Franz Anton Egells

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Franz Anton Jakob Egells (born August 25, 1788 in Rheine ; † August 30, 1854 near Reinerz / Silesia ) was one of the pioneers of modern mechanical engineering in Berlin .

Life

After a failed attempt to set up a mechanical engineering company in Gravenhorst , he emigrated to Berlin and found a job in the Royal Prussian Iron Foundry . Because of his performance, he was given a longer "study trip" to English mechanical engineering institutes. At that time, this was the global center of research and development in the field of industrialization . The Prussian state, namely Ministerialdirektor Peter Beuth , financed this trip for him. Upon his return, Egells made a comprehensive report to the relevant ministry.

In 1821 he set up his own business with a small iron foundry (Lindenstrasse in Luisenstadt , today in Berlin-Kreuzberg ). The machine tools required were imported from England and paid for by the state. In October 1822 he also set up a locksmith's workshop in Mühlenstrasse (today Obentrautstrasse in Berlin-Kreuzberg).

In 1823 Egells began  to relocate its facilities in front of the Oranienburger Tor in Chausseestrasse 3/4. This made him the first private industrialist, after the iron foundry and mechanical engineering institute of the “Royal Sea Trade”, to settle in this area of ​​the Oranienburger suburb , later known as “ Tierra del Fuego ” . The connection to the state paid off: As is common today with grants for future technologies, the Beuth workshops were equipped with the most modern English machines through a foundation. The mechanical engineering institute was opened in 1825. In 1826/27, together with the businessman Carl Wilhelm Woderb, he built the first large private iron foundry in Berlin on the neighboring property in Chausseestrasse (today in the area of ​​Tieckstrasse).

In order to secure cheap access to good raw materials, at the end of 1829 he acquired an ironworks from Nathan Mendelssohn in the Schmelzetal near Reinerz , which was now called Egellshütte . He primarily produces steam engines for ships and mining .

Egells was remembered above all because August Borsig completed a mechanical engineering apprenticeship with him from September 1825 to March 1827 . After graduation, Egells hired August Borsig on April 1, 1827 as a factor in the foundry and workshops for eight years. Even Johann Friedrich Wöhlert met in 1818 at Egells and then worked until 1836 with him. Carl Hoppe joined Egells in 1834. He was employed as a designer and worked in the machine factory for 10 years. He developed a locomotive control system, for which Egells received a patent in 1840.

On March 14, 1838, together with the Saxon entrepreneur Detlev von Einsiedel , he bought a forest area from the city of Beuthen and in the same year set up the Graflich von Einsiedel'sches Societäts Eisenwerk , later Eintrachthütte, for 32,000  talers . In 1842 Egells built a locomotive based on Ludwig Kufahl's plans . By 1846 three more locomotives were built; however, this line of business was no longer expanded. During this time Albert Knoevenagel was also employed by him.

Franz Anton Egells died in 1854 at the age of 66 and was buried in the St. Hedwig cemetery on Liesenstrasse . The tomb has been preserved. In Berlin-Tegel near the old is Borsigwerke the Egellsstraße named after the entrepreneur.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Hans-Jürgen Mende: Lexicon of Berlin tombs . Haude & Spener, Berlin 2006. p. 54.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Egells, Franz Anton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Egells, Franz Anton Jakob (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1788
PLACE OF BIRTH Rheine
DATE OF DEATH August 30, 1854
Place of death Egellshütte near Reinerz / Silesia