Leopold Werndl

Portrait around 1850

Leopold Werndl (born November 13, 1797 in Steyr ; † December 4, 1855 there ) was an Austrian producer of weapon components. He is the father of the industrialist Josef Werndl .

biography

He was born on November 13, 1797, the son of the blacksmith Benedict Werndl . On June 26, 1828, he married Josefa Müller (born on January 4, 1806 in Klein-Boding in Pernarotte 5 in Frankenfels , died on November 10, 1867 in Steyr ) and in July of the same year he took over the Wieserfeld house from his mother Elisabeth 44 (later 304). His father Benedict had died in 1815. At the beginning, Leopold Werndl was a blacksmith like his father, but later switched to the manufacture of rifle components (fittings). In 1830 he was granted a five-year privilege to manufacture the front rifle ring for the Model 1828 infantry rifle. On February 26, 1831, his son Josef was born and in 1833 he joined the guild as a master file cutter . In 1835 he bought the Lettmühle an der Steyr (today in Sierning ) and ran horizontal hammers and a rolling mill there . Was produced u. a. Barrels for rifles and sockets as well as rifle rings and bayonets . He sold the house on Wieserfeldplatz in 1846 to a drill smith Josef Hauser and his wife Theresia . At that time, Werndl was the most important manufacturer of weapon components in Steyr and employed 450 workers. On December 4, 1855, he died of the cholera that was rampant in Steyr at the time .

Aftermath

After his death in 1855, his son Josef Werndl took over the company and turned it into an internationally successful arms manufacturer, the Österreichische Waffenfabriksgesellschaft . The company that still exists today (now: Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & CO.KG ) is particularly known for the STEYR AUG ( StG 77 ).

Posthumous appreciations

Saber maker with relief portrait

In his hometown of Steyr, Leopoldgasse in the Eysnfeld settlement is named after him. On the other hand, Leopold-Werndl-Straße , which branches off from Brucknerplatz to Garsten , is named after a nephew of Josef Werndl who died in World War I. This nephew bequeathed the Werndl villa on the street to the city .

One of the workers' figures on his son's memorial holds a relief portrait of Leopold Werndl with his name and dates.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Hans Stögmüller: Josef Werndl and the weapons factory in Steyr . Ennsthaler Verlag Steyr 2010 p. 55f ISBN 978-3-85068-860-4
2. ↑ The street names Steyrs: L and W (accessed on March 23, 2020)
3. ↑ The work: The Werndl Monument by Victor Tilgner , Sunday November 11, 1894, p. 44 No. 4 (accessed on March 23, 2020)

Web links

Commons : Leopold Werndl  - Collection of images, videos and audio files