Erich Pollähne
Erich Pollähne (born July 18, 1915 in Eisleben , † January 20, 2005 in Hanover ) was a German precision mechanic and artist . He is one of the most important German sundial and exhibit builders of the modern age. In 1956 he founded the precision mechanics and scale manufacturing company in Hanover. In 1960 he moved the company headquarters to Wennigsen (Deister).
Sundials
His mathematically precise sundial (time monument) on Forges-les-Eaux-Platz in Wennigsen is one of his masterpieces. In addition to his grave in the Wennigs cemetery, Pollähne's sundials also adorn the Park of the Senses in Laatzen and the sundial garden in Bad Bevensen (14 meter high shadow stick). He restored numerous historical sundials such as the large sundial in the Great Garden of the Herrenhausen Baroque Garden.
The Wennigs sundial stands on a base plate (2.5 meters in diameter) made of stainless steel with representations of contemporary history. The surrounding frame bears 18 pictures from time measurement and astronomy from the present to the moon landing. The cover plate of the sundial base carries the view of the earth with the fanned out southern hemisphere in the center. Above it is the truncated hexahedron (truncated cube) with east, south, west and north clocks on three feet . Four other deviating, declining clocks are located on the upper four corners. At the top there is an equatorial clock made of acrylic glass, underneath an acrylic glass dome which, with a screen, serves as a projection surface for the equation of time inside the cube. It shows the Italian and Babylonian hours. Next to the main work there are two smaller clocks for the heliocentric solar system and for the Platonic year , which shows the tumbling motion of the earth's axis to the relationship of the moon.
The wall sundial with pole rod by Erich Pollähne for the Marienkirche in Wülfingen.
On the south wall of St Mary's Church of Wülfingen the front door is located near the vertical sundial gnomon that Erich Pollähne built in 1998 and attached to the church wall. The sundial shows the year from the consecration of St. Mary's Church in 1774 and the year from the consecration of the vertical sundial in 1998.
The sundial was calculated by Erich Pollähne to the 52nd degree of latitude and shows the true local time of Wülfingen. It is a vertical clock made of Obernkirchen sandstone in the format 60 cm × 60 cm with a stainless steel shadow bar.
The shadow rod is parallel to the earth's axis , which runs through the south and north poles. It casts a ten-millimeter-wide shadow on the sundial scale. The time is read on the left edge of the shadow until 12 o'clock and after 12 o'clock on the right edge of the shadow.
The lines of the sundial are designed for quarters of an hour. The endpoints of the lines were drilled in in case of restoration. The full hours are given in Roman numerals , which were carved in stone and gilded. They show the true local time . The sundial also includes the sun symbol and measurement lines for the equinox , winter solstice, and summer solstice . The sun and the solstice lines were carved into the sandstone and then laid out in color.
Under the sundial there is a black board with explanations of how the true local time read on the sundial can be converted into the Central European Time and daylight saving time shown on the church clock . The table contains minutes for correcting the equation of time and the deviation from the time zone meridian, which must be added to the time read in order to calculate Central European Time. An hour must be added to this during summer time.
Exhibits
The term exhibits comes from Frank Oppenheimer, the founder of the EXPLORATORIUM in San Francisco. The purpose of exhibits is to make natural phenomena perceptible. As a partner and friend of the artist and artisan philosopher Hugo Kükelhaus , many of Pollähne's designs became reality. So 1974 was in his workshop, which consists of 35 individual stations "testing ground for organ experience", which in March 1975 to the Exempla organism & technique was shown in Munich as part of the Congress Banquet The range of works ranging from the double helix before. Wennigser town hall up to equip the Science Center Phaeno in Wolfsburg and Universum in Bremen as well as outdoor installations such as the Park of the Senses in Laatzen , which was designed for the Expo 2000 .
Awards
- In 1987 the federal state of Bavaria awarded the Bavarian State Prize
- In 1993 Erich Pollähne received the Federal Order of Merit
- Honorary Citizen of Wennigsen (Deister)
Sundial (time monument) in Wennigsen
Double helix as a spiral of life in Wennigsen
Replica of the Sisson sundial in the large garden of Herrenhausen Palace near Hanover
14 m high shadow stick in the sundial garden in Bad Bevensen
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Egon Wieckhorst: The sundials on the south side of the St. Marienkirche in Wülfingen. In: Springer Yearbook 2016 for the city and the old district of Springe. Support association for the town history of Springe e. V., Springe 2016, pp. 119–123.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pollähne, Erich |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German precision mechanic and artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 20th century |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hanover |
| DATE OF DEATH | January 20, 2005 |
| Place of death | Wennigsen |