Erich Lechner

Erich Maria Lechner (born November 14, 1937 in Vienna ; † June 29, 2015 in Leoben ) was an Austrian mining scientist and university lecturer . From 1974 he was professor in the field of mining science at the Montanuniversität Leoben .

life and career

Urn grave at the Jakobikirche Leoben (2018)

Erich Lechner was born in Vienna on November 14, 1937 and spent the first few years of his life at the side of his mother, since his father moved into World War II when Lechner was two and only returned from it in 1947. The then seven-year-old lost his mother on February 13, 1945 in a bombing raid on Vienna and subsequently grew up with an aunt in Hohenberg in Lower Austria together with his younger sister . After returning from military service or captivity, he grew up again in 1947 with his father, who entered into a second marriage in 1948. Lechner received his school education in Vienna, where he also graduated in 1955 and then began studying mining at the Montanistische Hochschule Leoben . Lechner came to mining through his paternal grandfather, a general of the artillery who retired in the First Republic. He knew about his grandson's fondness for rocks and minerals and advised him to study at the Montanic University in Leoben. Lechner began his mining studies in the winter semester of 1955 and finished it magna cum laude in the summer semester of 1961. During his almost six years of study, he spent two whole years as an intern in several cabbage mines and on the Styrian Erzberg . Two years before his diploma exam, on March 1, 1959, Lechner became a research assistant (equivalent to a current study assistant ) at the Institute for Mining Studies in Leoben. Immediately after graduating in the summer semester of 1961, Lechner married Ilse Müller on July 8, 1961 in Seckau , with Günter B. Fettweis as his best man, and started a family with her. In 1963 the son Stephan, today managing director of Maerz Ofenbau AG in Zurich and lecturer at the chair for thermal process technology in Leoben, was born.

At the end of August 1974, Lechner was appointed associate professor by the then Federal President Rudolf Kirchschläger and head of the department for opencast mining. During the 15-year period from being hired as a research assistant to being appointed professor, he took on teaching positions for opencast mining technology in replacement of Ludwig Loch in February 1966, completed the doctorate with distinction in April 1968 and completed his habilitation for the entire field der Bergbaukunde in March 1973. In his early days as an associate professor, the Montanist Hochschule was renamed the Montanuniversität Leoben on the basis of the University Organization Act in 1975. In addition to his work in Leoben, Lechner was visiting professor at the Bergakademie Freiberg from 1978 to 1989 and from 1991 until 1997 visiting professor at the University of Miskolc . As early as January 1965, he was a court-sworn expert for blasting technology , as well as opencast mining and quarrying technology , and from November 1973, he was also a civil engineer for mining . Throughout his life he undertook numerous consultations and study trips at home and abroad, including in Angola , Germany , Finland , India , Italy , Yemen , Mozambique , Hungary and the United States . In 1974 and 1975 he worked for several months for the United Nations in nine East African countries to set up a joint mineral development center . Between 1989 and 1997 Lechner was a member of the supervisory board of Voest-Alpine-Erzberg GmbH and has received various awards and honors over the course of his career. The Cross of Honor for Science and Art 1st Class in 1987 and the Golden Merit Medal of the University of Miskolc in 1993 should be emphasized .

With effect from March 1, 1998, 24 years after his appointment as an associate professor, his professorship was converted into that of a full university professor on the basis of the University Organization Act 1993 . After he had already twice been on appointment lists for open-cast mining-oriented chairs abroad (1968 at the TU Berlin and 1973 at the TU Clausthal ), in 1983 he turned down an offer for a primo et unico logo appointment and thus the firm promise of a professorship from the TU Clausthal. Since the foundation of the technical committee for opencast mining technology in 1967, Lechner has belonged to it as deputy or managing director, in both functions at least de facto as managing director. In the same position, he had already worked for years in the previous organization, the working group for blasting with ammonium nitrate-oil mixtures. As a clerk, Lechner was already groundbreaking in 1960. On July 1, 1998, Lechner retired at the age of 61, but continued to hold the office of deputy and thus executive chairman of the technical committee (until 2005). In the course of his career, Lechner was the first and second reporter of 18 dissertations in Austria, Germany and Hungary, gave 62 lectures and published 36 mostly very weighty articles. During his life he created around 100 expert reports .

Lechner died on June 29, 2015 at the age of 77 in Leoben; his body was cremated and buried in the urn cemetery at the St. James' Church in Leoben.

Honors

• 1987: Cross of Honor for Science and Art, 1st class
• 1993: Miskolc University Gold Medal of Merit

literature

• GBL Fettweis : Laudation for Univ.-Prof. i. R. Dipl. Ing. Dr. mont. Erich Lechner on the occasion of his 70th birthday . In: Berg- und Hüttenmänniche monthly books . 153rd volume, issue 2. SpringerWienNewYork, 2008, p. 45-50 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ GB Fettweis, EM Lechner: Institute for Mining Studies (PDF). Montan University Leoben . Retrieved May 7, 2018.
2. ↑ Stephan Lechner's business card on the official website of the Montan University Leoben , accessed on May 7, 2018
3. ↑ Obituary notice on the official website of the Kleine Zeitung , accessed on May 7, 2018