Alfred Bockemuehl

Alfred Bockemühl (born July 9, 1896 in Bochum ; † April 5, 1992 in Niefern-Öschelbronn ) was a German transport scientist and engineer .

life and work

After completing his training and working for various industrial and transport companies, Alfred Bockemühl worked for 22 years in various positions at Dresden Tramway . There he also developed - true to his conviction as an anthroposophist - the large-capacity tram car, which has become famous as the " Hechtwagen " and was dominated by round shapes. In 1945, when the rebuilding of the Dresden tram was due, he became its sole board member . In 1947, the Technical University of Dresden appointed him an honorary professor with a teaching position for local transport technology.

From 1950 he worked as technical director at Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG (SSB) and had to lead the transport company through the difficult reconstruction and modernization years after the Second World War . The development of the large-capacity prototype GT6, based on the Hechtwagen, and the procurement of 350 copies of the GT4 fell into his time. He was also one of the leading planners and advocates of an underground tram that was later developed into the successful Stuttgart light rail system . Alfred Bockemühl was also Vice President of the Association of Public Transport Companies (VÖV) for a number of years , and until recently its honorary member. His career at SSB came to a somewhat unfortunate end when his prestige project SSB GT6 turned out to be “a size too big” for Stuttgart and the SSB operations department and supervisory board decided against his recommendation only for the GT4 short-articulated multiple unit.

Alfred Bockemühl retired on December 31, 1962, and spent the last years of his life in the Johanneshaus in Niefern-Öschelbronn near Pforzheim . Until the end, as a sprightly pensioner and a sought-after traffic expert, he was a guest author for various specialist publications and the SSB in-house magazine Über Berg und Tal , and he was also a constant guest of honor at Stuttgart trams on special occasions, such as the inauguration of new light rail routes.

family

Bockemühl has five sons:

• Gundolf Bockemühl (* 1925), architect
• Dr. Jochen Bockemühl (* 1928), biologist
• Helgo Bockemühl (1932–2014), priest of the Christian Community
• Dr. med. Johannes Bockemühl (* 1936), doctor
• Michael Bockemühl (1943–2009), art historian