Carl Metz (entrepreneur)

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Carl Metz (born May 5, 1818 in Feudenheim ; † October 31, 1877 in Heidelberg ) founded the Carl Metz machine factory in Heidelberg as a mechanic in 1842 to manufacture fire extinguishing and rescue equipment. He initially designed and built pump systems that revolutionized fire fighting at the time .

Life

Carl Metz recognized the inadequate fire protection equipment of cities and municipalities early on , so he began the series production of hand-operated water sprayers. The existence-threatening fires in the localities (the houses were built very close to each other) were extinguished by hand, often with passed (leather) fire buckets , by called residents. A trained and well-equipped fire fighting team was rarely available. Entire city districts were therefore often victims of fires.

Carl Metz grave complex at the Heidelberg Bergfriedhof in the (Dept. L)

Carl Metz was not only an entrepreneur, but also a consultant for fire departments and municipalities, who also took care of equipment and organization. Since many municipalities could not afford full-time firefighters, he came up with the idea of the volunteer fire department , so the fire to promote. This idea was also implemented by many municipalities.

In 1846 he founded the Pompier Corps in Durlach together with Christian Hengst . It was one of the first volunteer fire brigades with excellent technical equipment. They were already equipped with a city sprayer No. 2 from Metz.

When the Pompier Corps fought the large fire of the Grand Ducal Court Theater in Karlsruhe on February 28, 1847 in a spectacular action with completely new equipment and logistics , the pumps from Metz and the men trained in effective fire fighting were the main topic in the national press for days . This was not only the breakthrough to success for Carl Metz's company, but also the breakthrough in the new fire fighting methods. On July 27, 1872, he also took part in the founding ceremony of the Nassau Fire Brigade Association in Wiesbaden , at which Ludwig Scabell and even Kaiser Wilhelm I were also present.

Metz died on October 31, 1877 after a long illness. The funeral took place on November 3, 1877, at which all layers of society were represented and around one thousand people took part in the funeral procession.

In 1880 the volunteer fire brigades in Germany erected a memorial for Carl Metz in Heidelberg with the inscription "Carl Metz, 1818–1877, founder of the volunteer fire brigades". In accordance with his bourgeois-humanistic ideals, he was a member of the Heidelberg Masonic Lodge Ruprecht zu den five Rosen .

The enterprise

The company founded by Carl Metz, Carl Metz GmbH in Heidelberg, later as Metz Feuerwehrgeräte GmbH based in Karlsruhe, was taken over by Rosenbauer International AG in 1998 and managed as Metz Aerials GmbH & Co. KG until 2015 . The company has been operating as Rosenbauer Karlsruhe GmbH & Co. KG since 2015 .

Awards

In 1860, Carl Metz received the Great Golden Civil Merit Medal for his "various achievements and services to fire extinguishing". On the company's 30th anniversary in 1872, he was awarded the Knight's Cross, 2nd class, of the Tough Lion Order . With his life's work he earned the honorary title of “founder of the volunteer fire brigade”.

literature

  • State Fire Brigade Association Baden-Württemberg e. V .: 200 years of Carl Metz . Filderstadt 2018.
  • Werner Oswald, Manfred Gihl: Motor vehicles of the fire brigade and the rescue service since 1900 . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1992.
  • Hans Christoph Graf von Seherr-Thoss:  Metz, Carl. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , p. 249 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Joachim Wahl, Alexander Luig: Kaelble . Podszum Verlag, 1999.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz-Josef Sehr : The fire extinguishing system in Obertiefenbach from earlier times . In: Yearbook for the Limburg-Weilburg district 1994 . The district committee of the district of Limburg-Weilburg, Limburg 1993, p. 151-153 .
  2. ^ Franz-Josef Sehr : The foundation of the Nassau fire brigade association . In: Yearbook for the Limburg-Weilburg district 2012 . The district committee of the district of Limburg-Weilburg, Limburg-Weilburg 2011, ISBN 3-927006-48-3 , p. 65-67 .
personal data
SURNAME Metz, Carl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Feudenheim
DATE OF DEATH October 31, 1877
Place of death Heidelberg