 p. 53 ff
  5. ^ Industrial history of the city of Steyr - Author: Benedikt Schnabl
  6. ↑ The Steyr swimming school - the oldest workers' swimming pool in Europe ( Memento from July 1, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). Viewed on June 23, 2010
  7. ^ Josef Werndl - The Pioneer of Steyr ( Memento from October 24, 2004 in the Internet Archive ). 3Sat of April 5, 2004
  8. ^ Karl-Heinz Rauscher: The King of Steyr. Notes on Josef Werndl Weishaupt Verlag 2009 p. 184ff
  9. ↑ Michael Göbl, The woman and the coat of arms in the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy ( online )
  10. ↑ Constantin von Wurzbach : Werndl, Joseph . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 55th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1887, pp. 40–42 ( digitized version ).
  11. ^ Roman Sandgruber , Dreamtime for Millionaires: The 929 Richest Viennese in 1910 , Graz (Styria Verlag) 2013.
  12. ↑ For her biography see here
  13. ↑ For her biography see here
  14. ^ Rudolf Granichstaedten-Czerva, Geadelte Frauen , in: Heraldisch Genealogische Zeitschrift Adler 3 (XVII) 1954, pp. 104–106
  15. ^ Roman Sandgruber, Dreamtime for Millionaires: The 929 Richest Viennese in 1910 , Graz (Styria Verlag) 2013.
  16. ↑ Michael Göbl, The woman and the coat of arms in the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy ( online )
  17. ↑ son Ludwig Werndl. In: Local News. Engagement. Baden District Gazette, August 12, 1882 ( anno online )
  18. ↑ Josef Werndl and the weapons factory in Steyr p. 116
  19. ^ Manfred Brandl: New history of Steyr. From Biedermeier to today . Steyr: Ennsthaler 1980 p. 73f. ISBN 3-85068-093-2
  20. ↑ Josef Werndl and the weapons factory in Steyr , p. 103
  21. ↑ The street names Steyr , steyr.at (seen on February 11, 2011)
  22. ^ Viennese street names and their historical significance , wien.gv.at (viewed on February 11, 2011)
  23. ^ KZ Steyr ( Memento from 7 July 2007 in the Internet Archive ) , Mauthausen Committee Steyr
  24. ^ Perz Bertrand: Steyr-Münichholz. A concentration camp of the Steyr-Daimler-Puch AG In: Yearbook of the Documentation Archive of the Austrian Resistance 1989 , 52–61
personal data
SURNAME Werndl, Josef
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian arms manufacturer
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1831
PLACE OF BIRTH Steyr , Upper Austria
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 1889
Place of death Steyr , Upper Austria