Christian Nehls

Christian Johannes Nehls (born September 29, 1841 in Schülp b. Nortorf , † September 5, 1897 in Hamburg ) was a German hydraulic engineering director .

Life

Christian Nehls was the son of a small farmer and carpenter. After attending a village school, he first worked as an assistant teacher at elementary schools in Neumünster and Flottbek . The mathematician Heinrich Borchert Lübsen gave Nehls, who wanted to continue his education voluntarily, private lessons in mathematics. In Flottbek Nehls got to know people who worked in business or in technical professions. Nehls therefore decided to want to become an engineer. Since he did not have sufficient specialist knowledge, he studied at the technical center in Göttingen from 1861 . Only engineers for chemical professions were trained there, which Nehls did not like. A year later he therefore moved to the Hanover Polytechnic . During his studies, he concentrated on the subjects of mathematics and mechanics. He also acquired extensive knowledge of French and English.

In 1867 Nehls finished his studies and worked for the first time at the directorate for dyke and hydraulic engineering in Altona . In the winter of 1867/68 he briefly taught at the building trade school in Holzminden . After the state examination in Hanover in the spring of 1868, which he passed in the subjects of railway and hydraulic engineering , he went back to Hamburg. There, Johannes Dalmann headed the hydraulic engineering department as Nehl's superior. He put Nehls in a position as technical office manager of the "Section for Electricity and Port Construction". Johannes Dalmann died in 1875. In the same year Nehls took over his post as hydraulic engineering director and worked in this position until his death.

Christian Nehls died in Hamburg in September 1897.

Act

Christian Nehls played a major role in the expansion of the Port of Hamburg , which initially took place according to Dalmann's plans. In 1882 Hamburg signed a treaty with the German Empire that made it possible to set up a free port in Hamburg. Together with Franz Andreas Meyer and Carl Johann Christian Zimmermann , Nehls planned the expansion of the port. His general development plan formed the basis for the construction work from 1883 to 1888. Nehls also played a key role in the coming into being of the second coal fire contract concluded in 1896 . He represented Hamburg's interests during the negotiations on deepening the Köhlbrand and other building measures. Independently of this, Nehls arranged for the fairway to be deepened to around eight meters. He also implemented the expansion of the mean water profile, which had been decided in the first Köhlbrand contract of 1868. As part of the construction work, the water above Hamburg was deepened by 1.15 meters.

Nehls was considered a highly respected scientist and mathematician. In 1873 the Riga Technical University offered him a professorship, but Nehls refused. The Royal Prussian Academy for Building made him an extraordinary member in 1880 because of his services. From 1888 he was awarded the 3rd Class Crown Order .

literature

• Jürgen Gottschalk: Nehls, Christian . In: Franklin Kopitzsch, Dirk Brietzke (Hrsg.): Hamburgische Biographie . tape 3 . Wallstein, Göttingen 2006, ISBN 3-8353-0081-4 , p. 269-270 .