FW Breithaupt & Son

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FW Breithaupt & Sohn GmbH & Co. KG
legal form GmbH & Co. KG
founding 1762 in Kassel
Seat Kassel , Germany
management
  • Kirsten Breithaupt
Branch Surveying technology , precision mechanics , optics , optoelectronics , mechatronics
Website www.breithaupt.de

The FW Breithaupt & Sohn GmbH & Co. KG is a German manufacturer of precision measuring instruments, today the world's oldest companies in this industry.

The company has been based in Kassel since it was founded in 1762 by the later court mechanic Johann Christian Breithaupt (1736–1799) at the court of the Landgrave of Hessen- Kassel and manufactures precision mechanical and optical instruments. Members of the entrepreneurial family that have been running the business for eight generations were the founder's second son, Hofmechanicus Friedrich Wilhelm Breithaupt (1780–1855), his grandson, the inventor Wilhelm Breithaupt (1841–1931) and the inventor and officer Wilhelm Ritter von Breithaupt (1809-1889).

history

The beginnings in Amalienstraße, 1762–1831

After training as a court gunsmith, Johann Christian Breithaupt joined Johann Gottlieb Stegmann's mechanical and optical workshop in Kassel in 1757 at the age of 21 . There he taught philosophy, mathematics and physics at the Collegium Carolinum . As part of a lively practical and experimental activity, Stegmann built all kinds of equipment and instruments for scientific observation in his workshop, with which he also traded. In 1762, Breithaupt founded his own workshop in the corner building at Obere Karlstraße / Amalienstraße, which is the date the company was founded today.

In 1767 Johann Christian Breithaupt was appointed court mechanic by Landgrave Friedrich II of Hessen-Kassel and manufactured instruments for prince and royal courts, including for the observatory of the Landgraves of Hessen-Kassel, which was moved to the Zwehrenturm in 1709 . A Kleinschmidt range finder was made in 1770. The base supporting both telescopes measured 987 mm. A wall quadrant with a diameter of approx. 2 m and an accuracy of one arc second was made in 1785. In 1789 a similar quadrant was delivered to the Seeberg observatory near Gotha , which was currently under construction .

In the following years the company continuously expanded its product range, and in 1796 Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt (1775–1856), Johann Christian Breithaupt's older son, published the first catalog in which a measuring table with accessories was described in detail and with application examples Astrolabe with integrated telescope, an improved Bussole and a proportional circle were offered. A year later describes HCW Breithaupt then in another publication a new level and a new plumb level . In 1798, at the age of 23, Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt constructed the first pit theodolite with conical pins on movable tripods to hold the instrument and oil lamps as signals. The socket pin prevailed and became the norm in surveying technology.

Company founder Johann Christian Breithaupt died in 1799 at the age of 63. His two sons Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt and Friedrich Wilhelm Breithaupt took over the business. FW Breithaupt would have preferred to have become a painter, like his maternal uncle Ludwig Philipp Strack , but then quickly found himself in his new role. New products like the HCW Breithaupt, since 1798 Hofmechanicus and optic nerve of the Landgrave of Hesse-Philippsthal , invented Mine instrument have now been made. In 1800 a new catalog with a price list was published, which saw two further editions in 1801 and 1804.

The heliotrope made for Carl Friedrich Gauß

In 1805 Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt accepted a position as a mathematics teacher at the Gymnasium Bückeburg in the county of Schaumburg-Lippe , but remained connected to geodesy . In addition to a number of textbooks for mathematics lessons ("HCW Breithaupt´s Mathematics for Schools and Private Lessons"), he published a two-volume handbook and textbook on field measurement for trigonometers, geometers , foresters and farmers in 1824/25 . The fate of the company was now in the hands of Friedrich Wilhelm Breithaupt. Larger orders here included the delivery of 12 measuring table devices to the state survey in Fulda in 1807, a large sub-machine with a diameter of approx. 1 m and a 3–5 "deviation for the mathematician and astronomer Christian Ludwig Gerling - at that time still a teacher at the Lyceum Fridericianum in Kassel - in 1816 and a heliotrope for his doctoral supervisor Carl Friedrich Gauß in 1821. In the latter case, it was a matter of cooperation between science and industry, as would be practiced a few decades later by the Otto Fennel Söhne company (Otto Fennel had from 1841 at Breithaupt precision mechanic) Carl Gauß had the idea of ​​using sunlight and mirrors to make surveying points visible over great distances in 1818. Two years later he described the "heliotrope" ("facing the sun"), a device that means at the target point a telescope could be aimed at the theodolite, which is up to 100 km away, and the sunlight r reflected where the local surveyor perceived the target as a bright point of light. According to this description, Breithaupt built the heliotrope with which Gauss achieved a measurement accuracy during the triangulation of the Kingdom of Hanover (1821-25) that is still considered exemplary today.

FW Breithaupt & Sohn in Georgenstrasse, 1831–1945

In 1831 Friedrich Wilhelm Breithaupt's older son Georg August Breithaupt (1806–1888), who had already made a name for himself in 1829 with the construction of a small sub-machine and had his own workshop in Wilhelmshöher Strasse, two blocks from Amalienstraße, became a partner joined the company that was henceforth called "FW Breithaupt & Sohn". As already mentioned, Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt designed the first pit theodolite in 1798. After Georg August Breithaupt joined the company, the field of mine cutting was expanded significantly - in 1836 a new pit theodolite with a five-inch horizontal circle was brought onto the market. In 1839 Georg Breithaupt bought the house at Georgenstrasse. 9 (today Georgenstrasse 1), which was increased in 1845/46; After the end of the renovation work, production was relocated from Wilhelmshöher Strasse to the fourth floor of the new building.

While Breithaupt had primarily manufactured for science and civil land surveying, in 1840 the military was opened up as a customer base. Friedrich Wilhelm Breithaupt first constructed a tilting rule with a measuring table for the Hessian General Staff , which, as was later done with the total stations , enabled a quick terrain measurement : a ruler (the so-called "rule") with a movable telescope mounted on it was placed on the horizontally aligned measuring table Map sheet set, whereby terrain points could be recorded both in terms of position and height and mapped at the same time. The Prussian General Staff also ordered this construction and had it rebuilt in Berlin. From 1875 onwards, the Prussian Land Registry , a subdivision of the Great General Staff , also moved into leveling and theodolites from Breithaupt. Around this time, these two instruments, along with pit compasses, became the company's best-selling products: in 1868 the 1000th leveling device was delivered to the Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahngesellschaft and in 1872 the 1000th theodolite was delivered to a tunneling company in Palermo .

Friedrich Wilhelm Breithaupt retired in 1851 and the company was initially run by himself by Georg August Breithaupt, who was appointed court mechanic in 1855, the year his father died. In 1864, the fourth generation of the Breithaupt family joined the company with his sons Friedrich Breithaupt (1840–1907) and Wilhelm Breithaupt (1841–1931). Both had studied at the Polytechnic School in Hanover and at the Polytechnic in Karlsruhe . While Friedrich Breithaupt then worked in the optical workshop of CA Steinheil in Munich and at A. & G. Repsold in Hamburg, Wilhelm went to Lerebours & Secretan in Paris, where he also heard lectures from the astronomer Maurice Loewy from the Paris Observatory . In 1879, after the turmoil of the Franco-Prussian War had subsided, Breithaupt also published a catalog in French.

Georg Breithaupt (1873–1957), the son of Wilhelm Breithaupt, had studied at the Technical University of Munich as well as at the University of Munich and the Kaiser-Wilhelms-University of Strasbourg , where in 1898 he wrote the work “On the optical behavior of burned-in gold and Platinum Layers ”. In 1900 he then joined the company as a partner. From 1914 Georg Breithaupt was the sole owner of the family company. He himself took part in the First World War as a soldier, but production continued throughout the war; FW Breithaupt & Sohn was able to supply a large number of measuring devices to the German military. After the end of the war, Georg Breithaupt built in Adolfstr. 13, not far from the Higher Trade School , a new plant that was later expanded several times and is now the company's headquarters. This marked the final transition from manufacturing to industrial production. Georg Breithaupt established diverse economic relationships all over the world, especially to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, and supplied both scientific institutions and the armies of numerous countries. He presented one of his own inventions in 1922 in “New Bussole for Crociering ”.

Apart from surveying devices for the military, the company manufactured numerous instruments for mining from 1923, primarily pit theodolites and plumbing devices. As early as 1922, Breithaupt had set up its own scientific department with a design office, and in 1924, in collaboration with Lehmann from Essen, Maximilian Schuler from the Georg-August University of Göttingen and E. Fox from the Clausthal mining academy and the company Anschütz & Co. in Kiel an innovative gyro theodolite developed for mine separation. A steep shaft theodolite followed in 1925 with two reading points.

In 1932, Dipl.-Ing. Friedrich Breithaupt (1907–1967) joined the company as a representative of the 6th generation. Under his direction, new levels were developed in the 1930s, for example the large Heckmann-Breithaupt fine level with a flat plate in the eyepiece in 1933 and the redesign of the Breithaupt-Seibt precision level from 1877 in 1935. During the air raid on Kassel on October 22, 1943 , the factory was in the Adolfstraße 13 badly damaged. Two floors burned out, 59 machine tools were destroyed and the archive was also destroyed in flames. The company's headquarters in the city center (Georgenstrasse) was completely destroyed. On March 8, 1945, the remaining parts of the factory and the remaining office space in Adolfstrasse were destroyed in a bomb attack.

FW Breithaupt & Sohn GmbH & Co. KG in Adolfstrasse, from 1946

Just one year after the end of the war, with the approval of the US occupation authorities, work in Adolfstrasse and in the Lohfelden industrial area on the southeastern outskirts of Kassel was resumed. Now the era of product names began: 1947 the theodolite Greni, 1952 the optical repetition theodolite Teins (a highly sought-after instrument at home and abroad), 1958 the automatic engineering level Autom with a pendulum and magnetically damped plane mirror as a compensator, which is protected by utility models, 1959 the little repetition theodolite Tekat.

The importance of electronics was recognized very early at Breithaupt. In 1965, on the occasion of the 50th German Geodetic Day in Hanover, the digital theodolite Digigon was presented, which had been developed in collaboration with Hans Zetsche from the Geodetic Institute of the University of Bonn , the most respected scientist in the field of geodetic measurement technology at the time. After 1967, the 7th generation had come into the company with Georg Ernst Breithaupt (* 1938) and Hans-Hellmut Breithaupt (1942-2017), in 1973 a cooperation with Karl Rinner from the Technical University of Graz for the German Federal Railways , a laser - Clearance measuring device developed for the measurement and simultaneous mapping of tunnel profiles . Also for the Deutsche Bundesbahn, the development of the optical arrow height setting device Gluni for track measurement in curves followed in 1978 . With minor design changes, this device is still in the company's offer today. In cooperation with the German Weather Service , the electronic balloon theodolite Tebal was developed in 1989 to determine wind direction and wind speed. To do this, a balloon is aimed at using a telescope and followed; a connected computer calculated the wind data from the movements on the theodolite. Since December 2016, Breithaupt has been selling a modernized version of this device, the Tebal 2.

In 2006, with Hans-Friedrich Breithaupt, the son of Hans-Hellmut Breithaupt, the 8th generation joined the management. Hans-Friedrich Breithaupt had initially studied business administration at the Catholic University of Eichstätt with a focus on service management and production management. He then did his doctorate there with Bernd Stauss at the chair for service management on "Internet services and their quality from the customer's perspective". After teaching and project work at the chair, he finally went to MSR Consulting in Cologne as a management consultant, until he finally switched to the family company.

Products

Today FW Breithaupt & Sohn GmbH & Co. KG mainly produces theodolites , levels , total stations , test instruments and track measuring devices.

Breithaupt is the Conat marching compass supplier to the Bundeswehr . The 120 g compass is delivered in a leather case. The housing is made of magnet-free light metal, the compass box is made of shatterproof Makrolon with liquid damping. The 110 mm leading edge is used to measure distances on maps. The thumb ring below allows you to find bearings with a rear sight and front sight through the sight tunnel without the compass mirror above being covered with your hand. When opened, the bearing mirror automatically moves into the sighting position. The cardinal points are marked with luminescent letters. Compass sockets are available with inclination for the northern or southern hemisphere and with 64 (00/100) division or 360 ° divisions. The marching compass belongs to the equipment of every infantryman in the Bundeswehr, to the equipment of every sub-unit leader in other branches of the armed forces.

literature

  • Hans Friedrich Breithaupt, Ludolf von Mackensen : More precisely than exactly: 250 years of precision measuring instruments from FW Breithaupt & Sohn in Kassel, based on archival documents, biographies and instruments in the company archive and the Hessen Kassel Museum Landscape. Publishing house Thiele & Schwarz, Kassel 2012.
  • Heinz Draheim : 225 years of Breithaupt and son. In: Allgemeine Vermessungs-Nachrichten 94. Wichmann-Verlag , Berlin 1987, pp. 3-7.
  • Paul Adolf Kirchvogel: The court mechanic Johann Christian Breithaupt: reflections on the 175 year old. Exist d. FW Breithaupt & Sohn in Kassel. After d. Files d. Hess. State Museum in Kassel, d. Prussia. Marburg State Archives, d. Breithaupt family archives and d. Stocks d. Mathematical-physical. Cabinet d. Hess. State Museum. Publishing house of the company FW Breithaupt & Sohn, Kassel 1938.

Web links

Commons : FW Breithaupt & Sohn  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. see the article Breithaupt, Friedrich Wilhelm in the ADB, also on the company's products at the time
  2. Christine Belz-Hensoldt (Ed.): Apprenticeship and wandering years. Moritz Hensoldt's letters to his father from 1838-1843. Paque Verlag, Ramstein-Miesenbach 2002.
  3. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-firmengrundung
  4. Georg Breithaupt: The astronomical, geodetic and physical collection of the Royal Museum. In: Supplement to the Festschrift of the 75th Assembly of German Natural Scientists and Doctors, Cassel, 1903. Printed and published by L. Döll, Kassel 1903. - Full text online .
  5. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-prazises-schmuckstuck-fur-die-sternwarte
  6. a b c d e f g Biographies of manufacturers of geodetic measurement technology in the geodetic collection of the Geodetic Institute of Leibniz University Hannover ( Memento from October 13, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  7. https://www.deutsche-biographie.de/sfz5750.html
  8. Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt: About the use of various new and improved types of mathematical and geometric instruments that can be easily and well used for field measurement. Printing and publishing house JH Griesbach, Kassel 1796. - Full text online .
  9. Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt: Complete description of a new Mercurial level or spirit level with instructions on how to use the same, along with an appendix about a new setting balance. Griesbachsche Hofbuchhandlung, Kassel 1797.
  10. Georg August Breithaupt: The pit theodolite together with various associated auxiliary devices with regard to construction, adjustment and application. J. Chr. Krieger'sche Buchhandlung, Kassel 1860. - Full text online .
  11. http://malerei19jh.museum-kassel.de/show.html?kuenstler_id=26&nr=2&sort=B
  12. ^ Adolf Callisen : Medicinisches Writer Lexicon of the now living physicians, surgeons, obstetricians, pharmacists and naturalists of all educated nations. Volume 3, p. 122. Copenhagen and Altona 1830. - Full text online .
  13. ^ Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt: Description of a newly invented Markscheider instrument together with instructions for using the same. Griesbachische Hofbuchhandlung, Kassel 1800.
  14. Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt: Directory of all newly invented and improved mathematical, physical, optical and mechanical instruments and machines as well as other works of art, some of which are used to facilitate the practice of some scientific matters, and some also for entertainment. Griesbachische Hofbuchhandlung, Kassel 1800, 1801.
  15. Friedrich Wilhelm Breithaupt: List of all newly invented and improved mathematical, physical, optical and mechanical instruments and machines as well as other works of art, some of which are used to facilitate the practice of some scientific teaching and some also for entertainment. Griesbachische Hofbuchhandlung, Kassel 1804.
  16. Heinrich Carl Wilhelm Breithaupt: Hand and teaching book of field measurement art for trigonometers, geometers, foresters and farmers, with various not yet known and illustrated by examples geometric and trigonometric measurement and division methods. Published by Heinrich Oßwald, Heidelberg and Speyer, 1824 and 1825.
  17. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-kooperation-mit-gauss
  18. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-die-dritte-generation
  19. Christine Belz-Hensoldt (Ed.): Apprenticeship and wandering years. Moritz Hensoldt's letters to his father from 1838-1843. Paque Verlag, Ramstein-Miesenbach 2002.
  20. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-instrumente-fur-die-feldmess-und-geodasie . In 1866, Kurhessen was occupied and annexed by Prussia.
  21. Wolfgang Torge : History of geodesy in Germany. Verlag Walter de Gruyter , Berlin 2009, p. 205.
  22. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-die-vierte-generation . Marc Secrétan, at that time already the sole owner of the company on Place du Pont-Neuf, was the official optician of the Paris observatory. fr: Marc Secrétan , fr: Secretan (société)
  23. Georg Breithaupt: About the optical behavior of burned-in gold and platinum layers. Published by C. & J. Goeller, Strasbourg 1898.
  24. ^ Rudolf Vierhaus (ed.): German Biographical Encyclopedia , 2nd edition. Volume 2: Brann - Einslin. KG Saur Verlag , Munich 2005, p. 44.
  25. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-innovativen-kreiseltheodolit-fur-das-markscheidewesen . Before his habilitation, Max Schuler was director at Anschütz from 1910 to 1922, only interrupted by the First World War.
  26. ^ Wilhelm Seibt: Precision leveling of the Elbe. Executed by Wilhelm Seibt. Publications of the Royal Prussian Geodetic Institute, Vol. 13. Printed by and published by Stankiewicz , Berlin 1878.
  27. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-zerstorung-in-kassel
  28. https://www.dvw.de/landesverein-hh-sh/14883/intergeo-s-vergangenheit
  29. ^ Hans Zetsche: Contributions to the construction of geodetic field instruments with digital data output, presented by Hans Zetsche. German Geodetic Commission of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences. Series C, Dissertations; Issue No. 88. Verlag CH Beck , Munich 1966.
  30. Johannes Fabiankowitsch (Ed.): Festschrift on the occasion of the 65th birthday of Mr. o. Univ. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heribert Kahmen. Geoscientific Communications, Issue No. 71. Publication by the Institute for Geodesy and Geophysics, Research Group Engineering Geodesy, Vienna 2005, p. 20. - Full text online
  31. https://www.hna.de/kassel/er-fuehre-kassels-aelteste-firma-trauer-um-hans-hellmut-breithaupt-8135181.html
  32. https://www.gleisbau-welt.de/lexikon/gleisbau-und-instandhaltung/gleisvermessung/pfeilhoehenmess/
  33. http://www.breithaupt.de/product/gluni/
  34. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-elektronische-winddatenermittlung
  35. http://www.breithaupt.de/product/tebal-2/
  36. http://www.breithaupt.de/unternehmen/historie/#event-die-achte-generation
  37. Hans-Friedrich Breithaupt: Services on the Internet and their quality from the customer's point of view. Springer Verlag , Berlin 2005.
  38. https://www.hessenmetall.de/newsroom/aus-den-regionen/ceo-im-interview-dr-hans-friedrich-breithaupt.html
  39. https://www.competence-site.de/hans-friedrich-breithaupt/
  40. ↑ Measuring the world from Kassel in: FAZ from October 16, 2012, page 43.

Coordinates: 51 ° 18 ′ 38 "  N , 9 ° 28 ′ 31"  E