Bernhard Schäffer

Bernhard Schäffer (born March 6, 1823 in Gohfeld , Westphalia , † December 20, 1877 in Magdeburg ) was a German mechanic , inventor and entrepreneur . He developed the diaphragm pressure gauge , for which he received a Prussian patent in 1849 . He was one of the pioneers of German mechanical engineering .

Life

Schäffer was born the son of a grocer , the father came from a farming family. After the father's early death, upbringing was mainly in the hands of an older brother. With the help of his brother, Schäffer received an apprenticeship with master mechanic Johann August Oertling (1803–1866) in Berlin . During his five-year apprenticeship, Schäffer was already interested in the railway that was just put into operation and in particular in the locomotive's measuring instruments.

Diaphragm pressure gauge

After completing his apprenticeship, Schäffer went to Magdeburg in 1843 and found a job in Franz Primavesi's precision mechanics workshop . There he dealt with the improvement of measuring instruments. He recognized the weak points of the mercury pressure gauges that were initially used on the railways and tried to develop measuring devices that could withstand the constant vibrations in use on locomotives. The diaphragm pressure gauge was created, for which he received his first patent in 1849. This was used in locomotives . The mercury manometer has been replaced by the great resistance of this pressure measuring device.

Schaffer, together with his brother Christian Friedrich Budenberg and the mechanic master Franz Primavesi 1850, a company under the company & Schaffer Co., Mechanical workshop . A first small workshop was built on Magdeburg's Neuer Weg . A short time later, the number of employees had risen from three to twelve, the workshop was relocated to Prälatenstrasse .

After Primavesis left the company in 1852, the company was named Schäffer & Budenberg . Production in Magdeburg took place from 1852 to 1859 on the Stephansbrücke 15 property . In 1858, a new, modern production facility was built in Buckau near Magdeburg . In addition to pressure measuring devices, fittings for the operation of steam boilers and machine systems and numerous other measuring devices were also manufactured. Schäffer & Budenberg opened branches in the USA and many European countries, and the company was also present at world exhibitions .

In 1857, Bernhard Schäffer was one of the founding members of the VDI district association for Magdeburg and the surrounding area.

Honors

The city of Magdeburg named a street in his honor as Schäfferstraße .

literature

• Horst-Günther Heinicke: Schäffer, Bernhard. In: Guido Heinrich, Gunter Schandera (ed.): Magdeburg Biographical Lexicon 19th and 20th centuries. Biographical lexicon for the state capital Magdeburg and the districts of Bördekreis, Jerichower Land, Ohrekreis and Schönebeck. Scriptum, Magdeburg 2002, ISBN 3-933046-49-1 .
• Freiherr von Röll: Encyclopedia of the Railway System. 2nd, completely revised edition, 1915, volume 7.
• Lothar Thiede: Magdeburg and its industry. Schäffer & Budenberg, part 1. Kremkau 2005, ISBN 3-934988-34-2 .
• Martin Wiehle : Magdeburg personalities. Published by the Magistrate of the City of Magdeburg, Department of Culture. imPuls Verlag, Magdeburg 1993, ISBN 3-910146-06-6 .