August Köstlin

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
August Köstlin (steel engraving)

August Köstlin (full name: August Friedrich Nathanael Köstlin ; born December 30, 1825 in Stuttgart , † November 30, 1894 in Vienna ) was a German-Austrian bridge engineer , director of the forest, industrial and mining company and editor of the Wiener Allgemeine Bauzeitung .

Live and act

The son of the Württemberg State Councilor August Friedrich von Köstlin and Wilhelmine Mayer (1798–1867) had been given an interest in the railroad early on, as the father played a decisive role in the development of the Württemberg railway system. August Köstlin studied engineering at the Technical University of Stuttgart and at the Technical University of Munich after finishing high school . He also attended art school, which was to give his buildings a special character.

After passing the state examination, Köstlin was accepted into the service of the Royal Württemberg State Railways in April 1847 , but in 1850 he accepted an offer from the General Building Department of the Austrian Federal Railways under Carl Ritter von Ghega . After this was dissolved in 1852, however, he worked with Karl Etzel , the construction manager of the Swiss Central Railway , before he was finally appointed designer and head of the bridge construction office of the Austro-Hungarian State Railway Company in 1855 . Now his most successful time began: Köstlin was significantly involved in the drafts and execution of all the bridge structures planned by this company, often with his friend Anton Battig . It was in keeping with Köstlin's artistic inclination to make these buildings particularly aesthetically pleasing. This shows the former Tegetthoff Bridge over the Vienna River , the Sophien Bridge (today's Rotunda Bridge ), the Stroheck Bridge (today's Peace Bridge ) and the State Railroad Bridge (today's Ostbahnbrücke ), the latter over the Danube Canal in Vienna. But on the economic side he tried to save material costs by introducing trapezoidal girder constructions in bridge construction. For this construction Köstlin received international recognition at the World Exhibition in London in 1862 .

In 1872, Köstlin gave up his position and, as General Director of the Lower Austrian Southwest Railway, which was licensed in his name, built the Leobersdorfer Railway from Leobersdorf to St. Pölten , the Gutenstein Railway from Leobersdorf to Gutenstein and the Erlauftal Railway from Pöchlarn to Kienberg . In addition to this activity, he was the director of the forest industry and mining company and from 1870 until his death on November 30, 1894 as an editor at the Allgemeine Bauzeitung founded by Ludwig Förster in Vienna.

August Köstlin was married to Therese Schurz (1830–1872), a niece of the poet Nikolaus Lenau , since 1853 . The only son Theodor Köstlin worked under the stage name Theodor Brandt as an actor, director and theater director in Wiesbaden, Weimar, Vienna and Stuttgart and was one of the first radio speakers.

Buildings (selection)

  • Tegetthoff Bridge

  • Peace Bridge

  • Rotunda Bridge

  • Ostbahnbrücke

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Kostlin, August
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Köstlin, August Friedrich Nathanael (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian bridge construction engineer
DATE OF BIRTH December 30, 1825
PLACE OF BIRTH Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH November 30, 1894
Place of death Vienna