Karl Wilfert

Karl Wilfert (born July 1, 1907 in Vienna ; † March 8, 1976 ) was chief developer at Daimler-Benz from 1929 to 1974.

Life

From 1922 to 1926 he studied mechanical engineering in Vienna and was a design engineer at Steyr Daimler Puch until 1929 . From 1929 until his retirement in 1974 he worked for Daimler-Benz; most recently as head of body development .

He had a great influence on the developments at Daimler-Benz, especially for the W 198 and W 113 . In the mid to late 1930s, Wilfert and Béla Barényi developed the preliminary stage of the rigid passenger cell with crumple zones , a special platform frame that even had measures to protect against side impacts . During the war , Wilfert worked as a senior engineer in aircraft engine construction and as manager of a production plant in Schwäbisch Gmünd . The continuation in Sindelfingen's body shop began in 1949; His area of ​​responsibility was supplemented from 1954/1955 by the new style department, to which, in addition to Friedrich Geiger , Paul Bracq and Bruno Sacco later belonged. Karl Wilfert worked very closely with Bela Barenyi; many of the innovations in car safety must be attributed to both thought leaders. Like Barenyi, Wilfert took care of the systematic development of vehicle safety. The overall concept was repeatedly adapted in years of discussion and later published with the two main categories of active and passive safety. Karl Wilfert's deputy had been Werner Breitschwerdt since 1971 , who also became his successor two years later.

In 1973 the Technical University of Vienna honored him with an honorary doctorate .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Martin Pfundner: Austro Daimler and Steyr ; Böhlau Verlag, 2007
2. ↑ TU Wien: Honorary doctorates ( memento of the original from February 21, 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. . Retrieved March 26, 2015.