Joseph Vollmer
Joseph Vollmer (born February 13, 1871 in Baden-Baden ; † October 9, 1955 in Braunschweig ) was a German engineer and automobile pioneer .
Life
As the son of a self-employed master locksmith , Vollmer grew up with three brothers in Baden-Baden . He attended the municipal trade school and after graduation went to Cannstatt in 1886 to complete an apprenticeship as a precision mechanic at the Esslingen machine factory . From 1891 to 1894 Joseph Vollmer studied at the Technikum Mittweida and completed his studies as a mechanical engineer.
Vollmer's career as a designer and automobile pioneer began in Gaggenau in 1894 at Bergmanns Industriewerke . She built his first motor vehicle, the Orient Express , and in doing so established the automotive industry in Gaggenau, which is continued in today's Mercedes-Benz plant .
In 1897, Joseph Vollmer joined the Berlin company Kühlstein Wagenbau-Gesellschaft OHG as a partner . There, Vollmer designed and built various motor vehicles that were awarded prizes at the Paris World Exhibition in 1900. Vollmer became a member of the technical commission of the Central European Motor Vehicle Association and was also appointed a police expert in Berlin, Potsdam and Frankfurt / Oder.
AEG , headed by Emil Rathenau , had had an automotive department since 1901 . From 1902 Joseph Vollmer headed this department, the NAG . All vehicles that AEG-NAG produced up to 1906 were created under Vollmer's management and with his ideas. This also included the “Durch” truck , which is considered to be the first truck in the world. In 1905 Joseph Vollmer married his wife Hedwig, née Stöhr, with whom he had two daughters and who celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1955.
In 1906 Vollmer left the NAG and founded the "Deutsche Automobil-Construktionsgesellschaft mbHBerlin (DAC)" together with his friend Ernst Neuberg. Numerous domestic and foreign factories were among DAC's customers, as many of them did not yet have their own design offices. The successful company constructed vehicles and engines until 1936 and supplied complete factory drawings in return for license payments. Until the DAC was dissolved, license agreements had been concluded with 68 manufacturers of motor vehicles and internal combustion engines.
At the First World War, Joseph Vollmer participated as a captain. He first tried to introduce the metric system in motor vehicle construction. With this work he is one of the pioneering thinkers at FAKRA, which in the twenties ensured that automotive assemblies were typified, and one of the fathers of German standardization ( DIN ), at that time still the "Standards Committee of German Industry" (NADI). Then Vollmer was entrusted with the construction of the first German Panzer K-Wagen , A7V , LK I and LK II .
After the war, Vollmer was able to use his experience with tank construction for the construction of agricultural vehicles such as the well-known Hanomag caterpillar. He also devoted himself to the construction of commercial vehicles and the development of the diesel engine.
Joseph Vollmer was the owner of over 450 domestic and foreign patents and utility models.
His life's work was recognized with the award of the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon, the Diesel Medal and the Diesel Ring, as well as a number of honorary memberships.
Joseph Vollmer died after a lecture at the Volkswagen factory on October 9, 1955 in Braunschweig. In 2005 his hometown dedicated a bridge to him: The "Joseph-Vollmer-Brücke" is located between the Europastraße / B500 and the Schwarzwaldstraße, directly at the tourist information.
Technical services
With the invention of the Avant-Train in 1898, Vollmer is considered a pioneer of front-wheel drive .
At NAG ( National Automobile Society ), in 1903 Joseph Vollmer built a "through" road train as a front-wheel drive truck with two trailers , the first truck in the world.
From 1900 Vollmer designed trucks for Kühlstein , NAG, Dinos , Loeb , NAMAG , Podeus , Hille , Vomag , Körting , Komnick .
The A7V tank designed by Vollmer was rarely used due to its late introduction and the few copies.
In the field of agricultural tractors , Vollmer's designs were very successful at home and abroad, and his Hanomag tractor became world-famous.
A number of Vollmer's patents made the development of the diesel engine into a vehicle engine possible .
Vollmer campaigned for standardization in the automotive sector ( FAKRA and DIN).
Joseph Vollmer is considered one of the ten most outstanding German automobile designers.
literature
- Gisela Zincke: Joseph Vollmer - designer and pioneer. Book & picture Helma Wessel, Gaggenau 2001.
- Jan-Peter Domschke, Sabine Dorn, Hansgeorg Hofmann, Rosemarie Poch, Marion Stascheit: Mittweida's engineers all over the world . Hochschule Mittweida (ed.): Mittweida 2014, p. 122 f.
- Sturmpanzerwagen A7V - from Urpanzer to Leopard 2 , Mittler-Verlag, Herford 1990, ISBN 3-8132-0351-4 .
- Automobile Quarterly , Vol. 29, No. 4 (1991).
- Stories from our Benz plant. Art & Grafik Verlag, Ettlingen 1991, ISBN 3-927389-18-8 , pp. 39-48.
- Defense technology and scientific weapon science, committee replica of the A7V assault armored vehicle: From the original tank to the Leopard 2 battle tank. A contribution to the history of the military and technology. Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 2003, ISBN 3-7637-6243-4 .
- Norbert Kugel: Joseph Vollmer, pioneer of industrial standards. In: The known and unknown from the automotive industry. Books on Demand, Norderstedt 2017, ISBN 9783744898263 .
credentials
- ↑ No. 18 A Century of Automotive Technology - Commercial Vehicles, page 271
- ↑ Commercial vehicles from DaimlerChrysler p. 20
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Vollmer, Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German engineer and automobile pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 13, 1871 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baden-Baden |
| DATE OF DEATH | October 9, 1955 |
| Place of death | Braunschweig |