Heinrich von Pechmann

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Heinrich Freiherr von Pechmann shortly before his death in 1861

Heinrich Joseph Alois Freiherr von Pechmann (born February 26, 1774 in Regen , † July 4, 1861 in Munich ) was a German hydraulic engineer .

Life

He was the son of Heinrich von Pechmann and his wife Maria Ludovica. From 1790 Pechmann attended the Ingolstadt Military Academy and in 1792 became a lieutenant in an infantry regiment of the Bavarian Army . He was one of the first to receive the Military Max Joseph Order for helping a comrade to escape during a campaign in 1796 and thus being captured himself .

From 1800 to 1801 he took part in the campaign against France and reached the rank of captain . In 1804 he submitted his retirement from military service.

After his transfer to Landshut in 1798 , he had already begun to be interested in the natural sciences . And now as a private citizen he began studying structural engineering . After completing his studies, Pechmann returned to the civil service as a specialist in general civil engineering and in 1807 became an inspector in hydraulic engineering and road construction. In 1809 he was appointed to the board of directors for road and river engineering in Würzburg .

On June 8, 1812, Pechmann married Maria Barbara von Lurz (1791–1837) in Würzburg. He had a total of eleven children with her, but four of them died in childhood.

In 1818 he was appointed to the Centrale Bridge, Water and Road Construction Bureau , the predecessor of the Bavarian Supreme Building Authority , in Munich , where he held the rank of building councilor.

tomb

Grave of Heinrich Pechmann on the old southern cemetery in Munich location

The tomb of Henry Pechmann is on the old southern cemetery in Munich (burial ground 14 - row 11 - Place 18/19) Location .

Services

Since 1820 Pechmann dealt with the drainage and cultivation of the Danube moss . From 1822 he wrote several books on hydraulic engineering as a specialist book author.

His greatest work is the planning of the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal for Ludwig I. This he began in 1826 after the royal order to work out a connection canal between the Danube and the Main ready for construction. He had given preliminary considerations earlier this year when planning a waterway from the Alpine foothills to Munich and on to the Danube above Regensburg .

When planning the “Ludwig Canal”, he had to defend himself against the sometimes unobjective criticism of many experts at the time , including experts such as Carl Friedrich von Wiebeking and Joseph von Baader . Nevertheless, he was able to complete his plans in 1830 to the satisfaction of the king.

In January 1843, long-smoldering disagreements between him and the board of directors of the Supreme Building Authority, as well as intrigues from there, led to his dismissal as the first board member of the sewer construction management. The problems in the construction of the canal, especially the necessary demolition and reconstruction of the bridge channel through the Schwarzach are sometimes cited as reasons for the dismissal. It is doubtful that these were a real reason for the dismissal, as the events surrounding the construction of the canal in 1846 led to investigations by the Bavarian Parliament. Background information was revealed and Pechmann was personally rehabilitated by the king in 1847 and awarded the Commander-in-Chief of the Order of Merit of the Bavarian Crown .

When he was touring his work, the Ludwig-Danube-Main Canal, by ship in the summer of 1852, he wrote his last book, in which he describes the observations made during his journey and the construction of the canal.

Fonts

  • Guide to building and maintaining the main and vicinal streets. 1822
  • About the previous and present state of water and road construction in the Kingdom of Bavaria. 1822
  • Practical guide to river building. 2 volumes 1825 and 1826
  • About the connection of the Danube with the Main and the Rhine etc. 1828
  • On the improvement and development of furnaces for ordinary domestic use. 1831
  • History of the desiccation and culture of the Donaumoos in Bavaria. 1832
  • Draft for the canal connecting the Danube with the Maine. 1832
  • About the recall of the builder of the Ludwig Canal from the building of the same and his retirement. 1843
  • The Ludwig Canal - A brief description of this canal and the execution of the same. 1846
  • Considerations for architecture with an excellent focus on Bavaria. 1847
  • The Ludwig Canal - Brief history of its construction and its remaining shortcomings and the means of removing them and raising the Canal to its perfection. 1854

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Pechmann, Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pechmann, Heinrich Joseph Alois Freiherr von (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German architect and hydraulic engineer
DATE OF BIRTH February 26, 1774
PLACE OF BIRTH rain
DATE OF DEATH 4th July 1861
Place of death Munich