Friedrich Eugen Maier

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Friedrich Eugen Maier (born November 1, 1898 in Wollbach , today in Kandern ; † March 1976 in Berlin ) was a German pilot and engineer who, after some professional detours, had concentrated on the construction of a simple car. His most important work was a corresponding prototype that was created in his company Leichtbau Maier in 1935 .

Life

After attending school, Maier trained as a pilot and then studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University in Karlsruhe . There he graduated as a graduate engineer in 1923 . He got his first job in the aircraft factory of Hugo Junkers . Because a Junkers aircraft yard was being built in Colombia , the company's boss, Friedrich Eugen Maier, appointed it director. After a few years in South America, Maier returned to Dessau and Junkers soon sent him to a branch in Moscow .

In 1930 Maier settled in Berlin-Karlshorst , probably already working on the design of a car , because in 1932 he applied for a first corresponding patent at the German Patent Office (DPA). A company from Munich had noticed the versatile engineer and provided him with 300,000  gold marks for the development of a Volkswagen. In quick succession, Maier then submitted further groundbreaking inventions for everything to do with automobiles for the purpose of patenting; a total of 12 patents have been documented so far, which are not only available in the DPA, but also in the USA and Great Britain (as of September 2014).

Around 1933, Friedrich Eugen Maier founded the Leichtbau Maier company , leased a plot of land at Sömmeringstrasse 31/32 (today: Sömmeringstrasse 29) in Berlin-Charlottenburg from the Berlin City Council and set up a small workshop there. He devoted himself fully to the task at hand and gradually built a small car prototype in which his ideas were realized. When the National Socialists came to power , they requisitioned Maier's workshop and forced him to repair Wehrmacht vehicles there from 1936 . Nevertheless, he continued to develop his car.

In 1944, a bomb attack destroyed the entire company premises including the workshop and some outbuildings. Valuable original documents were also lost in this way. When the Red Army occupied Berlin in May 1945, Friedrich Maier was arrested and was supposed to be deported to Russia . But he managed to escape and returned to his former workshop in Berlin. In the neighborhood, on the grounds of the Darwin garages on Quitzowstrasse, he found accommodation and parked his small car here. Maier lived here until 1954 and tried to get his patents recognized, in particular the self-supporting body, the fully adjustable driver's seat and other details. This would put an end to the family's financial need, as a number of ideas have already been used.

At the beginning of the 1960s, Maier moved to Gierkeplatz, where he found space for his prototype in the back yard in former stables. In 1975 the director used the test car in the war-related family film Tadellöser & Wolff , as it had not been changed since 1944.

Maier was married to a Danish ballet dancer . The couple had a daughter in 1943. However, mother and daughter fled to Denmark in 1944 before the bombing of Berlin. They returned after the war in 1947, but the marriage broke up around 1956 as a result of Maier's “construction frenzy” and the constant lack of money.

In March 1976 Friedrich Maier died impoverished and lonely in his apartment.

Literature and Sources

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ District Office Charlottenburg - Decision on the numbering of the property dated September 21, 1982
  2. ^ Charlottenburg> Sömmeringstrasse 31/32 . In: Berliner Adreßbuch , 1935, part 4, p. 1118. "Maier, F., Dipl.-Ing., Lightweight construction".
personal data
SURNAME Maier, Friedrich Eugen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German pilot and engineer
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Wollbach Krs. Kandern
DATE OF DEATH March 1976
Place of death Berlin