Joachim Pokorny

Joachim Pokorny at his farewell lecture on January 29, 1986.

Joachim Pokorny's grave in the family grave at Osthofenfriedhof Soest.

Joachim Pokorny (born January 25, 1921 in Katscher , Leobschütz district , Upper Silesia province ; † June 5, 2003 in Soest ) was a German mechanical engineer and university professor . As a self-taught homeland researcher, he also researched the history of his hometown, which like most of Silesia fell to Poland in 1945 .

Life

Pokorny was born in the small town of Katscher in Upper Silesia (now in Polish: Kietrz ). After graduating from high school , labor service and a short internship, he was immediately drafted into the Air Force . In the course of his military service, he had the opportunity to complete additional studies. This then qualified him for further military use, u. a. at the Güstrow pilot school . After it was disbanded in the last days of the war and deployed to the front in Slovakia , Pokorny experienced the end of the war with serious wounds in a hospital in the Ore Mountains . This was followed by Russian and Polish captivity in the Zittau and Lublin camps .

After his release in 1949, he immediately began studying mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Hanover . In February 1952 he began his five-year career as a test engineer at the Stromag company in Unna . In the years 1957 to 1966 he took over a teaching position as a lecturer at the engineering school for mechanical engineering in Essen . During this time he also received his external doctorate at the Technical University of Stuttgart in 1966. He was then appointed head of the State Engineering School for Mechanical Engineering in Soest , until it became a department of the newly founded University of Applied Sciences Southeast Westphalia and shortly afterwards it was part of the university Paderborn rose. At this university Pokorny taught until his retirement in 1986 as a professor in the field of mechanical engineering - automation technology in the subjects of design theory , design systematics and drive technology .

The retirement years gave him the freedom to intensively pursue his interest in the history and the former life of the people in his former Upper Silesian homeland. With a lot of energy and a great deal of time he undertook historical and genealogical research on site. In addition, he stayed there regularly for long periods of time. Knowledge of the Polish language and a positive attitude towards reconciliation with Poland helped him to quickly gain the trust and respect of the current residents of Kietrz. His writings on the city and its surroundings are not just a scientific source for further local historical research. They also always remind of a current reference to the present. In addition to being memorable for former German residents, they are particularly important for today's Polish citizens of the region, as they promote their historical awareness, connection and identification with their current homeland. Most of these people, or their ancestors, also came to a foreign country as displaced persons from Polish settlement areas in the former Soviet Union . Several times groups of German expellees were Pokorny's travel companions and so people were able to find each other. On such an occasion, a reconciliation mass was held for the first time in the church of Kietrz. Former German residents were guests of the school, the parish or were invited to official city events on these trips.

Honors

The awarding of honorary citizenship to Pokorny by his hometown Kietrz in 1994 is remarkable and exemplary of supraregional importance.

His death was noted with sadness in Kietrz and he was recognized on the official website of the Catholic parish of Apostle Thomas as a great friend of the city. A mass was celebrated for his soul .

Publications and writings

Mechanical engineering

During his time as a university lecturer, Pokorny was editor and u. a. Editor of the following recognized standard work for engineers, which is also used to a large extent in engineering university education:

• (Ed.): G. Köhler, H. Rögnitz: Maschinenteile, Part 1 and Maschinenteile, Part 2 . BG Teubner, Stuttgart

Further:

• Investigation of the friction processes in clutches with friction disks made of steel and sintered metal . Dissertation, Technical University of Stuttgart, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, 1960

Local history research

All local history writings were self-published, but can be viewed and borrowed.

• At the Herder Institute for Historical Research on East Central Europe in Marburg , 12 book editions are listed in the literature database.
• The entire academic legacy of Pokorny's extensive local history and genealogical research and writings is held by the Martin Opitz Library Foundation , Herne .

literature

• Christian Pokorny: Joachim Pokorny - 80 years . In: Leobschützer Heimatblatt . Issue 1, 2001, pp. 26-27.
• G. Grüneberg: 25 years of engineering training in Soest . Festschrift University of Paderborn, Association of Friends of the University of Paderborn, Department Soest, 1989.

Footnotes, individual references

1. ↑ Stromag , including manufacturer of clutches and brakes, accessed on August 5, 2016.
2. ^ Repatriation in Poland after World War II
3. ↑ J. Pokorny: Tempora mutantur nos et mutamur in illis - my contribution to understanding with Poland (translation of the Latin title part: Times are changing and we are with them. ), Pp. 1-5, self-published, 2003.
4. ↑ Website: Gmina Kietrz on honorary citizenship , (last entry), accessed on August 5, 2016, ( in Polish ).
5. ↑ Parafia Kietrz ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2016 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. , accessed on August 5, 2016, ( in Polish ). 
6. ^ Herder Institute Marburg, literature database: J. Pokorny , accessed on August 9, 2016.
7. ^ Martin Opitz Library, catalog , accessed on August 9, 2016.