Reinhard Straumann

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Reinhard Straumann (born November 3, 1892 in Bennwil ; † October 2, 1967 in Waldenburg ) was an engineer and entrepreneur from Bennwil in the Swiss canton of Basel-Landschaft .

Life

Family and education

He was the son of the teacher Reinhard Straumann and Anna, née Heinimann. After primary school in Waldenburg, he completed an apprenticeship in watch technology and precision mechanics from 1908 to 1912 at the École d'horlogerie in Le Locle . From 1914 to 1916 he trained as a mechanical engineer at the École supérieure d'aéronautique in Lausanne .

In 1919 he married Fanny Heid von Arisdorf.

Career

In 1916, engineer Straumann joined Thommens Uhrenfabrik AG as a designer . Until 1938 he was technical director.

In his free time he did his own research intensively to find new materials . With Heraeus he developed a nickel-iron alloy with beryllium . He called the material Nivarox . For industrial evaluation was in 1934 in Saint-Imier the Nivarox SA founded, in which it Member of Management and Chief Executive Officer was. In 1935 Straumann patented Nivarox. The special material properties are ideal for the manufacture of balance springs. This led to an improvement in the rate behavior of mechanical watches.

The connections

In 1935, the Berliner Post used an automatic time announcement that Straumann had developed with Siemens & Halske . He also built the first timing machine he had devised with Siemens & Halske.

Through his marriage to Fanny Heid, Straumann was the son-in-law of Fritz Heid, the co-owner of Tschudin + Heid AG in Waldenburg. The company produced watch components for the watch industry. After the death of his father-in-law in 1935, Straumann was elected to the Board of Directors. He was able to take over the shares of the late co-owner Alphons Tschudin. From 1938 Straumann was director and chairman of the board of directors of Tschudin + Heid AG. He set up a research laboratory in-house to intensify the development of new materials and measurement methods.

In 1948 Straumann patented Nivaflex . The material properties have been changed slightly compared to Nivarox. This made Nivaflex ideal for the production of drive and mainspring. The clockwork components made from these special alloys are still today considered indispensable system parts in mechanical quality clocks. In 1951 Straumann founded Nivaflex SA, also in Saint-Imier, and took over as Chairman of the Board of Directors. This company also served the purpose of industrial evaluation of the developed alloy.

In 1954 the research laboratory became the «Institute Dr. Ing. Reinhard Straumann ». The metallurgical-physical investigations, the research and development of watch materials and watch testing devices, as well as the ski flight should be intensified. Straumann was Chairman of the Board of Directors. In 1990 the institute became Straumann AG . The 25 people who remained at the institute concentrated exclusively on dental implantology .

Sports

Straumann studied the mechanics of ski flying . With a life-size doll, he optimized his results in the wind tunnel at Göttingen University . So in 1926 he worked out the basics for the optimal ski jump and the most advantageous posture for the jumper. His findings were a decisive basis for the construction of the new Italia ski jump in Cortina d'Ampezzo in 1955 . In the International Ski Federation (FIS) Straumann was a member of the technical committee for ski jumping and hill construction.

From 1926 to 1958 he was an international ski jumping judge . At the Olympic Winter Games in St. Moritz in 1928 and in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in 1936 , as well as at the World Championships in Innsbruck in 1933 and in Chamonix in 1937 , Straumann served as referee.

Further commitment

From 1934 to 1938 he was president of the "Association of Swiss Watch Manufacturers", which in 1983 merged with various associations to form the Association of the Swiss Watch Industry . From 1934 to 1936 he was President of the Société Suisse de Chronométrie (SSC). Straumann was president of the Rotary Club Basel in 1938/1839 and founder of the Liestaler Club in 1953 .

In 1938 he was a co-founder and member of the board of directors of Preavia AG in Bern. In 1945 he was a co-founder and member of the board of directors of “Testor Treuhand und Steuerberatungs AG” in Basel.

Straumann, himself also a painter, was a cultural sponsor in Waldenburg.

politics

From 1941 to 1946 Straumann was a member of the Democratic Party (DP) in the Basel district administrator . 1945/1946 he was the district administrator. During his presidential year he had to resign after it became known that in 1940 he had co-signed the " Petition of the Two Hundred " to the Federal Council.

military

In the Swiss Army he reached the rank of lieutenant colonel in the air force .

Honors

In 1959 Straumann received the Wilhelm Exner Medal from the Austrian Trade Association .

For his extensive research on optimizing ski flying, the Technical University of Stuttgart awarded him an honorary doctorate in 1948 and in 1961 he was made an honorary professor.

On September 15, 1967, the municipality granted him Bretzwil the honorary citizenship .

Publications (selection)

  • Festschrift: Advances in watch technology through research. Stuttgart 1963.
  • New materials for clockwork. In: Die Uhrmacher-Woche, 1938, pp. 349–351.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In flight like fish. In: Der Spiegel . 1969, no. 14 (March 31, 1969), p. 175.
personal data
SURNAME Straumann, Reinhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss engineer and entrepreneur
DATE OF BIRTH November 3, 1892
PLACE OF BIRTH Bennwil
DATE OF DEATH October 2nd, 1967
Place of death Waldenburg