Mario Zippermayr (25 April 1899 – 13 January 1979) was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

physicist A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate caus ...

and

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

. He is considered the inventor of the aerosol or vacuum bomb.

Biography

Mario Zippermayr was born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, northern Italy, to Austrian parents. He studied in

Freiburg Freiburg im Breisgau (; abbreviated as Freiburg i. Br. or Freiburg i. B.; Low Alemannic: ''Friburg im Brisgau''), commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. With a population of about 230,000 (as o ...

and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

. In 1927 he earned his doctorate in engineering and in 1938 his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in physics. From 1933 he was a member of the Austrian Nazi Party and from 1938 a member of the SD. Probably starting from 1942, he began setting up a research institute with about 35 employees in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and

Lofer Lofer is a market town in the district of Zell am See in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Geography Lofer is located in the historic Pinzgau region, in the valley of the Saalach river between the Chiemgau Alps and Reiter Alpe in the north and eas ...

(Salzburg). The main developments in this laboratory were the

air torpedo An aerial torpedo (also known as an airborne torpedo or air-dropped torpedo) is a torpedo launched from a torpedo bomber aircraft into the water, after which the weapon propels itself to the target. First used in World War I, air-dropped torped ...

L 40, which could be dropped from any height and speed up to 700 km/h, the

Dornier Do 335 The Dornier Do 335 ''Pfeil'' ("Arrow") was a heavy fighter built by Dornier for Germany during World War II. The two-seater trainer version was called ''Ameisenbär'' ("anteater"). The ''Pfeil''s performance was predicted to be better than other ...

high-speed aircraft and the Hexenkessel (Witch's Cauldron) project, which aimed to develop a highly effective detonation charge for use in a warhead of a surface-to-air missile.

Vortex cannon

Coal dust Coal dust is a fine powdered form of which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal. It is a form o ...

was launched in a grenade, and dispersed by an explosive charge. The subsequent very large explosion was to achieve a high effectiveness. In 1943 the first test with a 60 kilogram thermobaric bomb was carried out. There were more tests on the military training area Doeberitz in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and at

Lake Starnberg Lake Starnberg, or ''Starnberger See'' ) — called Lake Würm, or ''Würmsee'' , until 1962 — is Germany's second-largest body of fresh water, having great depth, and fifth-largest lake by area. It and its surroundings lie in three different Ba ...

. The best results were obtained with 60% liquid oxygen and 40% coal dust. The destruction radius in Döberitz was reportedly 600 meters, and 4 to 4.5 kilometres for the improved 25 to 50-kilogram bomb over Lake Starnberg. At the end of the war preparations were under way for the production of larger bombs with liquid oxygen in

Nordhausen Nordhausen may refer to: * Nordhausen (district), a district in Thuringia, Germany ** Nordhausen, Thuringia, a city in the district **Nordhausen station, the railway station in the city * Nordhouse, a commune in Alsace (German: Nordhausen) * Narost ...

. After Germany's capitulation Zippermayr remained in Lofer near the formerly secret weapons research facility Hochtal and willingly awaited visits to answer questions. Visitors included

Leslie Earl Simon Leslie Earl Simon (August 11, 1900 – October 28, 1983) was an American military officer and scientist, and author of the book ''German Research in World War II: An Analysis of the Conduct of Research''. He was a major general in the U.S. Army's ...

, head of the

US Ballistic Research Laboratory The Ballistic Research Laboratory (BRL) was a leading U.S. Army research establishment situated at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland that specialized in ballistics ( interior, exterior, and terminal) as well as vulnerability and lethality analysis ...

. Zippermayr would detail how a hollow pipe could produce dispersal patterns of coal dust; this research produced the

cover story Cover story or Cover Story may refer to: * A magazine or newspaper article whose subject appears on that issue's front cover, and may be profiled in depth. * A fictitious explanation intended to hide one's real motive; see disinformation, cover-u ...

of the vortex cannon, a mythical weapon that swept aircraft from the sky.Henry Stevens
Hitler's Suppressed and Still-Secret Weapons
', 2007 In later years Zippermayr continued to respond willingly to technical questions about his research, but did not, unlike other researchers, work for the Soviet Union or the US. In Lofer, Zippermayr developed a successful "climate-therapeutic method" for treating respiratory diseases: using high-voltage electric discharges he created artificial mountain air. The therapeutic successes, especially in

whooping cough Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough, is a highly contagious bacterial disease. Initial symptoms are usually similar to those of the common cold with a runny nose, fever, and mild cough, but these are followed by two or ...

and respiratory problems, were so great that in 1953 he moved to

Kremsmünster Kremsmünster is a town in Kirchdorf an der Krems District, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Settled in 777, it is home to the Kremsmünster Abbey. The Abbey was founded 777 by Duke Tassilo III of Bavaria and is one of the oldest abbeys of ...

, Upper Austria, and there opened a special practice for this procedure. He died at

in 1979.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zippermayr, Mario 1899 births 1979 deaths Scientists from Milan 20th-century Austrian physicists Austro-Hungarian expatriates in Italy