Johann Matthias Lorenzen

Johann Matthias Lorenzen (born November 17, 1900 in Pellworm ; † October 16, 1972 in Kiel ) was a German civil engineer, coastal researcher and president of the Kiel Waterways and Shipping Directorate .

Life

Johann Matthias Lorenzen was a son of the Pellworm farmer Martin Eduard Lorenzen (* October 9, 1872 - May 31, 1955) and his wife Anna Helene, née Martensen (* June 7, 1879 - April 3, 1949).

Lorenzen attended Oberrealschule I in Flensburg , which he left with the Abitur in 1918. He completed his civil engineering studies at the TH Hannover in 1924 with the main diploma examination. He went through training for the higher technical administration service and at the end of 1928 was a government builder in Berlin . In 1934 he was promoted to government building officer, in 1941 to higher government building officer and in 1951 to waterways director. From 1957 he worked as President of the Kiel Waterways and Shipping Directorate.

Professional activities

Lorenzen started his professional career during the Great Depression in 1929, which made several million Germans unemployed. He prepared a plan for land reclamation, coastal and flood protection, drainage and the settlement of people in the area of ​​the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein. With these measures he created new jobs for many people.

From 1934 Lorenzen worked, based on the plan he had drawn up, as a department head for planning and research in the Oberpräsidium Kiel. He also headed the Schleswig-Holstein water management office. Because of the large work packages, he had to create new forms of self-government and state institutions.

Lorenzen played a significant role in the dike in twelve kays , which covered 6300 hectares of new land. He participated in the construction of the flood-free dam at Nordstrand . Then there were the dams that lead from the mainland to Nordstrandischmoor and Helmsand ; also the dam in front of Friedrichskoog and the damming of the Eider above Friedrichstadt .

After Walter Dix had presented the so-called "Dix Plan" in 1927, with which the western edge of the North Frisian Wadden Sea was to be diked by means of a very large dike, Lorenzen worked out an alternative. This inner Hallig line found its way into the general plan "Dike reinforcement, dike shortening ..." in a similar way in 1963

So-called “West Coast Research Centers” were set up in Büsum and Husum to implement the projects . Lorenzen ordered that they should carry out systematic investigations in different regions and make complete inventories. A "West Coast Committee" initiated by him discussed the results and the conclusions to be drawn from them. All work ended due to the outbreak of World War II .

During Lorenz's time the canal tunnels were built there , the Trave was expanded and the navigation markings were modernized. Lighthouses on the open sea replaced light ships previously stationed there. Lorenzen looked after and developed the ports of the state for the Schleswig-Holstein state government. In addition, he led major preparatory work on further damming work in the area of ​​the Eider Estuary , which was completed during his tenure. In addition, he prepared storm surge barriers on the Lower Elbe.

In 1941 the General Inspector for Water and Energy ordered Lorenzen to Riga . As head of the Central Technical Office there, he had diverse and responsible tasks. From 1947 to 1965 he took on leading positions in the water and shipping administration. At first he was a member of the board of directors of the Emden Waterways and Shipping Office and worked as a department head for the Waterways and Shipping Directorate in Kiel. From the end of 1950 he headed the management.

During his time in Kiel, Lorenzen was particularly concerned with having federal waterways repaired. This included the reconstruction of destroyed port facilities and bank protection on Heligoland . Since the Kiel Canal was increasingly frequented, modernization of the waterway was necessary. Lorenzen therefore traveled to the Suez Canal , the Panama Canal and the Saint Lawrence River and studied transport policy and transport economics.

Working in retirement

In retirement, Lorenzen was involved in coastal research. In doing so, he benefited from his broad knowledge of the causal relationships between the power of water and the influence that artificial measures had on it. In 1966 he took over management and chairmanship of the North and Baltic Sea Coastal Committee. He also edited the magazine The Coast . As early as 1937, he was the editor of the previous magazine "Die Westüste".

The German Research Foundation established in Lorenzen's initiative, the Priority Program "Sand movement in the German coastal areas," which he co-ordinated itself. He succeeded very well in coordinating the scientists and engineers working on basic and functional research. Due to his expertise, Lorenzen also took over the chairmanship of the Committee for Coastal Research of the German Commission for Oceanography. He played a decisive role and a significant expansion and strengthening of the international cooperation of engineers.

Shortly before his retirement, the TH Hannover made him an honorary doctoral engineer for his services in the field of research.

family

Lorenzen married Marie von Lilienfeld-Toal on November 24, 1939 (born November 22, 1906 in Saint Petersburg , † July 31, 1960 in Kiel), with whom he had a daughter and three sons. After the death of his first wife, he married Erika Bender on September 10, 1965, widowed Heinrich (born May 4, 1914 in Breslau ).

literature

• Marcus Petersen: Lorenzen, Johann Matthias . in: Schleswig-Holstein Biographical Lexicon . Volume 4. Karl Wachholtz Verlag, Neumünster 1976, pp. 142-145