Walter Brecht

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Walter Brecht (born June 20, 1900 in Augsburg , † September 27, 1986 in Darmstadt ) was a German scientist and long-time director of the Institute for Paper Manufacture at the Technical University of Darmstadt .

Childhood and youth

Walter Brecht came on June 20, 1900 as the second son of Berthold Friedrich Brecht and Wilhelmine Friederike Sophie Brecht, née. Brezing, born in Augsburg. His older brother is the playwright Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956).

The father Berthold Friedrich Brecht was Catholic, came from Achern in the Black Forest and from 1893 was first a clerk, then a manager and from 1914 director of the Haindl'sche paper mills in Augsburg. This allowed the Brecht family to move to one of the paper mill's foundation houses . Brecht's mother Sophie (1871–1920) came from a pietistic family. Her father Josef Friedrich Brezing (1842–1922) was a Württemberg railway clerk in the Upper Swabian town of Roßberg (now in Wolfegg) on the Herbertingen – Isny ​​railway line, which opened shortly before Sophie's birth . In his memoirs "Our life in Augsburg, back then" Walter Brecht describes his childhood and youth in Augsburg.

education and profession

Walter Brecht attended secondary school in Augsburg. In July 1918 he graduated from high school and was drafted into military service. He spent this in Hussigny until November 9, 1918 . From May 1919 he spent a short time with the Freikorps in Augsburg. While brother Bertolt embarked on an artistic career, Walter Brecht followed in his father's footsteps. After an internship at Haindl, another internship at JM Voith in Heidenheim followed from September 1919 to the end of 1920 . From the winter semester 1920/21 to 1923 he completed a degree in paper engineering at the TH Darmstadt . This was followed by a year-long assistantship with Friedrich Müller , the head of the Institute for Paper Manufacture in Darmstadt, and in 1925 the dissertation on the subject of "Some physical properties of a sulfite pulp fiber suspension".

Walter Brecht gained his first professional experience by spending one year in the USA at the fine paper mill Hammermill Paper Company in Erie / Pennsylvania . In 1926 he joined the G. Haindl'schen paper mills in his home town of Augsburg as operations manager.

Chair for paper technology at the TU Darmstadt

At the age of 31, Walter Brecht was appointed to the chair for paper manufacture at the Technical University in Darmstadt on April 1, 1931. He replaced his retired teacher Professor Dr. Friedrich Müller and was the third professor at the Institute for Paper Manufacture, founded in 1905. In the following four decades, Walter Brecht expanded the Institute of Paper Manufacture (since 2002 Institute for Paper Manufacture and Mechanical Process Engineering, PMV) into a leading institute for paper research . The focus was on the technology of wood pulp , the water balance of pulp and paper mills , the development of waste paper processing and the development of test methods and devices. The bombing raid on Darmstadt on September 11, 1944 destroyed his institute almost completely. After the end of the Second World War, the institute was rebuilt with state funds and one third with donations from industry. In 1956/57, Walter Brecht was elected Rector of the Technical University of Darmstadt. By the time he retired in 1971, Walter Brecht had trained around 320 qualified engineers in the field of paper engineering. He died of heart failure on September 27, 1986.

Development of measurement methods

In the course of his long research activity, Walter Brecht was significantly involved in the development of several test and measurement methods for the paper industry:

  • Determination of wood splinters according to Brecht-Holl with the Brecht-Holl fractionator
  • Determination of the splitting resistance of cardboard according to Brecht-Knittweis according to DIN 54 516: 04 / ZM V / 28/79
  • Determination of the tear propagation work of paper according to Brecht-Imset according to DIN 53 115: 08
  • Pressure release flotation for waste paper processing according to Brecht-Merlau.

Awards

  • 1936 first holder of the Alexander Mitscherlich commemorative coin from the ZELLCHEMING association
  • 1965 Honorary Chairman of the Academic Paper Engineers Association at the Technical University of Darmstadt
  • 1971 Golden Ullstein Ring of Honor from the Federal Association of Printing
  • 1971 Golden Ring of Honor for Paper History
  • 1972 Golden Lampén Medal from the Finnish Pulp and Paper Industry Association
  • 1979 Silver plaque of merit from the city of Darmstadt
  • 1981 Federal Cross of Merit 1st class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
  • 1985 Johann Heinrich Merck honor of the city of Darmstadt

Publications (selection)

  • Walter Brecht and G. Schuster: The influence of wood moisture on the results of the grinding process; Das Papier, 8 (21/22), 1954, pages 462-469
  • Walter Brecht and R. Berberat: The annual ring width of spruce sanding wood in its influence on the results of the sanding process; Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation (7), 1960, pages 247–249
  • Walter Brecht, Fridolin Zippel and Werner Merlau: Operational control of the production water household in paper mills; 1962, Biberach an der Riss
  • Walter Brecht and K. Meltzer: About the metrological assessment of the brightness of wood; Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation 93 (18), 1965, pages 777-785
  • Paper production over the past 100 years - research, technical development and training; Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation (7), 1970, pages 273-296
  • Our life in Augsburg, then (biography); 1984 Frankfurt am Main
  • Walter Brecht and Hanns-Lutz Dalpke: Water , wastewater , wastewater treatment from a general perspective and from the perspective of the paper and pulp industry; 1980, Biberach an der Riss
  • From Brecht's diary; One year America - then 1925/26 (selected by S. Schmidt); Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation (1), 1990, pages 6-10

Varia

In 1976, ZELLCHEMING donated the Walter-Brecht-Gedenkmünze in honor of the long-time director of the Darmstadt Institute for Paper Manufacture, to honor outstanding technical and scientific achievements in the field of the paper industry.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation No. 13, 1960, page 551 and No. 19, 1986, page 807
  2. ↑ Walter Brecht: Our life in Augsburg, at that time . Insel Verlag, Frankfurt 1984. ISBN 978-3458141754
  3. ↑ Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation 134 (1–2), 2006, page 43
  4. ↑ Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation (13), 1960, page 551
  5. ↑ Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation (19), 1986, page 807
  6. ↑ ZELLCHEMING annual report 2011, p. 139
  7. ↑ Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation No. 19, 1986, page 807
  8. ↑ ZELLCHEMING Annual Report 2011, pp. 124, 139, 145
  9. ↑ ZELLCHEMING Annual Report 2013, p. 123
  10. ↑ Professor Dr. Walter Brecht died, in: Wochenblatt für Papierfabrikation 19 (1986), page 807
  11. ↑ ZELLCHEMING annual report 2011, p. 138
personal data
SURNAME Brecht, Walter
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German paper technologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 20, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH augsburg
DATE OF DEATH September 27, 1986
Place of death Darmstadt