Renner boys
The Renner boys , father Franz Renner (born November 2, 1866 in Klagenfurt ; † June 1, 1912 in Graz ) and the sons Alexander Renner (born May 29, 1892 in Reval, today Tallinn ; † March 1, 1966 in Graz) and Anatol Renner (* January 2, 1890 in Minsk , † 1982 ), were part of a Graz artist family and are among the pioneers of Austrian aviation history .
In professional circles, the term “Renner-Buben” for father Franz and his sons Alexander and Anatol (“Doli”) is uncommon, but has established itself in popular reporting, especially in Styria.
The "circus family" is assigned to the city of Graz, although each of the Renner children (three sons and six daughters) of the married couple Franz and Samara Renner was born in a different location. The connection to Graz arises mainly from the “bourgeois branch” of the Renner family, Franz's brother: “Master butcher and home owner” Matthias Renner.
Anatol liked to talk about motorbike and automobile races. In 1907 the brothers Alexander and Anatol are said to have made flight tests with a glider . Alexander made a name for himself as a fighter pilot in the First World War .
Airship trips
In 1909 the trio launched a “steering balloon” called “Estaric 1” for the first time. With this they had made the first rigid airship of the Habsburg monarchy fly. The device was driven by a motor from Puch-Werke , the envelope had a volume of around 700 cubic meters. (Rod Filan wrote in April 2004 in "The Aerodrome Forum": "the triangular cross-sectioned gondola looks almost identical to a Knabenshue Toledo II, right down to the rudder." )
Max Mayr quoted a contemporary report in the "Kleine Zeitung" in the "steirische haben" 5/99:
“It was roughly four o'clock when the ESTARIC was ready to go. Great excitement in the hall. Everything is finally here. The yellow, 30 m long colossus comes out of the hall. Command words from Papa Renner. The airship is released, but slowly floats to earth. It is too hard. Throw more sand off. New sample. Now it holds in the air. The engine rattles, the propeller hums, the airship floats away. Now the unforgettable spectacle of the mighty body of the ship sliding up into its element takes place. Enthusiastic cheers from the many thousands, the music comes in, Alexander and Anatol wave their hats up. The first trip was a success. In the course of the following days it was followed by a further eight trips, with the ESTARIC repeatedly maneuvering over Graz. "
This flight took place on September 26, 1909 during the Graz autumn fair . On October 16 of the same year a demonstration for Emperor Franz Joseph I took place in the Vienna Prater . The next day there should have been a failed attempt. The hobby historian Stefan F. Kozelka reports that the "Estaric" went down in Strebersdorf, more precisely: in the Strebersdorfer Au. At the time, the device was still considered a "circus trick". On October 30, 1909, the "Airship Estaric I" took off from the area of today's Südbahnhofmarkt in Linz .
A second airship of the “Renner-Buben” was named “Graz”. It was around 62 meters long and was powered by two Escher motors.
Honors
In Feldkirchen near Graz, along the airport, a street is called Rennergasse . In the district of Windorf of the former municipality of Pirka bei Graz, now the municipality of Seiersberg-Pirka , where the Rennerbuben settled in a villa, an alley opposite the former residential building was named "Rennerweg".
Individual evidence
- ↑ A (nton) L (eopold) Schuller: Renner, Franz (1866–1912), artist and aviation pioneer. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 9, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1988, ISBN 3-7001-1483-4 , p. 79 f. (Direct links on p. 79 , p. 80 ).
- ↑ Karin Derler / Ingrid Urbanek: Planning for Infinity - The Graz Central Cemetery; Steirische Verlagsgesellschaft mbH; 2002. ISBN 3-85489-086-9 .