Ludwig Lohner

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Ludwig Lohner (born July 15, 1858 in Liesing , † July 14, 1925 in Vienna ) was an Austrian industrialist and pioneer in vehicle and aircraft technology.

Live and act

Ludwig Lohner studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Vienna from 1875 to 1880. In 1887 his father Jakob retired from his company ( Jacob Lohner & Comp. ) And Ludwig took over the management of his father's company. When his father died in 1892, he inherited the largest horse-drawn carriage factory in Austria-Hungary , which exported a large part of its production overseas.

In 1897 he began to manufacture automobiles , where even then he saw a great future. Since the petrol engine did not quite meet the requirements, the development of the entire vehicle was rather a failure. For this reason he turned to the construction of electric vehicles , which he judged to have an even greater chance in the market.

With Ferdinand Porsche , he developed the Lohner-Porsche with a wheel hub motor in 1899 , which was a great success at the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris. In the following year Lohner developed further vehicles with mixed gasoline-electric drives together with Porsche.

In 1906 Lohner sold his patents to the Oesterreichische Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft , which had its headquarters in Wiener Neustadt . Porsche switched to Daimler at the same time and became its director. Numerous vehicles with this drive were built by Daimler. Mainly fire-fighting vehicles , such as those used by the professional fire brigade in Vienna , became known.

Lohner himself devoted himself more to body construction , but also built complete vehicles. So was he the O bus developed (type Lohner-Stoll).

Lohner arrow flier with national emblem - Spanish Air Force

In 1909 he switched to aircraft construction and, together with his Floridsdorf operations manager Karl Paulal, built a double-decker as the first motorized aircraft to be equipped with a 40 hp Anzani engine . As he was successful in this field, the Austro-Hungarian Army Command ordered 36 Etrich Taube aircraft from him . As a result, he built a biplane, the Lohner Pfeilflieger , which could be used as a land plane as well as a seaplane. The engines had up to 350 hp.

At the beginning of the First World War , the plant in Floridsdorf was significantly expanded. In 1916 the 30,000 vehicle and the 500th aircraft were manufactured. By the end of the war, 185 were added.

In 1917 the company was converted into a GesmbH . After the end of the war, production was switched to car bodies and the construction of wagons began.

In addition to his work as an entrepreneur, Lohner held numerous public offices. So he had a seat as a liberal councilor in Vienna. He was also one of the founders of the Austrian Federation of Industrialists , the ÖAMTC and the Austrian Aero Club .

Lohner died the day before his 67th birthday. He was buried in the family grave on the Pötzleinsdorfer Friedhof (group D, number 20).

Appreciation

In 1970 the Lohnergasse in Vienna-Floridsdorf was named after him.

literature

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personal data
SURNAME Lohner, Ludwig
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian industrialist, vehicle pioneer and politician, member of the state parliament
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1858
PLACE OF BIRTH Liesing
DATE OF DEATH July 14, 1925
Place of death Vienna