Gustav Hammer

Gustav Hammer (born September 9, 1875 in Bergen on Rügen ; † August 26, 1961 in Berlin-Lichterfelde ) was a German mechanical engineer. From 1924 he was director of the purchasing department of the Deutsche Reichsbahn and from 1931 chairman of the German Machine Technology Society . Ultimately, he coined the series designations for steam locomotives and created the Reichsbahnwagen contract.

Career

Hammer was the son of a savings bank director. He went to school at Putbus' pedagogy , where he passed his school leaving examination. He then studied from 1895 to 1899 at the Technical University of Charlottenburg, a forerunner of the Technical University of Berlin . From 1900 to 1901 he did military service with the railway troops . He belonged to the Railway Regiment No. 3 in Berlin-Schöneberg and made it up to major in the reserve. At the same time, on April 1, 1900, he began practical training as a government construction manager at the railway administration. In 1904 he passed the state examination to become a government master builder and then got a post in the royal Prussian railway administration in Berlin. In 1907 he was transferred to the newly established Central Railway Office. In 1908 he moved to the Prussian Ministry for Public Works , so he worked in the civil service for the railroad. On April 1, 1910, he was appointed scheduled railway construction inspector. From 1914 to 1916 he was responsible for vehicle procurement for the transport engineering examination commission in the field railway service. He was awarded the Iron Cross, 2nd class . In 1917 he returned to the Ministry of Public Works as a consultant. In 1918 he became a government and building officer.

In 1921 Hammer became president of the Reichsbahn-Zentralamt . In this role he was responsible for the basic design of the newly introduced series scheme of the Deutsche Reichsbahn . On December 1, 1924, he was appointed director of the purchasing department. 1925, just before his fiftieth birthday, gave him the Technical University of Darmstadt the Doctor of Engineering honors sake (Dr.-Ing. E. h.), In "recognition of his outstanding services to the ... development of mechanical engineering and workshop technology in the field of Deutsche Reichsbahn. ”In 1931 Gustav Hammer was elected chairman of the German Machine Technology Society. Hammer was not a member of the NSDAP throughout his life , but was connected to the rulers of the Nazi regime through membership of the National Socialist Motor Vehicle Corps and the Kampfbund deutscher Architects and Engineers.

marriage and family

Around 1908 he married Ida Lange. Their son was born in 1910.

Classification scheme of the Reichsbahn

→ Main article : Deutsche Reichsbahn redesignation plan for regional railroad locomotives

In the early days of the Reichseisenbahn, all steam locomotives of the regional railways, as from 1925 also the standard steam locomotives, were to be converted into a uniform designation system according to series. The locomotives of the state railways of Prussia , Bavaria , Saxony , Baden , Württemberg , Oldenburg and Mecklenburg were newly recorded . The first constellations began in 1923. It is due to Gustav Hammer that 99 series were introduced and that the steam locomotives were classified according to their purpose in groups of twenty (series 01-19: express train locomotives, 20-39: passenger locomotives, 40-59 freight locomotives, etc.). Previously, number sequences with 14 or 15 series were planned, which, for example, provided for the classification of the later series 57 as series 33. This system was also retained on the two later German state railways. Significant changes only occurred with the computer-compatible recording of the locomotive series, which took place at the Deutsche Bundesbahn in 1968 and at the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1970. But here, too, the framework of the Twenties groups remained and still lives on today with the preserved steam locomotives.

Reichsbahn wagon contract

The Reichsbahn wagon contract came about on December 11, 1926 through the collaboration of Gustav Hammer, Kommerzienrat William Busch and the German Car Manufacturers Association. This means that unit prices existed for 90% of the wagon construction contracts. Price competition was stopped and the suppliers were given fixed quotas. The Reichsbahn had a say in the calculation. Gustav Hammer's work on the Reichsbahn wagon contract is mostly seen as cushioning the structural change and ensuring the survival of the individual plants. The monopsony of the Reichsbahn in relation to wagons was evidently intended to make economic sense in this way.

Criminal proceedings

Even before 1930, the Reichsbahn's procurement policy was the subject of criticism from Nazi members. For a long time, therefore, incriminating material was collected against Gustav Hammer and ultimately an investigative committee was formed. This led to Gustav Hammer being given leave of absence from his position as director at the end of 1935. On March 6, 1936, Hammer was taken into custody. On September 30, 1936, the Berlin Regional Court sentenced him to two and a half years in prison and five years of loss of civil rights for corruption. It is still unclear to what extent the criminal proceedings against Gustav Hammer were justified or unfair, because the files relating to the proceedings have not yet emerged.

Further life

In the years after 1950, already over 70 years old, he tried to rebuild the German Machine Technology Society. He saw himself as a victim of the Nazi regime. In 1952 he wrote a small publication on the criminal case against him.

To honor him, a square in the city of Stockach on Lake Constance is named after him.

literature

• Alfred Gottwald: Systematics without jumps . In: Railway history . No. 48 (November / December), 2011, ISSN  1611-6283 , p. 20-22 .