Johann Friedrich Mende

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johann Friedrich Mende (born October 3, 1743 in Lebusa, Note 1 ; † July 1, 1798 in Freiberg ) was a German mechanical engineer .

The son of a mill owner started studying at the Bergakademie Freiberg in 1767 . In the same year he traveled to the Harz Mountains , where he visited a brass factory and a rifle factory, among other things. However, he was particularly interested in a water column machine used in mining .

Back in Saxony, Mende began building a water column machine, which was the first of its kind to be introduced into the Saxon mining industry in 1769. In addition to other water column machines, Mende subsequently built, among other things, horse and water gobs , pumps , blowers , weirs and water pipes .

In 1770 he was appointed art master at all Saxon mining offices. In January 1789 he was promoted to machine director.

To increase the efficiency of the ore transport of the state mine Churprinz Friedrich August Erbstolln in Großschirma - one of the richest mines in Freiberg Revier at the time - he developed the Lower Churprinzer water supply , which enabled the transport by barge to the hut Halsbrücke upstream and at the same time brought the additional impact water required for the mine could.

Neck bridge boat lift

In the course of this canal, Mende had a boat lift built near Halsbrücke in 1788/89 , which is now believed to be the oldest boat lift in the world. It consisted of the lower basin, the upper basin and the lifting device; With muscle power and pulley blocks, a height difference of 6.8 meters was overcome. This elevator was used until 1868. In 1791 he had another boat lift house built near Großvoigtsberg , which was supposed to overcome the difference in altitude between the Christbescherunger mine canal and the Freiberg Mulde.

Another achievement of Mendes was the project planning and management of the work to make sections of the Saale and Unstrut navigable between 1790 and 1795. He had been commissioned with the planning studies as early as 1778.

He could no longer complete the construction of a steam engine . He died in Freiberg (Saxony) in 1798.

annotation

Note 1 According to others on October 4th in Körba, only 2 km away .

literature

  • Werner Kroker:  Mende, Johann Friedrich. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 17, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1994, ISBN 3-428-00198-2 , p. 37 ( digitized version ).
  • Otfried Wagenbreth : Life and work of the machinery director Johann Friedrich Mende: On his 250th birthday . In: Sächsische Heimatblätter. 39: 211-218 (1993)
  • Otfried Wagenbreth: The Freiberg mining . Technical monuments and history. Ed .: Eberhard Wächtler . 2nd Edition. German publishing house for basic industry, Leipzig 1988, ISBN 3-342-00117-8 .
  • C. Schiffner: From the life of old Freiberg mountain students. E. Maukisch, Freiberg 1935, pp. 90-92.
  • Wappler: Oberberghauptmann von Trebra and the three first Saxon art masters Mende, Baldauf and Brendel . In: Messages from the Freiberg Antiquities Association. 41 (1905), pp. 69-178

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Joh. Dan. Schulze: Corrections. In: Leipziger Literaturzeitung. 1815, No. 72, p. 571 ( digitized version )
personal data
SURNAME Mende, Johann Friedrich
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German machine builder
DATE OF BIRTH October 3, 1743
PLACE OF BIRTH Lebusa
DATE OF DEATH July 1, 1798
Place of death Freiberg (Saxony)