Otto Lutz

This article covers the German engineer. For the Austrian politician of the same name, see Otto Lutz (Politiker) .

Otto Lutz (born April 8, 1906 in Cannstatt ; † May 2, 1974 in Braunschweig ) was a German university professor , engineer , engine designer and entrepreneur.

life and work

Otto Lutz was the son of foreman Paul Lutz. After graduating from high school in Cannstatt, he studied mechanical engineering at the Technical University of Stuttgart from 1925 to 1930 . He received his doctorate in 1931 on "Investigations into the flushing of two-stroke engines " and then worked for six years in the laboratory for internal combustion engines , where Lutz was also involved in the development of the engine for the KdF car . In 1934 he completed his habilitation and moved to Braunschweig as a private lecturer and department head of the engine institute of the German Research Institute for Aviation (DFL). At the same time, like some of his DFL colleagues, he took on a lectureship ( aircraft engine construction ) at the Technical University of Braunschweig . For example, Lutz worked on processes for increasing the performance of aircraft engines by adding oxygen carriers ( GM-1 process ). In addition, he developed high-energy fuel mixtures for jet engines . In 1940 he was appointed full professor in the Reich Service. In 1943 Lutz went to Munich to set up the Institute for Engines at the Hermann Göring Aviation Research Institute in Munich.

After the end of the Second World War , Lutz initially worked as a consultant and as an entrepreneur in his own company, " LUTZ GmbH " , which was founded on May 13, 1946 . After the company in 1954 bankruptcy had gone, he took the same year a call the Technical University Braunschweig and took over the chair of machine elements and materials handling . At the same time, Lutz took over the management of the Institute for Jet Engines at the re-established German Research Institute for Aviation in Braunschweig. In 1958, Lutz was appointed President of the German Aerospace Research and Research Institute (DFVLR) and held this position until 1969. This year the DFL was transferred to the DFVLR. Lutz was a member of the Senate of the DFVLR until his retirement in 1972.

Lutz's scientific reputation was based primarily on his basic research into flushing processes in two-stroke engines and fuels for rocket engines . His in-house developments of small engines also prove his skills as a designer . In the 1950s and 1960s Otto Lutz was one of the leading German experts for jet engines.

Lutz GmbH

→ Main article : Lutz (vehicle manufacturer)

Characteristic L-shaped engine, tank and logo of Lutz GmbH

After the end of the war and initially uncertain future prospects, Lutz turned back to two-stroke engines and founded "Lutz GmbH" in 1946 - a company that produced affordable motor vehicles in the form of bicycles with auxiliary engines , mopeds and scooters . The workshops were located in the Braunschweig district of Kralenriede , Bienroder Weg 53, where Lutz had already had workshops during the war.

Lutz himself had developed and patented the characteristic L-shaped single- horsepower motors in the early 1940s . They were built in his workshops. Now he developed auxiliary engines for bicycles and later scooters there. Between 1946 and 1954 "Lutz GmbH" produced around 3000 vehicles. Lutz's own moped - a "Lutz P 53" - has been preserved and can be viewed today in the branch of the Braunschweig City Museum in the old town hall .

Awards

On July 10, 1967, Otto Lutz was awarded the Great Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany . From 1959 he was a full member of the Braunschweig Scientific Society .

Fonts (selection)

• Otto Lutz: Investigations into the flushing of two-stroke engines. Wittwer, Stuttgart 1931, DNB 580624544 .
• Otto Lutz: Investigations into the flushing of two-stroke engines. Dissertation Technical University of Stuttgart 1930, DNB 57087291X .
• Otto Lutz, Wilhelm Maier: Resonance phenomena in the pipelines of internal combustion engines. Wittwer, Stuttgart 1934, DNB 580640590 .
• Otto Lutz, Friedrich Wolf: IS board for air and combustion gases. J. Springer, Berlin 1938, DNB 361184204 .
• Otto Lutz: About the use of the kinetic energy of the exhaust jet in two-stroke internal combustion engines for flushing. Vehicle Industry Economic Group , Berlin-Charlottenburg 1939, DNB 364981245 .
• Otto Lutz: The experimental machine to imitate the flushing process in a high-speed engine. (Written at the Hermann Göring Aviation Research Institute, Institute for Engine Research, Braunschweig). Vehicle Industry Economic Group , Berlin-Charlottenburg 1939, DNB 580624552 .
• Otto Lutz: About increasing the performance of aircraft engines by adding oxygen carriers. Lecture given at the 4th scientific meeting of the full members on June 5, 1942, session 1942/43. German Academy of Aviation Research, Berlin 1942. (= publications of the German Academy of Aviation Research)
• Otto Lutz, Wolfgang Noeggerath: Flushing process in two-stroke machines. VDI-Verlag, Berlin 1939, DNB 580624536 .
• Otto Lutz, Walter Alvermann, Wolfgang Dietze: Contribution to the thermodynamics of supersonic flow. German Aerospace Research Center, Institute for Jet Propulsion, Braunschweig 1959, DNB 364360267 .
• Otto Lutz: Propulsion issues in the aerospace industry. Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, Göttingen 1966, DNB 457475285 .

literature

• Hans Holzer:  Lutz, Otto. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 572 f. ( Digitized version ).
• Jörg Leuschner , Karl Heinrich Kaufhold , Claudia Märtl (eds.): The economic and social history of the Braunschweig country from the Middle Ages to the present. Volume 3: Modern Times. Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim 2008, ISBN 978-3-487-13599-1 .
• Mathias-Norman Pingel: Lutz, Otto (Paul). In: Manfred Garzmann , Wolf-Dieter Schuegraf (Hrsg.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon . Supplementary volume. Joh. Heinr. Meyer Verlag, Braunschweig 1996, ISBN 3-926701-30-7 , p. 90 .
• Frank Ruhnau: Lutz, Otto. In: Horst-Rüdiger Jarck , Günter Scheel (ed.): Braunschweigisches Biographisches Lexikon - 19th and 20th centuries . Hahnsche Buchhandlung, Hannover 1996, ISBN 3-7752-5838-8 , p. 394 .
• Jan Spies: TU Professor Otto Lutz's moped. In: Your city - art, culture and life in Braunschweig. Issue 10, Braunschweig 1988, pp. 34-35.
• Prof. Dr.-Ing. Otto Lutz on his 60th birthday. April 8, 1966. Krausskopf, Mainz 1966, DNB 457855231 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d} Norman-Mathias Pingel: Lutz, Otto (Paul). In: Garzmann, Schuegraf, Pingel (ed.): Braunschweiger Stadtlexikon - supplementary volume. P. 90.
2. ^ ^{A b c d} Jan Spies: The moped from TU Professor Otto Lutz. P. 34.
3. ^ Andreas Linhardt: Aviation in the Braunschweig region. In: Leuschner, Kaufhold, Märtl (Hrsg.): The economic and social history of the Braunschweigisches Land from the Middle Ages to the present. Volume 3: Modern Times. P. 874.
4. ^ ^{A b c} Frank Ruhnau: Lutz, Otto. In: Jarck, Scheel (ed.): Braunschweigisches biographisches Lexikon. 19th and 20th centuries. P. 394.
5. ↑ Professor built mopeds and scooters. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung of August 6, 2006.
6. ↑ ^{a b} Braunschweig's answer to the Vespa. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung of November 21, 2010.
7. ^ Andreas Linhardt: Aviation in the Braunschweig region. In: Leuschner, Kaufhold, Märtl (Hrsg.): The economic and social history of the Braunschweigisches Land from the Middle Ages to the present. Volume 3: Modern Times. P. 878.
8. ↑ Jan Spies: The moped from TU Professor Otto Lutz. P. 35.

Web links

• Braunschweig's answer to the Vespa. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung of November 21, 2010.
• When a bike, engine and tank were enough. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung from June 16, 2010.
• Professor built mopeds and scooters. In: Braunschweiger Zeitung of August 6, 2006.