Gerhart Potthoff

Gerhart Karl Potthoff (born May 9, 1908 in Frankenthal (Saxony) , † September 25, 1989 in Dresden ) was a transport scientist and founder of the "Dresden School for the Training of Transport Technologists ".

Life

Gerhart Potthoff's grave in the St. Pauli Cemetery in Dresden

Gerhart Potthoff was born as the son of a Protestant pastor in Frankenthal . He attended elementary school in his birthplace and in Dresden and then the state high school in Dresden-Neustadt . From 1927 to 1932 he studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Dresden and graduated with a degree in engineering. Due to his inclination towards the railroad , he took up a three-year training as a government master builder at the Deutsche Reichsbahn (Works Office 3 of the Reichsbahndirektion Dresden ). In this capacity he was also involved in converting the narrow-gauge Heidenau - Altenberg line into a standard-gauge line .

In 1938 he wrote his dissertation on "Errors [n] in the graphic travel time determination" at the TH Berlin-Charlottenburg . The first major publications come from the time he worked as head of the new building and operations department at the Reichsbahndirektion Opole . They mainly dealt with problems of shunting technology , the collision of railway wagons and the passability as well as the operational sequence on railway nodes and railway lines . In 1942, he completed his habilitation to measure mountain performance on drainage systems , also at the TH Berlin-Charlottenburg.

After the end of the Second World War - he was released from Soviet captivity in 1949 - and after a brief career as a structural engineer at the Dresden Reich Railway Directorate, Gerhart Potthoff was appointed professor with the chair for operational engineering for transport in 1950. He was instrumental in building up the Faculty of Transport Sciences at the TH Dresden and made this faculty a university for transport .

In 1955 he was appointed prorector for research and dean of the faculty for transport engineering at the HfV. On November 1, 1956, he was appointed director of the Institute for Railway Operations Engineering. In June 1957 he was appointed to the newly created section for transport at the German Academy of Sciences .

In 1962 he was appointed dean of the traffic engineering faculty of the HfV. On September 1, 1963, an institute for railway operations engineering was set up under his direction. On September 5, 1965, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in recognition of his services to the development of transport science teaching and research by the Technical University of Building and Transport in Budapest . In September 1968 he was appointed director of the technical traffic cybernetics section.

At the University of Transport, he founded the Dresden School , which was characterized by new ways of looking at operations on rail lines. As early as the end of the 1950s - in addition to numerous publications - his main work, Traffic Flow Theory, was conceived as a university textbook in five volumes. Its constant updating, revision and addition and its numerous other scientific works also earned him international recognition.

Potthoff retired on August 31, 1973. He worked scientifically until his death.

Gerhart Potthoff was married to Marion (née König) for almost forty years and had two children with her.

He died in 1989. His grave is in the St. Pauli cemetery in Dresden. His heirs donated his academic legacy, consisting of 250 files and a specialist library of around 800 volumes, to the University of Transport in 1992. Today it is kept in the university archive of the Technical University of Dresden and is publicly accessible.

honors and awards

On June 12, 1955, the day of the German railroader , he was awarded the title of Honored Railroader of the German Democratic Republic .

On October 7, 1963, on the occasion of the Republic Day , he was awarded the Patriotic Order of Merit in bronze.

In September 1976 he was made an honorary member of the Hungarian Transport Science Association .

On May 10, 1978, an honorary colloquium was held at the HfV on his 70th birthday. For his services to the development of the university, the Scientific Council awarded him the title of "Honorary Member of the Senate of the Scientific Council".

The main building of today's Faculty of Transportation Science "Friedrich List" at the Technical University of Dresden has been named after him since 1993 .

The street at the freight center at Dresden-Friedrichstadt station is now called Potthoffstrasse .

Works (selection)

1952: Extension of the route and timetable
1958: The basics of railway operations (later became 1st volume of traffic flow theory )
1962–1980: Traffic flow theory (5 volumes)
1965: The operating theory in transport
1979: The railroad - driving and guiding

literature

Dorit Petschel : 175 years of TU Dresden. Volume 3: The professors of the TU Dresden 1828–2003. Edited on behalf of the Society of Friends and Supporters of the TU Dresden eV by Reiner Pommerin , Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 2003, ISBN 3-412-02503-8 , pp. 731-732 (with text by Helfried Potthoff, limited preview in the Google book search).
Dieter Preuss: Potthoff, Gerhart . In: Who was who in the GDR? 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, ISBN 978-3-86153-561-4 .

Web links

Literature by and about Gerhart Potthoff in the catalog of the German National Library
Reports from the academic years 1954 to 1958 and 1955 to 1959 on the TU Dresden website

Individual evidence

↑ Ute Pilz: I'd like to become a railroad worker ... - To the estate of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. hc Gerhart Potthoff in the university archive of the TU Dresden / archive of the University of Transport. In: Scientific journal of the Technical University of Dresden. 42nd year, 1993, issue 5, ISBN 3-86005-134-2 , p. 25.
↑ ^a ^b Ute Pilz: I want to be a railroad worker ... - To the estate of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. hc Gerhart Potthoff in the university archive of the TU Dresden / archive of the University of Transport. In: Scientific journal of the Technical University of Dresden. 42nd year, 1993, issue 5, ISBN 3-86005-134-2 , p. 26.
↑ ^a ^b Dieter Preuß, Gerhard Rehbein (ed.): CHRONICLE of the University of Transport “Friedrich List” Dresden 1952-1961 . (University of Transport "Friedrich List" (Ed.): Scientific journal. Special issue 5), ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 32, 50, 57.
↑ ^a ^b Dieter Preuß, Siegfried Heinze, Gerhard Rehbein (eds.): CHRONICLE of the University of Transport “Friedrich List” Dresden 1961-1971 . (University of Transport "Friedrich List" (Ed.): Scientific journal. Special issue 16). ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 23 f, 36, 40, 68, 104 f.
↑ ^a ^b Werner Groß, Steffen Haufe, Dieter Preuß (eds.): CHRONICLE of the University of Transport "Friedrich List" Dresden 1971-1977 . (University of Transport "Friedrich List" (Ed.): Scientific journal. Special issue 19). ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 30, 78.
↑ Ute Pilz: I'd like to become a railroad worker ... - To the estate of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. hc Gerhart Potthoff in the university archive of the TU Dresden / archive of the University of Transport. In: Scientific journal of the Technical University of Dresden. 42nd year, 1993, issue 5, ISBN 3-86005-134-2 , p. 28.
↑ Werner Groß, Stefan Haufe, Dieter Preuß: CHRONICLE of the University of Transport "Friedrich List" Dresden 1977-1984 . Ed .: University of Transport "Friedrich List" (= scientific journal . Special issue 20). 1985, ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 17 .

personal data
SURNAME	Potthoff, Gerhart
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Potthoff, Gerhart Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	German transport scientist
DATE OF BIRTH	May 9, 1908
PLACE OF BIRTH	Frankenthal (Saxony)
DATE OF DEATH	September 25, 1989
Place of death	Dresden

[1] Ute Pilz: I'd like to become a railroad worker ... - To the estate of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. hc Gerhart Potthoff in the university archive of the TU Dresden / archive of the University of Transport. In: Scientific journal of the Technical University of Dresden. 42nd year, 1993, issue 5, ISBN 3-86005-134-2 , p. 25.

[P26-2] Ute Pilz: I want to be a railroad worker ... - To the estate of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. hc Gerhart Potthoff in the university archive of the TU Dresden / archive of the University of Transport. In: Scientific journal of the Technical University of Dresden. 42nd year, 1993, issue 5, ISBN 3-86005-134-2 , p. 26.

[wz-s5-3] Dieter Preuß, Gerhard Rehbein (ed.): CHRONICLE of the University of Transport “Friedrich List” Dresden 1952-1961 . (University of Transport "Friedrich List" (Ed.): Scientific journal. Special issue 5), ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 32, 50, 57.

[wz-s16-4] Dieter Preuß, Siegfried Heinze, Gerhard Rehbein (eds.): CHRONICLE of the University of Transport “Friedrich List” Dresden 1961-1971 . (University of Transport "Friedrich List" (Ed.): Scientific journal. Special issue 16). ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 23 f, 36, 40, 68, 104 f.

[wz-s19-5] Werner Groß, Steffen Haufe, Dieter Preuß (eds.): CHRONICLE of the University of Transport "Friedrich List" Dresden 1971-1977 . (University of Transport "Friedrich List" (Ed.): Scientific journal. Special issue 19). ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 30, 78.

[6] Ute Pilz: I'd like to become a railroad worker ... - To the estate of Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr. hc Gerhart Potthoff in the university archive of the TU Dresden / archive of the University of Transport. In: Scientific journal of the Technical University of Dresden. 42nd year, 1993, issue 5, ISBN 3-86005-134-2 , p. 28.

[wz-s20--7] Werner Groß, Stefan Haufe, Dieter Preuß: CHRONICLE of the University of Transport "Friedrich List" Dresden 1977-1984 . Ed .: University of Transport "Friedrich List" (= scientific journal . Special issue 20). 1985, ISSN 0043-6844 , pp. 17 .