Friedrich Voss (7 July 1872 — 3 March 1953) was a German

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing ...

educated at

Braunschweig University of Technology Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the No ...

Biography

Voss was born in

Calvörde Calvörde () is a municipality in the Börde district of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde ("collective municipality") Flechtingen. Geography Calvörde is situated approximately northwest of Haldensleben and northwest ...

. As a civil engineer his career began at the municipal waterways management of

Hamburg-Harburg Harburg is a Boroughs and quarters of Hamburg#Boroughs, borough of the city of Hamburg, Germany. It is also the name of Harburg (quarter), Harburg quarter in the borough, which used to be the capital of the Harburg (district), Harburg district in ...

. In 1903, Voss became technical assistant at the Ministry of Public Works; 1908 appointed as head of the newly created bridge construction office within the Imperial Office of the Canals, following the enlargements of the

Kaiser Wilhelm Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the ...

. Voss designed and engineered three

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide v ...

s over the

Kiel Canal The Kiel Canal (german: Nord-Ostsee-Kanal, literally "North- oEast alticSea canal", formerly known as the ) is a long freshwater canal in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The canal was finished in 1895, but later widened, and links the N ...

: The

Holtenau Holtenau (; Danish: Holtenå) is a district of Kiel, on the southeastern part of the Danish Wahld. It was historically part of the Duchy of Schleswig, and has cultural influences from both Germany and Denmark. The district is located at the mout ...

(1912-1992),

Rendsburg Rendsburg ( da, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'', nds, Rendsborg, also ''Rensborg'') is a town on the River Eider and the Kiel Canal in the central part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is the capital of the ''Kreis'' (district) of Rendsburg-Ecke ...

(1913) and Hochdonn (1919) high bridges. In 1923, Voss resigned for health reasons from the civil service and founded an engineering company in Kiel, together with two of his colleagues. Besides the viaducts over the Kiel Canal, Voss designed numeral other bridges, for example the Rendsburg Swing Bridge over the Kiel Canal that was closed 1961, a road bridge over the

Eider Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quilt ...

Friedrichstadt Friedrichstadt (; da, Frederiksstad) is a town in the district of Nordfriesland, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is situated on the river Eider approx. 12 km south of Husum. History The town was founded in 1621 by Dutch settlers. Du ...

as well as a

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

over the Eider at Lexfähre, a bascule bridge in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

, a combined road and railroad bridge over the Rethe in

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and a bridge over the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

in Krefeld-Uerdingen. In 1922 Friedrich Voss was awarded an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

at the Braunschweig University of Technology. He died at

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

on 3 March 1953. A day after his death, he was awarded the

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

. Voss is buried at the Park Cemetery Eichhof in Kronshagen.

References

External links

Friedrich Voss website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voss, Friedrich 1872 births 1953 deaths People from Börde (district) People from the Duchy of Brunswick German civil engineers Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Technical University of Braunschweig alumni Engineers from Saxony-Anhalt