Martin Schmidt (civil engineer)

Martin Schmidt

Martin Schmidt (born July 29, 1928 in Meyenburg ; † February 2, 2003 in Hildesheim ) was a German hydraulic engineer and dam expert . He showed great interest in historical hydraulic engineering, and his particular merit was the publications relating to the structures of the Upper Harz Water Shelf , which made it possible to recognize them as a UNESCO World Heritage Site .

Life

Martin Schmidt was the son of a teacher couple. After military service as an anti-aircraft helper and labor officer as well as a short English prisoner of war, he graduated from high school in 1947 and studied construction and transport at the TU Berlin until 1952 . This was followed by a five-year activity at the local Institute for Hydraulic Engineering and Water Management, during which he did his doctorate on a subject on strike weirs . From 1957 to 1962 he worked in Namibia (then south-west Africa) and was the local site manager responsible for the construction of the Hardap dam near Mariental .

In 1962 Martin Schmidt joined the Harz waterworks and, as site manager, had a major impact on the construction of the Innerste Dam , Granetalsperre and their transition structures. As a result of these measures, drinking water sales by the Harz waterworks had almost doubled by the early 1980s. At the end of the 1960s he became director of the Harz waterworks. During this time he published his experience and knowledge in the field of hydraulics, hydrology, dam construction, water management and supply in numerous articles and books.

In the early to mid-1980s he had plans to build dam structures in the Siebertal . However, due to considerable protests against this project by nature conservationists, affected residents and those below , the state of Lower Saxony withdrew its funding commitments in 1987, so that this project could not be carried out.

At the end of the 1980s, Martin Schmidt began to be interested in the Oberharzer Wasserregal cultural monument . He sifted through countless previously unread documents from the 17th and 18th centuries in the Lower Saxony mountain archive and evaluated them. In addition, he explored the traces of earlier structures that still existed in the Upper Harz forests by walking intensively. Several publications and two books by him on the subject have appeared.

In 1991, the state of Lower Saxony transferred the active systems of the Upper Harz water shelf to the Harz water works for maintenance. As director of the Harzwasserwerke, Martin Schmidt campaigned for a basic renovation of the system, which was in a rather dilapidated state at the time, to be carried out in accordance with the historic monuments. In addition, he had a system of "water hiking trails" set up: On 22 theme paths totaling 112 kilometers in length, interested visitors are informed about the buildings of the historic Upper Harz water management in the area. Ultimately, with all of these measures, Martin Schmidt significantly increased the level of awareness of these buildings and also made a significant contribution to its scientific analysis. It was probably only on the basis of this preparatory work that the application by the state of Lower Saxony to recognize the Upper Harz water shelf as part of the world cultural heritage could be successfully initiated.

Martin Schmidt died of cancer on February 2, 2003 in Hildesheim.

Honors

• The Frontinus Society awarded him the Frontinus Madaille in 1992.
• At the end of the 2000s, a former employee set up a "Dr.-Martin-Schmidt-Platz" ( map ) in the area of ​​the former Hutthaler pond , which hikers gladly accept as a resting place and whose name is gradually establishing itself in the maps.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Justus Teicke, The Upper Harz Water Regale, the cultural monument. In: General Harz-Berg calendar for 2012, Papierflieger Verlag GmbH, Clausthal-Zellerfeld, 2011, ISBN 978-3-86948-165-4 , page 39
2. ↑ Winners of the Frontinus Medal at www.frontinus.de, accessed on June 13, 2020
3. ↑ The "Hutthaler Widerwaage" water hiking trail on the website www.harzlife.de, accessed on June 13, 2020

Works

• Martin Schmidt: The water management of the Upper Harz mining industry . In: Series of publications by the Frontinus Society. V . 3rd, supplemented edition. Issue 13. Harzwasserwerke, Hildesheim 2002, ISBN 3-00-009609-4 .
• Martin Schmidt: WasserWanderWege, a guide through the Upper Harz water shelf - world cultural heritage . Ed .: Harzwasserwerke GmbH. 4th edition. Papierflieger Verlag, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-86948-200-2 , p. 232 .
• Martin Schmidt: Dams in the Harz, East and West Harz . updated by Rainer Tonn. 9th edition. Paper plane, Clausthal-Zellerfeld 2012, ISBN 978-3-86948-251-4 .