František Křižík

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
František Křižík

František Křižík (born July 8, 1847 in Plánice , † January 22, 1941 in Stádlec near Tábor ) was a Czech technician, industrialist and inventor. His greatest invention were improvements to the carbon arc lamp , for which he had an automatic regulation patented, as well as his contribution to the electrification of Bohemia through the construction of power stations and the installation of electric railways and trams. He was often called the "Czech Edison " by the journalists of his day .

Life

Křižík was the son of a country tailor . In Prague he attended secondary school , but could not take the exams because he didn't have the money to pay for the exam fees. Due to his special academic achievements, Professor Carl Zenger admitted him to the Prague Polytechnic even without a high school diploma . During his studies he perfected the controls for the railway signal systems. He continued this work as a railway employee .

Křižíks regulation of the arc lamp

In 1878 he visited the Paris World's Fair and saw arc lamps there for the first time . In the same year he was able to apply for a patent for automatic regulation as a major improvement.

In 1881 he began to produce his technical innovations himself, first in Pilsen , then in Karolinenthal near Prague . As early as 1882 he participated with his arc lamp at the Paris World's Fair, where it competed against Edison's incandescent lamp and received a gold medal.

In 1883 he took part in the International Electrical Exhibition in Vienna and took over the lighting of the area free of charge. That earned him a lot of admiration.

From 1905 Křižík was a member of the Austrian manor house .

Of course, Křižík missed the technical development. He overlooked the fact that alternating current had certain advantages over direct current . So he lost z. B. the tender for a power station in Prague-Holešovice against the young dynamic engineer Emil Kolben , who had relied on alternating current technology. In the economically problematic years of the First World War, he had to convert his company into a stock corporation at the instigation of the banks. The inventor, often referred to as the “Bohemian Edison”, withdrew bitterly.

Křižík died at the age of 93 and was buried in the Vyšehrad cemetery in Prague. His body is located in the so-called Slavín, the crypt of honor for distinguished personalities of the Czech people .

Inventions

In 1878 he constructed a blocking signal device. In 1880 he invented a new type of arc lamp for the Piett paper mill in Pilsen , which he applied for a patent in 1882, after having been used to illuminate the stage in the Pilsen Theater the previous year.

In 1888 he built the first power station in Bohemia in Žižkov , and then others around the world. He also began manufacturing electrical devices: dynamos, arc lamps, incandescent lamps and installation material.

Pioneer of electric rail transport

Pilsen: City tram

In 1892 Křižík was asked by the Pilsen city ​​council to work out a project for the construction of a city tram. A year later, Křižík submitted the design for an electric train in the royal district town of Pilsen ( Návrh pro elektrickou dráhu městskou v královském krajském městě Plzni ). When the order was placed, Křižík received most of the work (tracks, power station, electrical equipment for the railcars), and the companies Škoda (steam boiler for the power station) and Václav Brožík a syn (railcar) also took part. On June 29, 1899, tram traffic in Pilsen began with twenty railcars. Křižík was thus significantly involved in the shape of the Pilsen city traffic .

Prague: The Letná tram to the exhibition grounds

See: Letná tram

Another plan was to build an electric tram in Prague. However, Křižík did not receive a concession because the Prague horse-drawn railway had the monopoly. For example, he was only able to build a tram line from Letná to the exhibition grounds for the Jubilee National Exhibition of the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1891 . It was only 800 m long, but still a sensation. In addition, the area was illuminated with 226 arc lamps and more than 1400 incandescent lamps from Křižík's production and he had a light fountain, a fountain illuminated with lamps, built for the exhibition. The train was a private company and ran in the summer months up to 1900.

Prague: Florenc – Vysočany tram

As early as 1896 an 8 km long tram line Florenc - Karlín - Libeň - Vysočany was put into operation. The operator was the company "Křižíkova soukromá Elektrická dráha Praha - Libeň - Vysočany" (Křižík's private electric railway Praha - Libeň - Vysočany). The route passed through several suburbs north of the city center and carried 2 million passengers annually.

Local railway Tábor – Bechyně

In 1903 he built a 24 km long railway line from Bechyně to Tábor . It was the first electrically operated railway in all of Austria-Hungary.

Electrification of the horse-drawn tram across Prague's Charles Bridge

From 1883–1905 the horse-drawn tram ran over the Charles Bridge. The electrification of this line was hesitated for a long time, because the classic overhead line would have considerably disrupted the historical shape of the bridge. At František Křižík's suggestion, the power supply was installed using special contacts placed between the rails. Electric tram traffic over Charles Bridge began in September 1905. The system was, however, quite prone to failure, and the traffic endangered the existence of the bridge and the statues, so that in 1908 it was decided to stop tram traffic on Charles Bridge.

Hybrid electric vehicles

Hybrid automobile based on the Laurin & Klement E , 1908, source: Škoda Muzeum

In 1895 he built an electric vehicle based on a landaulet that powered the rear axle via an electric motor and a planetary gear . The battery was located in the back of the car. The vehicle was controlled using a hand lever and a pedal. This construction was later converted into a hybrid construction; two electric motors each drove a rear wheel via a chain. In addition, a small gasoline engine with a generator was installed that could charge the battery.

In 1908, a transmission in a Laurin & Klement E was replaced by an electric motor. The electricity for this was supplied by a generator coupled to the car's gasoline engine. A battery was no longer necessary for this construction.

Honors and memberships

There is a small museum in the house where he was born in Plánice. The exhibition includes photos, copies of patent certificates and a working arc lamp.

Streets are named after him in several cities. In Prague, the Křižíkova metro station bears his name.

Since December 2008, a pair of EuroCity trains between Bratislava and Prague has been named after František Křižík.

Křižík was a member of the Freemasons Association , he belonged to the Sibi et posteris lodge in Prague.

literature

Web links

Commons : František Křižík  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Presentation of the first electric car by František Křižík
  2. ^ Eugen Lennhoff, Oskar Posner, Dieter A. Binder: Internationales Freemaurerlexikon , revised and expanded new edition of the edition from 1932, Munich 2003, 951 pages, ISBN 3-7766-2161-3
personal data
SURNAME Křižík, František
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Czech technician, industrialist and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH July 8, 1847
PLACE OF BIRTH Plánice
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1941
Place of death Stádlec near Tábor