Heinrich Mauersberger

Heinrich Mauersberger (born February 11, 1909 in Neukirchen near Crimmitschau , † February 16, 1982 in Bestensee , near Berlin ) was a German engineer and inventor in the textile industry . From 1946 to 1949 he developed the Malimo stitch-bonding process in his garage (GDR patent No. 8194, filing date: February 3, 1949; US patent # 2,890,579, June 16, 1959).

The serial production of Malimo machines began in 1957 in Chemnitz, what was then Karl-Marx-Stadt. Malimo revolutionized the textile industry in the GDR and was produced in large quantities. Malimo products were later found in almost all private households in the GDR. Typical products were towels and curtains.

Modified procedures were Maliwatt , Malipol and Malivlies . Malimo machines have been exported to numerous countries (including Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, France, Switzerland, Japan, Austria, Australia, Kuwait, USA). In the present, the process of manufacturing technical textiles is important.

Heinrich Mauersberger received the National Prize III for his invention in the GDR in 1954 . Class for science and technology, 1963 the honorary title “ Hero of Labor ” and 1964 the order “ Banner of Labor ”. In Limbach-Oberfrohna he has been an honorary citizen of the city since 1963, and a street is named after him. Heinrich Mauersberger was also honored for his invention abroad. So he was made an honorary member of the Textile Institute of Manchester on November 29, 1979. This honor was best given to a German before him: Paul Theodor Schlack , the inventor of the Perlon in 1963.

Heinrich Mauersberger did not join the SED despite great pressure. Thereupon his membership in the " Chamber of Technology " was terminated. He was banned from speaking at specialist conferences. He protested vigorously against it. A leave of absence was then suggested to him. He was sent to the psychiatric ward in Waldheim for three months and lost his post as Malimo institute director. He then moved to Berlin and bought a property in Bestensee in 1967 and no longer had his own income. The Malimo license income was not paid to him. In 1969, some West German colleagues launched an appeal for solidarity in a specialist magazine: “GDR inventor gnaws at the hunger cloth”. Mauersberger then received an honorary pension from the Council of Ministers. Even after 1990 it could not be determined how high the license fees received by the GDR were.

His stitchbonding technique is still used today in industry and space travel.

On February 5, 2009 , the community of Bestensee posthumously awarded Heinrich Mauersberger the first honorary citizenship of the community.

literature

• Dieter Bock: 50 years ago. Patent application by the engineer Mauersberger for the stitchbonding technique MALIMO - Heinrich Mauersberger in commemoration (1909-1982). in: Sächsische Heimatblätter issue 1/1999, pp. 48–53
• Heinrich Mauersberger u. Heinz Kemter: New Textile Technologies MALIMO , Berlin 1961
• Heinz Kemter: Malimo, Maliwatt, Malipol. Fachbuchverlag, Leipzig 1961.
• Siegfried Ploch: Malimo stitchbonding technology. Fachbuchverlag, Leipzig 1978.
• Jörg Roesler: Mauersberger's Malimo - Legends and facts about an original GDR innovation. in: Issues on GDR history. Berlin 1997, 48.
• Jan Wielgohs:  Mauersberger, Heinrich . 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 Heinrich Mauersberger in the catalog of the German National Library
• Short biography with illustration
• Feature of the MDR for the 100th birthday
• Honorary Members of the Textile Institute of Manchester

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Honorary Members of the Textile Institute of Manchester ( Memento of the original from July 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ Ortschronik Bestensee and MDR feature