Kurt Passow
Kurt Passow (born April 16, 1896 in Charlottenburg ; died December 10, 1972 in Bonn ) was a German engineer, motorcycle constructor, designer, inventor, entrepreneur and head of machine reporting for the Reich Minister for Armaments. He was the son of Prof. Carl Adolf Passow and his wife Charlotte Amalie geb. Freiin von Röpert (1862–1930).
Life
Motorcycle construction
From 1922 to 1923 he worked as an engineer for the Vis Gesellschaft für Kleinfahrzeuge GmbH (Berlin), which manufactures " Wegro " brand motorcycles . In 1922, the chair motorcycle " PAWA " designed by him came onto the market, which is similar to existing models from the DKW works ("Golem" and "Lomos"). The idiosyncratic vehicle with a long wheelbase, sheet metal-clad two-stroke engine and side panels - the forerunner of the later motor scooter - was not a commercial success.
In 1923 Passow went to Braunschweig and founded the "PER" construction and trading company for motor vehicles and industrial supplies . He further developed the Pawa scooter into his own brand " PER ". - In the course of the year, Passow registered patents for an automatic transmission and interchangeable wheels as well as a utility model for the PER motorcycle with regard to the production planned for the fall. - On September 3, 1923, the Kurt Passow Aktien-Gesellschaft, Braunschweig, was founded with a capital of 50 million marks. The purpose of the company was stated to be the “construction of motor vehicles and accessories and the trade in the products produced”. The nearby Klein-Stöckheim was chosen as the production location for the "PER".
In 1924, Passow and his partners sold the patents, materials and production facilities to the Friemann & Wolf company in Zwickau . For this purpose, the pit lamp manufacturer founded PASSOW & Co. GmbH based in the main factory. Despite contemporary hymns of praise for the technical finesse of the roller chair, the "PER" was not an economic success either. Even a participation by the Berlin company Eichler, which had already taken on the DKW chair scooter, could not save the business. Production was stopped in 1926.
Machine reporting
In 1937, in the course of the preparations for war, the machine reporting system of the Reich Minister for Armaments was established as a punch card office for the defense industry.
In 1939 Passow published a book that became the Wehrmacht's Vademecum : "Taschenbuch der Heere". He became head of the machine reporting department of the Reich Minister for Armaments and from 1941 a member of the four-person DEHOMAG advisory committee .
After the German occupation of France, the company Wanderer-Werke AG Siegmar-Schönau became the enemy asset manager of the Bull Computer in occupied France.
After the end of the war
At the beginning of May 1945 the Industry Branch (a subdivision of the 'Economic Division', the economic department of the military government) made contact with the 'Foreign Trade Department of the Reichsgruppe Industrie', which had moved from Berlin to Bayreuth.
A short time later, the 'Department for Machine Reporting of the Reichsgruppe Industrie', on the advice of officers from the Economic Department, moved from Gera (located in the Soviet Zone) to Bad Nauheim, near the American headquarters.
Renamed the 'Statistical Office', this department was incorporated into the 'Industry Branch'.
1952 Wanderer / Exacta, Cologne, became Bull's general agent for the FRG.
Publications
- Taschenbuch der Heere (With 500 illustrations, maps, uniform drawings and silhouettes) Lehmann, Munich / Berlin, 1939
- From Poland to Compiègne . Lehmann, Munich 1941
- The machine reporting . In: Wehrtechnische Monatshefte (No. 62), 1965
literature
- Götz Aly, Karl Heinz Roth: The complete coverage. Counting, identifying, sorting out in National Socialism . Frankfurt / M., 2000, ISBN 3-596-14767-0
- Edwin Black: IBM and the Holocaust. The global corporation's involvement in the crimes of the Nazis . Propylaea 2001, ISBN 3-549-07130-2
- Michael C. Schneider: Business Decision Making in National Socialist Germany: Machine Tools, Business Machines, and Punch Cards at the Wanderer-Werke AG (English) Enterprise and Society 3 (2002), pp. 396-428
- Paulette Richomme: La Compagnie des machines Bull 1939-1945. Une company à l'épreuve de la Guerre et de l'Occupation . Phil.Diss Paris X-Nanterre. Nanterre 2008
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Historical stock exchanges
- ↑ Press release August-Horch-Museum, Zwickau
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Passow, Kurt |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German engineer, motorcycle designer, designer, inventor, entrepreneur and head of machine reporting for the Reich Minister for Armaments |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 16, 1896 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Charlottenburg |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 10, 1972 |
| Place of death | Bonn |