Otto Hieronimus
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Otto Hieronimus (born July 26, 1879 in Cologne , † May 8, 1922 in Graz ) was a German - Austrian automobile designer and racing driver . In his time he was one of the most successful Austrian racing drivers.
Life
Hieronimus was born in Cologne in 1879 as the son of the Benz representative there. From 1896 to 1898 he worked at Benz in Mannheim . For further training he then attended the technical center in Hildburghausen. In 1901 he handed over a Benz car to Arnold Spitz , the largest automobile dealer in Vienna, who hired him immediately.
Hieronimus designed the Spitz car named after Arnold Spitz at Gräf & Stift in Vienna . Spitz promised to buy and sell the entire production in 1902 and 1903.
In 1908 Hieronimus set a world record in Brooklands , the world's first permanent race track. In 1909 he worked as a designer and director at Laurin & Klement , the predecessor of Škoda Auto .
During the First World War , Hieronimus worked as an aircraft engine designer . In May 1911 he left Laurin & Klement to devote himself entirely to the development of aircraft engines. He designed the Hiero aircraft engines named after him . However, the peace treaty of St. Germain put an end to his work, so he returned to automobile manufacture.
As technical director of the Austrian arms factory , he had an accident on May 8, 1922 with his 3-liter Steyr while training for the Rieß race. He was buried on May 16, 1922 in Vienna at the Dornbacher Friedhof .
Sporting successes and championships
His most important success was the 1908 class win with the 16 hp Laurin & Klement FC at the Moscow - St. Petersburg rally . In 1914 he won the Alpine and Carpathian Tour. At the Sicilian Targa Florio in 1922 he was seventh overall and first in the three-liter class.
literature
- Martin Pfundner: Austro-Daimler and Steyr - rivals until the merger. ISBN 978-3205776390 .
- Hans Seper : The Brothers Gräf, history of the Gräf and pen automobiles ISBN 3-85339-216-4 .
Web links
- Report on the last race. In: Sportblatt am Mittag / Sport-Tagblatt. Sports edition of the Neue Wiener Tagblatt , May 10, 1922, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).
- Report from the funeral. In: Sportblatt am Mittag / Sport-Tagblatt. Sports edition of the Neue Wiener Tagblatt , May 16, 1922, p. 6 (online at ANNO ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Reinhard Keimel : Aircraft construction in Austria: from the beginnings to the present ; Aviatic Verlag, 2003, ISBN 3925505784
- ↑ Mercedes Benz on Hieronimus ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ BDA on the Spitz car ( Memento from June 2, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ a b Archived copy ( Memento of October 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=wst&date=19220512&seite=7&zoom=18
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hieronimus, Otto |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Hieronymus, Otto |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German-Austrian automobile designer and racing driver |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 26, 1879 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cologne |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 8, 1922 |
| Place of death | Graz |