Otto Eppenstein

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Gravestone of Otto Eppenstein in the Johannisfriedhof in Jena

Martin Otto Eppenstein (born October 7, 1876 in Breslau ; † October 7, 1942 in Jena ) was a German physicist in the field of optics .

Live and act

Otto Eppenstein was born in Lower Silesia in 1876 ​​as the son of the Jewish merchant Richard Eppenstein (1848–1909) and his wife Marie (1856–1931), both of whom came from merchant families . He graduated from high school in 1894 at St. Johannes- Gymnasium in Breslau. Then studied physics and mathematics at the universities of Heidelberg , Breslau , Vienna and Jena . In 1900 he was in Jena with the thesis "the lowering of vapor pressure of dilute solutions About" doctorate . He then worked as an assistant at the earthquake research station at the Jena University Observatory.

From 1907 to 1942, Eppenstein headed the range finder department at Carl Zeiss AG . He worked with numerous scientists, technicians and experts from the army, navy and later the air force. He interrupted this activity in the First World War by doing voluntary military service . In 1919 the department had to cease operations temporarily. During this time and until 1938, Eppenstein looked after the newly established precision measurement department in addition to the rangefinder department.

In 1924 Otto Eppenstein converted to Christianity and became a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church through his baptism by Pastor August César (1863–1959) . Nevertheless, he was considered a Jew during the National Socialist era . Against all attacks from outside, Eppenstein was left in his position by the company management.

Eppenstein cultivated many friendships, for example with Ernst Wandersleb , Felix Auerbach , August Kotthaus and the coroner Ernst Giese . Zeiss boss Kotthaus and Giese probably prevented Eppenstein from being deported to a concentration camp until his death.

Eppenstein's achievements as a researcher and inventor are reflected in 79 patents. His inventions mostly related to distance measuring devices, their individual parts, adjustments and additional devices. From 1919 he registered patents on cinematographic devices and, when setting up the precision measuring department, on devices for testing and measuring threads, scales, parallel coordinates, on a length measuring machine and other precision measuring equipment. In 1922 he developed a length measuring machine based on the Eppenstein principle .

Otto Eppenstein died at the age of 66 on October 7, 1942 in Jena and was buried in the Johannisfriedhof .

Honors

In Jena, a memorial plaque was put up after 1991 at Beethovenstrasse 44, Eppenstein's last house. In 2012 the city named a street in the technology park Jena21 after Eppenstein.

Fonts (selection)

literature

  • Friedrich Stier:  Eppenstein, Martin Otto. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 4, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1959, ISBN 3-428-00185-0 , p. 549 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • Meike Werner: Modernism in the Province: Cultural Experiments in Fin-de-Siècle-Jena. Wallstein Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3-89244-594-X , pp. 41. , 42, 115.
  • C. Münster, In: Optics. 9, 1952, p. 431.
  • F. Schomerus: History d. Jena Zeisswerk. 1952, DNB 454457820 , pp. 141, 245, 319.
  • H. Boegehold, Ernst Wandersleb : In memory of Otto Eppenstein. In: Jenaer Jahrbuch 1956. VEB Carl Zeiss, Jena 1957, pp. 9-25.
  • Lambert Grolle, Manfred Steinbach: Otto Eppenstein's length measuring machine. A homage to the great Zeiss scientist. In: Jena yearbook on technology and industrial history. 2010, pp. 13–51.

Web links

Wikisource: Otto Eppenstein  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Catalog of the memorial plaques with short biographies of the honored personalities.
  2. ↑ From "Feinmess" to your own street: Dr. Otto Eppenstein and its importance for the city of light. 20th August 2012.
  3. ↑ Michael Groß: Zeissians honored with almost 100 patents in Jena. August 20, 2012, OTZ.de
personal data
SURNAME Eppenstein, Otto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Eppenstein, Martin Otto
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German physicist in the field of optics
DATE OF BIRTH October 7, 1876
PLACE OF BIRTH Wroclaw
DATE OF DEATH October 7, 1942
Place of death Jena