Wilhelm Hansen (manufacturer)

Wilhelm Emil Leopold Hansen (* 28. August 1832 in Gotha ; † 14. October 1906 ) was a German mechanical engineering - entrepreneurs .

Life

Wilhelm Hansen was born as the son of the astronomer Peter Andreas Hansen at the Seeberg observatory. After attending the Gothaer Gymnasium, he studied mathematics and physics for four semesters each at the University of Göttingen and at the Berlin Building Academy . In Berlin he met Werner von Siemens , 16 years his senior , the German inventor and co-owner of the Siemens and Halske company . After graduating, Hansen gained practical experience in Great Britain, Italy and Austria.

At the age of 29, in 1861, he returned to Gotha and on July 1st founded a small mechanical engineering workshop with eight workers under the company Hansen, Bonsack & Co. In 1863 an iron foundry was added to build cranes, gears, turbines and steam engines. In 1868, August Briegleb , who was eight years younger than him, joined the company. From then on the company was called Briegleb, Hansen & Co. The company was located near the main train station and before 1914 was the leading manufacturer and exporter of turbines in Germany. In its heyday, the iron foundry and machine factory had more than 400 employees and 100 employees. In 1871 the commercial manager Bonsack resigned, his successor was called Henkel. 1874 was the year of his father's death, Peter Andreas Hansen. In 1875, production was relocated to a site outside the city, and Werner Gustav John Knop, a turbine designer, became a new employee. In 1880 a research institute for turbine construction was built, followed by a second in Sundhausen . On May 12, 1894, the so-called Knop turbine was granted protection of goods . One of these turbines is still in operation in Gotha today: built in 1895 specifically for the operation of Wasserkunst, it is now located in the basement of the Lucas-Cranach-Haus on Gotha's main market.

In the field of hydraulics, Hansen created a new method for calculating the impact of steam or water on turbine blades and invented the so-called Hansen's oven , a mobile oven for drying the casting molds in iron foundries.

On reaching retirement age, Briegleb resigned in 1897. Hansen died in 1906.

The company was sold in 1918 and was merged with other companies after the Great Depression. The Gothaer Werk, Kohlenstrasse 4 (today Südstrasse), was shut down in 1925, partially demolished in 1932, and the site was handed over to the Deutsche Reichsbahn. Later the Reichsbahn repair shop in Gotha settled here . Brieglebstrasse, named in honor of the co-owner, is very close by. Today's Protestant St. Michael Church in Südstrasse was built from the remains of the former factory.

social commitment

Hansen founded several social institutions with Briegleb, such as B. an institution for workers' housing, health benefits and pension fund.

Web links

• Website of the city of Gotha
• Albert-Gieseler.de

literature

• Helmut Roob, Günter Scheffler: Gotha personalities. Rhino-Verlag, Arnstadt / Weimar 2000, ISBN 3-932081-37-4 .