Hans Behn-Eschenburg

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Hans Behn-Eschenburg

Hans Behn-Eschenburg (born January 10, 1864 in Zurich ; † May 18, 1938 in Küsnacht ) was a Swiss physicist and entrepreneur. From 1913 to the end of 1927 he was the technical general director of the Oerlikon machine works .

Life

Hans Behn-Eschenburg's father was the English language professor Hermann Behn-Eschenburg . Hans studied in Berlin and at the Philosophical Faculty in Zurich, where he received his doctorate. As assistant to Prof. Dr. Heinrich Friedrich Weber at the ETH Zurich in 1891 participated in the metrological investigations of the three-phase power transmission from Lauffen am Neckar to Frankfurt . In 1892 he went to Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon (MFO), where he became chief electrician in 1897, director in 1910 and technical general director in 1913. After his resignation at the end of 1927, he remained with the MFO as a technical advisor until his death: In 1927 the board of directors appointed him "advisory engineer for the MFO for life". From around 1931 Behn-Eschenburg was himself Vice President of the Board of Directors. In 1919 he received an honorary doctorate (Dr. hc) from the ETH Zurich.

plant

Behn-Eschenburg contributed to the theory of alternating current technology, u. a. of the asynchronous motor . In the electrification of the Swiss railways, the single-phase series motor he developed with reversing pole and compensation winding was important, which was successfully tested in the Seebach-Wettingen single-phase alternating current test facility . From 1910 onwards, thanks to the Lötschbergbahn locomotives it had developed, the Oerlikon machine factory achieved the leading position in single-phase traction. Behn-Eschenburg also proposed the recovery of electrical energy from trains traveling down the valley, which was crucial for the electrification of the Gotthard Railway. Hans Behn-Eschenburg's estate is in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.

literature

  • Thomas Fuchs: Behn-Eschenburg, Hans. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  • Alfred Waldis et al. a .: Pioneers of railroad electrification: Emil Huber-Stockar (1865-1939), Hans Behn-Eschenburg (1864-1938), Robert Haab (1865-1939), Anton Schrafl (1873-1945) , Meilen: Verein für Wirtschaftshistorische Studies 2003 (Swiss pioneers in business and technology; 77)
  • Elsasser, Kilian T .: Electric Railways. The electrification of Swiss railways , Stämpfli Verlag AG, Bern 2019. ISBN 978-3-7272-6111-4

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Thomas Fuchs: Behn-Eschenburg, Hans. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
  2. ^ Historical archive ABB Switzerland
  3. ^ Documentation Center of the Swiss Museum of Transport
personal data
SURNAME Behn-Eschenburg, Hans
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss physicist and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH January 10, 1864
PLACE OF BIRTH Zurich
DATE OF DEATH May 18, 1938
Place of death Küsnacht