Willy Hof
Willy Hof (born November 15, 1880 in Limburg an der Lahn , † September 20, 1956 in Ober-Ramstadt ) was a German industrialist and transport planner . As managing director of the Association for the Preparation of the Motorway Hansestädte – Frankfurt – Basel (HaFraBa) as well as Chairman of the Board of the successor Society for the Preparation of the Reichsautobahn , he made a significant contribution to the construction of the Autobahn in Germany.
Life
Born as the son of the Limburg cognac distiller Gustav Hof, Hof made an apprenticeship at the Electrotechnical Institute in Berlin from 1899 after completing a commercial apprenticeship .
In 1904 Hof went as a technical businessman to the Electrotechnical Works Carl Sevecke in Höchst am Main , where he took over management three years later. During this time he built up a network of contacts in technology and business all over Europe. In 1909 he was at various enterprises and companies from the mining within Frankfurt involved, so he headed for nearly 15 years, the Upper Hessian bauxite plants .
After losing his holdings in Austria, France and England during the First World War , he was able to further expand his geyserite and bauxite works. Through his associated travel and his activities as an amateur racing driver , Hof received an overview of the state of the road system in Central Europe.
From this he developed the vision of roads reserved exclusively for car traffic, which he first presented to the public in Baden-Baden in 1923 . He contacted the Italian engineer Piero Puricelli , who had already built highways in northern Italy . In the same year, the Association for Preparing the Motorway Hanseatic Cities – Frankfurt – Basel (HaFraBa) emerged from the study society for motorway construction founded in 1926, and Hof became its managing director.
After the seizure of power farm was in 1933 director of the company Reichsautobahn and CEO of conformist society in preparation for the autobahn . He lost both positions due to his political stance before the construction project was carried out.
Afterwards Hof was active again in private industry and was involved in the re-establishment of the automobile clubs in Germany after the end of the Second World War .
From 1910 to 1925 Hof was married to Hedwig Schäfer, with whom he had two sons. After a short, childless second marriage to Ada Hauck (1892–1925), he married Barbara Gertrude Röth (1903–1991) in 1933. From this marriage a son and two daughters were born.
literature
- Walter Linden: Hof, Willy. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 9, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1972, ISBN 3-428-00190-7 , p. 374 f. ( Digitized version ).
Web links
- Sascha Braun: Looking back: How the motorway came to Limburg
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hof, Willy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German industrialist and transport planner |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 15, 1880 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Limburg on the Lahn |
| DATE OF DEATH | 20th September 1956 |
| Place of death | Ober-Ramstadt |