Alfred Heurich

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Alfred Heurich (born February 3, 1883 in Metz , † April 12, 1967 in Rosenheim ) was the inventor of the folding boat in the form of a kayak .

Life

Family and Youth, 1883–1903

Alfred Heurich was a son of Candidus Heurich (1845–1937) and Anna Heurich geb. Deve (1852-1930). The father settled in Metz after the Franco-Prussian War , where he was a city ​​councilor and owner of two pharmacies. Their son Alfred was born there in 1883.

Already at the age of seven Alfred Heurich built wooden boats with flat bottoms, from 1895 kayaks . In 1897 Heurich began to build his first collapsible folding boat, the Pfiffikus, from bamboo sticks and canvas . He made the first trip with it on October 21, 1897 on the Moselle between Metz and Diedenhofen . The boat was four meters long and 85 cm wide.

Studies 1903–1909

In 1903 he left Metz to study architecture at the Technical University of Munich . Inspired by an Eskimo kayak that he had seen in the Munich Ethnographic Museum , he decided to build a racing boat. On May 30, 1905, he attracted attention by sailing the Isar between Bad Tölz and Munich in the Luftikus, which is around 4.5 meters long and around 50 cm wide . He had built the dismountable boat within three weeks from materials worth 30 marks. It took him five hours to get there, and three times he got into great distress while driving. In the same year he founded the first folding boat club in Rosenheim and completed a folding boat textbook.

From 1906 he worked together with his future wife Karoline Maria Dutz (1885–1940) on an improved model. In 1907 he completed the dolphin type of boat . In contrast to the Luftikus model, it was made of ash wood and canvas and was more stable. Heurich is said to have covered more than 100,000 kilometers with Dutz in a boat of this type without capsizing.

In the same year, 1907, he sold the license for the sole manufacture of the dolphin to Johann Klepper , a Rosenheim master tailor and dealer of sporting goods. From then on, he produced the boat in series. The relationship with Klepper deteriorated massively in the following years. Heurich publicly complained about the neglect of safety aspects. As recently as 1953, he noted in records that Klepper was “always the beneficiary”, while he was the “foolish believer.” Klepper himself was “marketed as an inventor”, Heurich was not named as the actual inventor. He could not benefit from the successful marketing of the folding boat he had developed. As a result, Klepper and Heurich became enemies.

Architect, 1909–1967

From 1909 Heurich worked as an architect in Brussels, from 1911 he stayed in Metz and from 1913 in Weißenfels . In 1923 he moved to Rosenheim.

Heurich was married to Maria Schoissengeier (* 1900) for the second time. 1930 he was at the closing event of the 10th Isar regatta of Franz Reinicke the badge of honor of the Canoe Association Germans awarded.

Heurich valued the journalist Carl Joseph Luther , who, in his opinion, contributed a lot to the spread of the folding boat sport. Together with his wife he developed the so-called "paddle healing method". This form of therapy consists of "adapted nutrition with conscious breathing technique and sporty paddling". This natural healing method should both Konrad Adenauer and Pope Johannes XXIII. have been recommended. In 1947 the 50th anniversary of the first trip was celebrated.

Heurich died in Rosenheim in 1967 at the age of 84.

Afterlife

The city of Rosenheim named a street in Alfred-Heurich-Straße in his honor . In autumn 1982 the grave of Heurich and his first wife was accidentally leveled, which the cemetery administrator prevented. The sponsorship for the grave was then taken over by the Rosenheim kayak club. In 1983 an innkeeper discovered fragments of Heurich's model Delphin in his attic , from which a complete copy could be assembled. This was exhibited in the Wood Technology Museum in Rosenheim.

Fonts

Heurich was the author of several books on the subject of folding boats. In addition to the book Des Silberfischleinins Abenteuer , which was well received by some critics , he created a 24-volume collection of a water guide with a route map.

  • In the folding boat (1906)
  • The folding kayak boat (1923)
  • Inn (1924)
  • From apprentice to master angler (1925)
  • White water rides in a folding kayak (1925)
  • The Silverfish's Adventure (1927)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Friedl (1995).
  2. ↑ Vollmar (1972).
  3. ↑ Friedl (1995), there no information on the source of the quotations.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Heurich, Alfred
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German inventor
DATE OF BIRTH February 3, 1883
PLACE OF BIRTH Metz
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1967
Place of death Rosenheim