Kurt Hohenemser
Kurt Heinrich Hohenemser (born January 3, 1906 in Berlin ; † April 7, 2001 in St. Louis , Missouri ) was a German-American aeronautical engineer and helicopter pioneer .
live in Germany
Kurt Heinrich Hohenemser was born as the son of the Jewish musicologist Richard Hohenemser (1870–1942) and his British wife Alice Salt. He attended secondary school in Berlin-Wilmersdorf , Hermann-Lietz-Schule in Haubinda and the drawing school in Eschersheim . In 1924 he graduated from high school . In the period from 1924 to 1929 he studied at the Technical University in Darmstadt . In 1927 he became a graduate engineer and in 1929 a doctorate . From 1930 to 1933 he taught and researched under Ludwig Prandtl at the Göttingen University . Together with his colleague William Prager , he founded a discussion group there, which dealt critically with supporters of the National Socialist ideology .
After the National Socialists came to power in 1933, Kurt Hohenemser was relieved of all his offices at Göttingen University and dismissed because he expressed himself critical of National Socialism in the aforementioned discussion groups.
After a short period at the Gerhard Fieseler Works , he worked until the end of the Second World War , despite the existing employment ban, as a consultant for Anton Flettner , whose Flettner Flugzeugbau GmbH was involved in the development of helicopters , among other things . During this time he was instrumental in the development of the Flettner Fl 282 . Despite his Jewish ancestry, his work as a developer in a war-important area of the economy protected him and his family from persecution by the Nazis.
Living in the United States of America
In 1947 Hohenemser emigrated to the USA with his family . After his arrival, he took a position as aerodynamics engineer in a department of the American company McDonnell Douglas , which dealt with helicopter development. During this time he led the development of projects such as "Little Henry" (XH-20), "Big Henry" (Model 79) and McDonnell XV-1 , which is regarded as a precursor to the Osprey . In 1966, after 18 years with McDonnell, he accepted a position as professor of space technology at Washington University in St. Louis.
In 1975 he retired from teaching, but remained professor emeritus at this university for another 20 years . From 1975, on the occasion of the existing oil crisis , he dealt with the further development of wind turbines . Through his research in this area, he tried to determine whether rotor blade-like blades are superior to normal blades on wind turbines. After state subsidies were canceled, he continued research at his own expense. The many awards that Hohenemser received during his career included the Grover E. Bell Award in 1957 and the Alexander Klemin Award from the American Helicopter Society in 1964 .
literature
- Anikó Szabó: eviction, return, reparation. Göttingen university professor in the shadow of National Socialism , Wallstein Verlag, Göttingen 2000, ISBN 3-89244-381-5 , pp. 214–232, 583 f.
Web links
- Guide to the Kurt Hohenemser Collection
- Interview with Kurt Hohenemser
- Report on Hohenemser ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Julia Bidder: A life with the rotor. In: welt.de. April 28, 2001. Retrieved January 26, 2016 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hohenemser, Kurt |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hohenemser, Kurt Heinrich (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-American aeronautical engineer and helicopter pioneer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 3, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 7, 2001 |
| Place of death | St. Louis , Missouri , United States |