Robert Sommer (fencer)

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Robert Carl Summer (* 20th January 1887 in Frankfurt am Main , † 31 December 1957 in Bronx , New York ) was a German inventor, aviation pioneer and German champion in fencing . He was one of the first German pilots and improved car tires by inventing a new type of tire profile. During the time of National Socialism he got into trouble because of his Jewish wife and his children, who were classified as “ Jewish mixed race ”. Even so, he supported many of his Jewish friends during this time and lived underground from 1944. In 1947 he emigrated to the United States .

Life

Robert Sommer was born in 1887 and had been in the aviation industry since 1909. He is considered to be one of the earliest German pilots and was one of the so-called Old Eagles , the 817 flight pioneers who passed the pilot's exam even before the outbreak of World War I. In 1911 he built and tested a new type of double-decker . Even after a plane crash in 1912, which he survived seriously injured, he built more aircraft and took part in air shows until the outbreak of the First World War. In the First World War he was first a soldier at the front, then in the aircraft inspection Berlin-Charlottenburg. In 1917 he married Margret Grossmann, the sister of the Jewish publicist Kurt Grossmann , with whom he had a son and a daughter. After working for Junkers , he went into the auto industry in 1929 and became technical director at the Berlin taxi company Kraftag. There, in 1932, he developed a transversely attached fine profile for tires to prevent slipping on wet roads. The process became known as "Sommerung", was very successful and was used internationally. During this time he was also active as a fencer, won a German championship and took part in the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam. He was also successful in motorsport competitions.

After the seizure of power by the Nazis his work as a representative of Italian firms and their relationship has been seriously disrupted the Air Ministry because of his Jewish relatives. Although the Jewish wife, who lived in a “privileged mixed marriage”, and the children did not yet have to experience the full harshness of the Nazi regime, Sommer tried to find an opportunity for his family to leave the country. Through the mediation of his uncle Kurt Grossmann, his son Robert Junior, who was classified as a “half-Jew”, should be able to leave the country by means of a university scholarship in Baltimore . However, due to various difficulties, mainly because the necessary $ 1,000 for the visa could not be raised, this attempt failed.

Despite the increasingly difficult family conditions in Germany, Sommer was still able to take part in sporting events. Shortly after the connection with Austria, he drove on the Ostmärkische Voralpenfahrt . In 1939 he took part in the Monte Carlo Rally with his son and then visited the Grossmann family in Paris. The purpose of this trip was also to test the rules for crossing borders at motorsport events. In order to emigrate, he planned to leave Germany for a car race and then not return. In this way, two valuable sports cars (a Stoewer Sport and a Lancia) could have been taken abroad, which would have at least partially circumvented the strict regulations on taking personal property with you when you leave the country. The outbreak of the Second World War ultimately prevented the project. From 1944 the family was forced to live underground, nothing is known about their circumstances until the end of the war. After the war, Sommer decided to leave Germany. The permit to enter the USA was granted in 1947, after which he left Germany with his family.

According to Kurt Grossmann, Sommer did not “kiss” during the National Socialist era, despite the difficulties caused by his “Jewish relatives”, but rather hid Jewish friends. In doing so, he not only helped his family, but also many of his Jewish fellow citizens. In 1957 he celebrated his 70th birthday in New York and died at the end of the same year.

Sporting successes

Summer was a fencer at Berliner FC. In 1928 he represented Germany at the Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. He was a referee and also registered for the saber team, which ended up in fourth place. However, Erwin Casimir , Heinrich Moos , Hans Halberstadt and Hans Thomson denied all battles. Sommer and Otto Weidlich , who was also reported , were not used. In 1929 he became German champion in foil fencing. In addition, Sommer took part in numerous motorsport events such as the Monte Carlo Rally.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Institute for City History Frankfurt / Main, STA 10/232: Birth certificate No. 274, birth register 1887, registry office I Frankfurt am Main. (JPG) In: HStAM inventory 903 No. 9028. Hessisches Staatsarchiv Marburg, accessed on February 28, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Death Certificate # 13289, New York City Death Index 1957
  3. ↑ List of 817 German pilots before the outbreak of war in 1914. Retrieved on October 10, 2014 .
  4. ↑ a b c Kurt Grossmann, Robert Sommer - 70 years . In construction , Volume 23, No. 3, January 18, 1957, p. 16. Online at archive.org .
  5. ↑ Lothar Mertens, Tireless Fighter for Peace and Human Rights: Life and Work of Kurt R. Grossmann . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1995, p. 141.
  6. ↑ Bernd Heißing, Metin Ersoy, Stefan Gies, Chassis Manual : Fundamentals Driving Dynamics Components Systems Mechatronics Perspectives , Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden, 2013, p. 8.
  7. ^ A b Kurt Grossmann, Robert Sommer (obituary) . In construction , Volume 24, No. 2, January 10, 1958, p. 24. Online at archive.org .
  8. ↑ Lothar Mertens, Tireless Fighter for Peace and Human Rights: Life and Work of Kurt R. Grossmann . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1995, pp. 143-144.
  9. ↑ Lothar Mertens, Tireless Fighter for Peace and Human Rights: Life and Work of Kurt R. Grossmann . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1995, p. 145.
  10. ↑ Lothar Mertens, Tireless Fighter for Peace and Human Rights: Life and Work of Kurt R. Grossmann . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1995, p. 142.
  11. ↑ Lothar Mertens, Tireless Fighter for Peace and Human Rights: Life and Work of Kurt R. Grossmann . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1995, pp. 141-145.
  12. ↑ G. van Rossem (ed.) / Sydney W. Fleming (transl.), The ninth Olympiad being the Official Report of the Olympic Games of 1289 Celebrated at Amsterdam , Amsterdam 1928, pp. 564-570. Online (pdf, 78 MB)
  13. ↑ Andreas Schirmer, En Garde! Allez! Touchez! 100 Years of Fencing in Germany - A Success Story , Meyer & Meyer Verlag, Aachen 2012, p. 218.
personal data
SURNAME Summer, Robert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Sommer, Robert Carl (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German champion in fencing, motor sportsman, inventor
DATE OF BIRTH January 20, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main
DATE OF DEATH December 31, 1957
Place of death Bronx , New York