Karl Vogelsang (geologist)

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Karl Vogelsang , (born August 2, 1866 in Bonn , † March 16, 1920 in Eisleben ) was a German geologist and head of mining and smelting who was murdered by insurgent workers during the riots that followed the Kapp Putsch .

Origin and education

Karl Vogelsang was the son of Professor of Geology and Mining Science Hermann Vogelsang and entered the civil service as a mining enthusiast after graduating from high school . Practical work at Mansfeld copper slate mines, lignite mines in Saxony and iron ore mines in Siegerland was followed by studies at the University of Bonn , the Bergakademie Berlin and the University of Leipzig . On 10 July 1889 he presented at the Royal Mining Office at Bonn the mountain trainee -Examen off a year later he was in Leipzig with a thesis on contributions to the knowledge of trachytes and basalts of the Eifel to Dr. phil. doctorate and on December 15, 1894 he passed the assessor examination .

Trips abroad

On behalf of the Mansfeld trade union , Vogelsang undertook a five-month trip to the United States in 1890/91 to get to know the copper districts on Lake Superior , in Montana and Arizona . On another trip he inspected the gold mining districts in Australia on behalf of English companies . After his return he worked in the Aachen mining area . From there he went on further mining excursions to Sweden and the Urals . In 1897 Vogelsang was transferred to the Saarbrücken Mining Directorate as an "unskilled worker" and two years later he took a leave of absence from civil service. On behalf of an Anglo-Belgian company, he traveled to China to study the mining conditions there and did not return to Germany until the end of 1900. He presented several publications on the findings of his studies - among others together with Karl Schmeißer - some of which were immediately translated into English.

Further work

In 1901 Vogelsang was reassigned to the civil service, worked in the Royal Mining Inspection in Staßfurt , where he was appointed mining inspector in 1901 and mine director in 1903. In a serious mine accident in the summer of 1902 in the Ludwig 2 potash mine in Leopoldshall , numerous miners were buried; twenty-five of them perished. Vogelsang, who was in charge of rescue and recovery operations underground, played a key role in rescuing the survivors from the collapsed and burning shaft. For his selfless commitment he was awarded the Rescue Medal on Ribbon.

In 1904 Vogelsang was given the management of the Royal Mining Inspection in Bleicherode , but in 1906 he left the civil service for good to take over as general director of the Glückauf union in Sondershausen . Another two years later he joined the Mansfeld copper slate mining union, where he was responsible for the reorganization of the entire copper slate mining and metallurgical industry. The second half of 1912 took Vogelsang again on a journey of several months to the United States, where he studied the ironworks there, especially the new method of water-jacketed ovens.

During the First World War , Vogelsang was called up as captain of a Landsturm battalion in August 1914 . However, in order to keep copper production in the Mansfeld area at a high level during the war, he was released from the army on August 1, 1915 and returned to his previous place of work.

Private engagement

Vogelsang paid particular attention to the systematic organization of German expansion and mining coins and mining medals. His private collection was considered the largest in this field at the time.

death

In the course of the uprisings against the Kapp Putsch , several armed workers of the so-called Eisleben Action Committee appeared in front of Vogelsang's service villa on the night of March 16, 1920 and demanded the surrender of a car which two hit him fatally. He found his final resting place in the cemetery in Eisleben, where the Mansfeld trade union honored him with a large grave monument in 1922.

Three of the perpetrators were sentenced to imprisonment on July 5, 1920 before the jury court in Halle for "serious bodily harm with the use of weapons resulting in death". The main culprit, foreman Otto Koch, who was 24 at the time of the crime, committed suicide on April 4, 1927 after he had previously shot his housekeeper.

Awards

Honors

The following were named after Karl Vogelsang:

  • 1920: the Vogelsang settlement in Hamm - Heessen ,
  • 1920: Vogelsang, a street in Hamm-Heessen,
  • 1922: the largest of the four mine railway bridges to the Wolfschacht near Volkstedt .

Works (selection)

  • Contributions to the knowledge of the trachytes and basalts of the Eifel , JF Starcke, Berlin 1890.
  • together with Karl Schmeißer : Die Goldfelder Australasiens , Dietrich Reimer, Berlin 1897.
  • The Gold-Fields of Australasia , translated by Henry Louis, Macmillan & Co., London 1898.
  • Travel in northern and central China. II. Journey through the mountainous country of Ta-pa-shan (provinces of Hupeh, Shensi and Szechuan). In: Dr. A. Petermann's communications from Justus Perthes' Geographischer Anstalt , H. Haack, Gotha, 50th year, 1904, p. 11ff.

literature

  • Karl Vogelsang Collection. Yield and mining coins and medals , Verlag Riechmann, Halle 1925.
  • Hans Spethmann : The shooting of General Director Dr. Vogelsang. In: Ders .: Twelve years of mining in the Ruhr. From its history from the beginning of the war to the French march 1914–1925 , Volume 2: Uprising and standing out before and after the Kapp Putsch up to the occupation of the Ruhr. Verlag Reimar Hobbing , Berlin 1928, pp. 117–119 and plate 1 after p. 120.
  • Walter Serlo: Die Preußischen Bergassessoren , 4th edition, Essen 1933, p. 144f.
  • Manfred Hauche: In memory of Bergrat Dr. Karl Vogelsang. In: Association of Mansfeld Miners and Huts People eV, Mitteilungen 73, I / 2005, pp. 4–6.

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Vogelsang, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German geologist and head of mining and smelting works
DATE OF BIRTH August 2, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Bonn
DATE OF DEATH March 16, 1920
Place of death Eisleben