Carl Josef Bayer

Carl Josef Bayer (born March 4, 1847 in Bielitz , Austrian Silesia , † October 22, 1904 in Rietzdorf, today Rečica ob Paki, municipality of Šmartno ob Paki , Lower Styria ) was an Austrian chemist . His best-known development is the Bayer process named after him for the production of aluminum .

Life

Born in 1847 in Bielsko, he initially worked in his father's building firm and studied four semesters architecture . In accordance with his greatest wish, he switched to the natural sciences in 1864 and studied for four semesters with the famous analytical chemist Remigius Fresenius in Wiesbaden , before working as a chemist in the ironworks of the Dorlodot brothers in Acoz, now the municipality of Gerpinnes , in Belgium .

On December 7, 1869, at the age of 22, he enrolled at the University of Heidelberg in chemistry, where, after just two semesters, Professor Robert Wilhelm Bunsen gave him the post of assistant.

On July 18, 1871, he applied for admission to the doctoral examination to the highly commendable Philosophical Faculty of the University of Heidelberg. He passed his doctoral examination on July 31, 1871 in the presence of 17 professors and 9 examining professors. Among the examiners were famous names such as Bunsen, Gustav Robert Kirchhoff , Blum, Hermann Kopp , Neubauer, Braun, Hermann von Helmholtz and Hermann Köchly . On August 1, 1871, he was presented with the doctoral certificate with the grade insigni cum laude .

Bayer married Alma von Witte, a niece of Russian Prime Minister Sergej Witte , on September 21, 1892 in St. Catherine's Church in St. Petersburg. Six children were born between 1893 and 1901. The first son Erich was born in Elabuga , the second son Walter in Washington D. C. , USA, the third son Guido in Cilli , Lower Styria, today Slovenia , the fourth, Herbert, the fifth, Fritz, and the sixth child Elsa arrived in Rietzdorf the Pack (today Rečica ob Paki near Celje ) was born, where Bayer acquired land in 1896 to build a factory, a laboratory and a villa for the family of eight. Famous scientists from all over the world visited Bayer in Rietzdorf, including Paul Héroult from France and Charles Martin Hall from the USA (Hall-Héroult process for the production of aluminum by electrolysis). The Bayer Villa can still be visited today.

Bayer spoke seven languages: German, French, English, Russian, Italian, Slovak and Polish. As a musical person he loved music and the arts.

It was his greatest wish to set up an alumina and then an aluminum factory in his home country in order to utilize the bauxites that occur in Styria , Carniola and Dalmatia . He believed in the triumph of aluminum around the world. License agreements, combined with royalty payments , were concluded worldwide.

On October 22, 1904, Carl Bayer died at the age of 57, leaving behind his wife and six children who were not cared for. The widow Alma, an extraordinary and strong woman, made it possible for all children to have a high school education, mostly in Graz , and for all sons to go to university. Two sons followed in their father's footsteps and became chemists.

After his death, the royalty payments came slowly and in some cases were stopped altogether. The widow Alma Bayer could not afford expensive international litigation. Many contracts, apart from a down payment, were never paid out in full.

Bayer process

→ Main article : Bayer process

It is not generally known that the word bauxite comes from the village of Les Baux-de-Provence in the south of France , where Dr. Bayer also built a factory near Gardanne that processed the bauxite obtained at Les Baux.

He submitted his first patent to the Imperial Patent Office from Tentelewa near Saint Petersburg / Russia on July 17, 1887 . It was published under the number 43977 on August 3, 1888. He submitted his second patent on January 31, 1892 from Jelabuga (Russia). It was published on November 3, 1892.

At the same time, he filed his patents in several countries such as France, USA, England and built factories in England, USA, Belgium, Ireland, Italy and Germany using his process, the Bayer process , also in Tentelewa and Elabuga in Russia. He was in demand and active all over the world. Dr. Carl Josef Bayer worked scientifically on many projects, such as B. About the use of salicylic acid and its effects , about the contribution to the chemistry of indium , the process for the production of artificial cryolite and others.

Honors

He received the gold medal of the Académie Parisienne for his scientific and technical achievements.

1956 founded the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber , the Bayer Medal for that special scientific or technical achievements in the field of light metals , especially aluminum was awarded.

In 1987, on the occasion of the eighth International Light Metals Conference in Leoben / Vienna, a special post stamp was issued with a circulation of over three million pieces.

In 1962, a Dr.-Bayer-Straße was named in the town of Braunau am Inn , in a settlement area that was mainly inhabited by employees of the Ranshofen aluminum works . The Rhine waterfalls were built in honor of Dr. Carl Josef Bayer illuminated once with Bengali light .

Numerous newspapers, such as the Österreichische Chemiker-Zeitung , the Wiener Zeitung and the newspaper of the industrialists brought obituaries and honors. Obituary: “The ordeal of an Austrian inventor: Dr. Bayer lived through the ordeal of the Austrian inventor with all its suffering and obstacles, through the envy of ignorant and malicious competitors, through disorientation and distrust of the authorities, through a poorly advised population and through partially and superficially informed banks and financial institutions until they were physically exhausted " .

literature

• Bavarian Karl Josef. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 59.