Johann Christian Ruberg (baptized 4 September 1746 – 5 September 1807) was a German inventor and a pioneer in metallurgy. About 1798, Ruberg devised the first large-scale method for the production of

zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...

. This method (so-called "Silesian method"), used horizontal muffle furnaces which permitted for continuous operation, i.e., loading the input and unloading the product without cooling. This greatly improved the energy economy and labour intensity of the process. It subsequently led to the development of large zinc manufacturing industry in

Silesia Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...

. Ruberg also authored several inventions and optimizations in glass-making. Ruberg is buried at the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

parish church cemetery in Lędziny, where a memorial to him was installed in 1998. In 2000, an elementary school at Lędziny (Szkola Podstawowa No 3) received his name. Piotr Greiner in "Moja Ziemia Katowice", publisher: Bractwo Gospodarcze Zwiazku Górnoslaskiego, Katowice, 200
(in Polish)
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References

1746 births 1807 deaths People from Prussian Silesia 18th-century German inventors {{Germany-engineer-stub