Rudolf Braas

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rudolf Heinrich Braas (born October 23, 1902 in Donsbach ; † June 29, 1974 ) was a mechanical engineer, entrepreneur and inventor, whose name (often short: Rudolf H. Braas) was particularly involved in the industrial production of concrete roof tiles , the company named after him (today Braas GmbH ) and the so-called Frankfurter Pfanne as well as various other roofing materials.

Life and business history

From 1920 to 1923 Braas studied mechanical engineering at the engineering school in Mannheim . In 1931 Braas moved to Köppern in the villa on the Lochmühle. He took over the management of the Taunus-Quarzitwerke (TQW). In 1941 he moved to Carinthia ( Austria ) and took over a hard stone company there as an entrepreneur. Among other things, the company produced aggregates for motorway construction. In Austria, Braas got to know the manual production of concrete roof tiles with hand cutting tables, which was customary in Germany and Austria to date. In 1945 Braas developed a plastering machine for used masonry bricks and the first roofing tile machine with two belts running next to each other. After the Second World War, Braas moved back to Köppern with his wife and five children in 1946 and lived in the attic in the restaurant "Zur Eisenbahn". In 1946/47 Braas opened a quartzite quarry "Waldbahn" north of Köppern in the Rodheimer Wald and competed with his former employer TQW, among others.

For its influence on the industrial production of concrete roof tiles see

Brass was impressed early on by the robustness and frost resistance of the cement roof tiles in the Alpine region. On October 2, 1948, he registered a patent with which he had a machine protected in order to replace manual roof tile production and to manufacture concrete roof tiles industrially for the first time in Germany. The Dachstein machine was initially operated at the Lochmühle level crossing before it was moved to Quellenweg in Köppern in 1948 in order to manufacture the "Köppern roof panel".

For the history of the company he founded see

As early as 1950, Braas - who didn't speak a word of English at the time - visited English roof tile plants and, impressed by the level of development there, brought with him ideas for optimizing his roof tile production. In Bad Homburg vor der Höhe, Braas initiated a concrete roof tile working group. In 1954 he stopped the Köppern production of his Baustoff-Werk Braas GmbH and founded the joint venture Braas GmbH & Co. in Heusenstamm as part of the association of the Braas and Dressel families and the British Redland , in which he continued production with the Frankfurt pan . With the Frankfurter Pfanne , Braas created one of the first branded building materials. In 1955 Braas moved to Bad Homburg vor der Höhe. In 1997 the Braas and Dressel families sold their shares. Today the company founded by Braas continues under the name Braas GmbH .

Patents

As an inventor, Braas registered a number of patents from the Second World War until shortly before his death , some of which were only awarded to him posthumously , including among others

  • a machine for the production of concrete roof tiles (published April 2, 1951),
  • a ceiling beam to reinforce assembly ceilings (January 15, 1953 with Franz Pfeffer),
  • a hollow conveyor load plate for the fork of forklifts (November 25, 1954 with Franz Pfeffer),
  • Beams, especially for reinforced concrete packing ceilings (May 14, 1958 with Franz Pfeffer),
  • Structure for use as a wall panel (July 31, 1963),
  • a roof tile with an overlap (October 15, 1966),
  • a concrete roof tile with hanging lugs on the underside as well as a foot rib and parallel ribs (May 31, 1967),
  • a double-walled socket pipe with an outer pipe made of thin plastic and a core pipe made of concrete (August 31, 1967),
  • a concrete roof tile (as in 1967) in which supporting ribs are arranged between the foot and cross ribs and between the cross ribs (July 15, 1968),
  • a method to facilitate the stacking of identical individual items arriving on a continuous conveyor and a device for carrying out the method (March 31, 1970),
  • a device for continuously conveying shaped bodies (April 9, 1970),
  • a method of sealing the joints between roofing tiles (August 26, 1971),
  • a concrete roof tile with a foot rib on the underside and two transverse ribs on the underside running parallel to this, which rest in the covering on the top edge of the covered concrete roof tile (August 26, 1971),
  • a lower mold for extrusion presses (April 6, 1972),
  • Distance adjustment plate for cladding panels (May 25, 1972),
  • a process for the production of thin-walled profile parts from concrete or similar material in extrusion presses, whereby the material is poured loosely on lower molds and compacted by pressure (July 5, 1973),
  • a clip-on construction for fastening curtain wall panels (July 4, 1974),
  • a process for the production of thin-walled profile parts made of concrete or similar material, which is loosely placed on continuously rapidly moving forward lower molds and compacted by pressing pressure, characterized in that the air that collects in the material and between this and the lower mold during the compression process through openings in the Lower mold is discharged to the outside (November 28, 1974),
  • a gutter that can be heated with hot air (January 2, 1975).

Political commitment

Braas has been politically active since the post-war years as a member of the Liberal Democratic Party of Germany (LDP), a predecessor organization of today's Free Democratic Party (FDP). He wanted to "live up to his socio-political responsibility in establishing a democratic constitution for the Federal Republic of Germany ", as his daughter Hansi Dressel said later.

Personality and honors

" Success is not a matter of luck, but requires performance. It is the result of constant, purposeful work! " Was a principle of the entrepreneur and part of the philosophy of his company.

Traits such as determination, expertise and organizational talent are attributed to Braas as well as the courage to set out. He was considered resourceful and hands-on, was not too good to help himself in production and delivery and is also characterized as considerate towards his employees.

Braas was made an honorary citizen of the city of Heusenstamm in 1971 . In Heusenstamm ( Hesse ), in the Brandenburg town of Hoppegarten (Müncheberg) and in the industrial area of Friedrichsdorf - Köppern , streets named after him are a reminder of the entrepreneur's work there. In Rinteln (Lower Saxony), in the Borken district of Gombeth and in Mainburg ( Bavaria ) there are Braasstraßen, in Reinbek ( Schleswig-Holstein ) there is a Braasweg named after him. In Oberursel, the Rudolf H. Braas social fund company with limited liability is named after the entrepreneur.

family

Braas was married to Ella Braas (* 1906 ; † December 6, 2002 in Bad Homburg vor der Höhe ), who, as her husband's advisor, played a key role in founding the Braas company in 1953. The daughter of Rudolf Braas is the Hamburg entrepreneur Helly Bruhn-Braas (born January 30, 1943 in Seeboden / Austria ; † December 13, 2011 in Vienna ; from 2003 to 2008 President of the Hamburg Employers' Association for Wholesale and Foreign Trade (AGA) ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Oyonnax and Mannheim: Centers for the Development of Plastics in Past and Present, Christel Hess, 1999, p. 29.
  2. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, 119–121.
  3. ↑ Braas pioneer. DDH Das Dachdeckerhandwerk Online, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  4. ↑ Patent DE000000803468B: Machine for the production of concrete roof tiles from October 2, 1948, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on July 15, 2012 .
  5. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, 119–121.
  6. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, 122–123.
  7. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, p. 126.
  8. ^ Tesa, Tuc and Teddybär: the large lexicon of enigmatic words, Hartwig Lödige, 2001, p. 59.
  9. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, p. 126.
  10. ↑ Patent DE000000803468B: Machine for the production of concrete roof tiles from April 2, 1951, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  11. ↑ Patent CH000000288096A ceiling support as a reinforcement of assembly ceiling of 15 January 1953 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on 14 October 2012 .
  12. ↑ Patent DE000000920659B: Hollow conveyor load support plate for the forks of forklifts from November 25, 1954, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  13. ↑ Patent DE000000969255B: Beams, in particular for reinforced concrete packing ceilings from May 14, 1958, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  14. ↑ Patent CH000000370900A: Structure for use as a wall panel from July 31, 1963, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  15. ↑ Patent CH000000422279A: Dachstein with overlap fold from October 15, 1966, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  16. ↑ Patent CH000000436653A: Concrete roof tile with hanging lugs on the underside as well as a foot rib and parallel cross ribs from May 31, 1967, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  17. ↑ Patent CH000000442895A: Double-walled socket pipe with outer pipe made of thin plastic and core pipe made of concrete from August 31, 1967, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  18. ↑ Patent CH000000459524A: Concrete roof tile, in which support ribs are arranged between the foot and cross ribs and between the cross ribs from July 15, 1968, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  19. ↑ Patent CH000000487787A: Method to facilitate the stacking of the same individual items arriving on a continuous conveyor and device for carrying out the method of March 31, 1970, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  20. ↑ Patent DE000001531827A: Device for the continuous conveying of molded bodies from April 9, 1970, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  21. ↑ Patent DE000001759249B: Method for sealing the joints between roof cladding panels from August 26, 1971, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  22. ↑ Patent DE000001609924B: Concrete roof tile with an underside foot rib as well as with two underside cross ribs running parallel to this from August 26, 1971, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  23. ↑ Patent DE000001683777A: Lower mold for extrusion from April 6, 1972, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  24. ↑ Patent DE000001659551B: Distance compensation plate for cladding panels from May 25, 1972, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  25. ↑ Patent DE000001709390A: Process for the production of thin-walled profile parts from concrete or similar material in extrusion presses from July 5, 1973, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  26. ↑ Patent DE000002262890A: clip-on construction for fastening curtain wall panels from July 4, 1974, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  27. ↑ Patent DE000001709390B: Process for the production of thin-walled profile parts from concrete or similar material from November 28, 1974, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  28. ↑ Patent DE000002330761A1: Heatable gutter dated January 2, 1975, p. 1. German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  29. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, pp. 122–123.
  30. ↑ Fa. Braas GmbH Betondachsteine ​​Heyrothsberge: Company philosophy in Biederitz - The Chronicle of August 26, 1998. (PDF; 7.5 MB) (No longer available online.) Dr. Richard Borns, archived from the original on October 27, 2011 ; Retrieved October 14, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.gemeinde-biederitz.eu
  31. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, pp. 122, 126.
  32. ↑ Honorary titles & honorary citizens. Heusenstamm City Council, accessed on October 14, 2012 .
  33. ^ The success story of Rudolf H. Braas in: Friedrichsdorfer Schriften 8, Joachim Hoffmann, 2008, pp. 119, 126.
  34. ↑ Lafarge Roofing: Ella Braas died on December 13, 2002. (No longer available online.) Baustoffmarkt-online.de, archived from the original on February 9, 2015 ; Retrieved October 14, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.baustoffmarkt-online.de
  35. ↑ Helly Bruhn-Braas. Dr. Rita Bake (State Center for Political Education, Hamburg), accessed on October 14, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Braas, Rudolf
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Braas, Rudolf Heinrich (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mechanical engineer, entrepreneur and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH October 23, 1902
PLACE OF BIRTH Donsbach
DATE OF DEATH June 29, 1974