Wilhelm Albrecht (engineer)
Wilhelm Eduard Adolf Albrecht (born February 7, 1902 in Tempelhof near Berlin, † May 22, 1962 in Berlin ) was a German engineer and entrepreneur. He became internationally known for his developments of devices for professional film and television sound recording and editing.
Childhood and youth
Wilhelm Albrecht was the youngest of five children of the businessman Wilhelm Ernst August Albrecht from Arneburg (1859–1913) and his wife Wära Nikolajewna, née. Goldfinch from Russia (1863–1905).
After the early death of his parents, he came into the care of the family of his parents' friend Carl Gustav Franke. As in his earliest childhood, he also put his technical talent into practice here, not always to the delight of adults. A police report was made about an antenna he had secretly installed on the roof with which he could receive radio signals from the Nauen station.
After attending the Schloss Bischofstein boarding school of the well-known reform pedagogue Gustav Marseille in Thuringia and the upper secondary school in Berlin-Lichterfelde , he completed an internship at the car manufacturer Opel and trained as a so-called machine engineer at the Strelitz technical center .
Working life
In 1926 he founded the company Mechanische Werkstätten Wilhelm Albrecht (MWA) and dealt with the development and manufacture of components for radio receivers, which were initially supplied to end users and later to industrial companies (e.g. Blaupunkt ). There were significant developments in the field of communication technology (e.g. low-loss cable connections) for the Reichspostzentralamt and the Deutsche Fernkabelgesellschaft .
But he also built fast sports boats using waterproof, film-glued plywood, which was usually used as a material for aircraft swimmers, and also boat engines and so-called surf boards pulled from the boat, on which one stood hands-free. The Berlin Museum of Transport and Technology took over a boat and a surf board for its collection of exhibits.
Immediately after the war, he initially designed and manufactured items for everyday use such as lighters, coffee roasting pans, tobacco cutting machines, etc. This was possible because factory rooms, machinery and stocks were largely undamaged or not looted.
In the second half of the 1940s, Albrecht came into contact with the film industry and recognized the need for development in the area of sound recording and editing, in which the complex and expensive optical sound system was used throughout at that time .
The MTK 1 magnetic sound camera he designed was a groundbreaking development for the practical use of magnetic sound technology. It was presented to the professional world in 1950 and praised by Universum Film AG (UfA) as a “masterpiece of modern film equipment construction, on top of new territory in sound film technology”. This camera was then used at UfA until 1970.
Albrechts MTK 1 was the basis for all future and significant further developments of the facilities and systems required for sound recording and editing in film and television studios. In addition, Albrecht made some groundbreaking developments in the field of record technology in the 1950s.
He had succeeded in conveying his rousing passion for technical innovations to his employees - and so his life's work and thus the success story of MWA could be continued for the next few decades after his death (1962).
Private life
Albrecht was married twice. He had a daughter with his second wife.
Individual evidence
- ^ Wilhelm Albrecht and his MWA | FKTG - Television and Cinema Technology Society. Retrieved April 2, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Albrecht, Wilhelm |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Albrecht, Wilhelm Eduard Adolf (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German engineer and entrepreneur |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 7, 1902 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tempelhof near Berlin |
| DATE OF DEATH | May 22, 1962 |
| Place of death | Berlin |