Max Mauermann

Max Mauermann (born July 22, 1868 in Tarnowitz , † July 1, 1929 in Vienna ) was an Austrian engineer and inventor of rust-resistant steel .

Max Mauermann came from Tarnowitz in Upper Silesia to Styria and had been a member of the Bleckmann Stahlwerke (formerly Phönix Stahlwerke ) laboratory in Mürzzuschlag (Austria) since 1899 , where he was soon appointed laboratory manager.

There he developed the first rust-resistant steel in numerous experiments in 1912 and presented this product at the Vienna Adria exhibition in 1913. Mauermann was promoted to director of the Bleckmann steel works.

Like so many inventors, he suffered the fate of not being able to enjoy the glory of his great invention without worries. At around the same time, Friedrich Krupp AG also developed stainless steel. In 1924 there was a patent litigation, which Mauermann won in an initial judgment. However, the Ruhr group skimmed the fame ( Nirosta ) and the profit.

The process subsequently developed into a legal battle that lasted for years after Max Mauermann's death. The first invention of stainless steel is expressly confirmed only three days after his death.

In 1955 the Max-Mauermann-Gasse in Vienna- Favoriten was named after him.

literature

• Hans Jörg Köstler:  Mauermann, Max. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 16, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1990, ISBN 3-428-00197-4 , p. 427 f. ( Digitized version ).
• H. Hampel:  Mauermann, Max. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 6, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1975, ISBN 3-7001-0128-7 , p. 155.

Web links

• Entry on Max Mauermann in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )
• Science calendar: Portrait of the day - "Max Mauermann" ( Memento from August 28, 2007 in the Internet Archive )