Emil from Škoda
Emil Ritter von Škoda (born November 18, 1839 in Pilsen , Austria-Hungary , † August 8, 1900 on his way home from Bad Gastein shortly after 2 a.m. in a train near Selzthal in Upper Styria ) was a Bohemian engineer , industrialist and namesake of the engineering company Škoda .
Life and origin
Emil Škoda was the son of the state medical officer for Bohemia in Prague Franz Ritter von Škoda and his second wife Johanna-Margarethe born. Rziha and grandson of Josef Škoda, nail blacksmith in Pilsen. His uncle Josef was a professor of medicine at the University of Vienna . On August 22, 1871, Emil von Škoda married Hermine Hahnenkamp, the granddaughter of the main founder of the civil brewery in Pilsen. Four children were born to the couple, including Karl Ritter von Škoda (1878–1929), General Director of the Škoda Works in Pilsen and the writer Herma von Škoda (1879–1966), married to Richard Lauer (1891–1944), chief engineer of the Škoda -Works.
Škoda graduated from the lower secondary school in Eger and the upper secondary school in Prague, studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic in Prague, at the Polytechnic in Karlsruhe and in Stuttgart . He then worked as an engineer in Chemnitz and Magdeburg . Here he learned and worked at Richard Hartmann in Chemnitz around 1864 . From 1866 on, he was chief engineer in the mechanical engineering company of Count Ernst Waldstein-Wartenberg in Pilsen , which he acquired through purchase on July 12, 1869 as a company with 33 employees. Škoda expanded it into the Škoda steel and weapons works in Pilsen with 4,000 employees, who initially supplied sugar factories, breweries and ironworks with systems and castings. In 1885 a cast steel works was built.
Arms production began in 1866, followed by the establishment of an arms factory. In a special department of the Škoda works, cannons and ammunition for warships were produced, especially for the Austro-Hungarian navy on the Adriatic . In his will, Emil von Škoda bequeathed 80,000 crowns for his workers who had become old and unable to work in this factory. He left the city of Pilsen 10,000 kroner and donated important legacies for his servants. In 1869 he participated in the establishment of a joint brewery in Pilsen.
During the economic crisis in the 1870s, Emil von Škoda expanded his activities abroad and delivered systems to Hungary, the Balkans and the Russian Empire . A branch was opened in Kiev . In 1899 he became chairman and general secretary of a newly founded stock corporation of his group of companies. He held this post until his death in 1900 near Selzthal in Upper Styria on his way home from the spa town of Bad Gastein . His son Karl von Škoda became the company's successor as general manager.
Appreciation
Škoda was not only a technician and production manager, but also a good businessman. He had a feeling for new developments, but also a feeling for problem areas. His company took on technical orders that were difficult to implement for the time, and found solutions, which earned him military orders for war material. One of his achievements was the further development of mechanical engineering in Bohemia . Appointed by the emperor, he was a member of the Austrian manor house , a member of the Bohemian state parliament and a number of industrial associations and institutions.
A competition organized by Škoda Holding is named in memory of Emil von Škoda . The prize, endowed with up to 80,000 crowns, is awarded on application for a technical diploma or doctoral thesis.
Emil von Škoda is also the eponym for the name of the car manufacturer Škoda Auto .
literature
- Karl Bosl : Life pictures on the history of the Bohemian countries. Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag, 1974, ISBN 3-486-47801-X .
- Josef Weinmann: Egerländer Biographical Lexicon with selected people from the former government district of Eger. Volume 2, Männedorf (CH) 1987, ISBN 3-922808-12-3 , p. 203.
- Rolf Freiherr von Perger: Biography of the Perger family. 1995, therein: Chronicle of the Skoda Family, pp. 132–157, manuscript in the collection of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) Munich.
- J. Mentschl: Skoda (Škoda) , Emil von. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 12, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 2001-2005, ISBN 3-7001-3580-7 , p. 325.
- E. Mayer: Pilsen. The economic center of western Bohemia. In: Herzig, 1978.
- Alfred Stingl: The Skoda family. In: The home district of Mies, 1962.
- Gustav Otruba : Emil Ritter von Skoda. Beginnings and rise of his works. published around 1970
- Yearbook Mies-Pilsen, Volume 3, Dinkelsbühl, 1993: Skoda. Rise and end of a family of industrialists. Pp. 84-89.
- Jana Geršlová: Skoda, Karl Emil Josef Paul Freiherr von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 24, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-428-11205-0 , p. 489 f. ( Digitized version ).
Individual evidence
- ↑ Register entry in Pilsen
- ↑ Heribert Sturm : Biographical Lexicon for the History of the Bohemian Countries. Published on behalf of the Collegium Carolinum (Institute) , Volume II, R. Oldenbourg Verlag, Munich 1984, ISBN 3-486-52551-4 , p. 394.
- ↑ Myth Hartmann. ISBN 978-3-910186-72-9 .
- ^ Echo newspaper from Pilsen and West Bohemia , Pilsen, August 11, 1900, p. 4
Web links
- Biographical lexicon on the history of the Bohemian countries Preview of the book
- Skoda, Emil Ritter von . In: East German Biography (Kulturportal West-Ost)
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Škoda, Emil von |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Škoda, Emil Ritter von (full name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Bohemian engineer and industrialist |
DATE OF BIRTH | November 18, 1839 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Pilsen |
DATE OF DEATH | August 8, 1900 |
Place of death | near Selzthal , Upper Styria |