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Otto Feick (4 July 1890 in Reichenbach – 17 October 1959 in
VSK-Germania Niederfeld 1919 e.V.
Official website of TK Rhönradturnen in Deutscher Turner-Bund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feick, Otto German gymnasts 20th-century German inventors People from Kaiserslautern (district) 1890 births 1959 deaths
Otto Feick (4 July 1890 in Reichenbach – 17 October 1959 in Schönau an der Brend
Schönau an der Brend is a municipality with 1,378 inhabitants in the district of Rhön-Grabfeld in northern Bavaria, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most ...
) was a German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...
and gymnast
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, sh ...
.
Biography
Feick was born in 1890, the son of a cooper. He worked as a locksmith and railwayman. Feick worked from 1914 to 1923 forDeutsche Reichsbahn
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...
in Ludwigshafen am Rhein
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...
. During this time he lived in Ludwigshafen-Gartenstadt. He was a supporter of the trade union movement and a member of the board of the railway workers union TRANSNET Gewerkschaft
TRANSNET, which stands for Transport, Service, and Networks, was a trade union in Germany and one of eight industrial affiliations of the German Confederation of Trade Unions.
Since autumn 2005, TRANSNET worked together with the "rival" union G ...
. In 1924/1925, Feick invented the gymnastics wheel or ''Rhönrad''.
In 1921, Feick was charged with obstruction and subsequently put in jail by the French troops occupying the Palatinate. While he was in jail in Mainz
Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main (river), Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-we ...
, he recalled that during his childhood in Reichenbach, he had connected two iron hoops with cross-bars he had found in his grandfather's blacksmith's shop and used this construct to roll down the hill next to his parents' house. Feick then invented a prototype of the ''Rhönrad'' in Ludwigshafen. After his expulsion from the Palatinate by the French occupation forces in 1923, he moved to Schönau an der Brend, a town in the Rhön Mountains
The Rhön Mountains () are a group of low mountains (or ''Mittelgebirge'') in central Germany, located around the border area where the states of Hesse, Bavaria and Thuringia come together. These mountains, which are at the extreme southeast end o ...
in Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and his wife's hometown. He founded, with other acquaintances in Schönau, a metal workshop and produced game devices and bedsteads. He also applied for a patent from there, with a photo taken on the grounds of Volksgesundheit e.V. ("Public Health Club"), a sports club he had founded in Ludwigshafen in 1919, serving as the basis. He was awarded the patent for his invention on 8 November 1925. However, the name ''Rhönrad'', named so in honor of his new home, was not registered until 1926. From 1925 to 1926, he developed a further variant of his invention in the Zieh- und Stanzwerk ("Drawing and Stamping Factory") in Niederscheden.
In 1927 he moved to Würzburg. He later moved back to Schönau an der Brend, where he died in poverty on 17 October 1959.
Legacy
* In Schönau, amonument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...
was erected to Feick and the gymnastics wheel.
* In Glan-Münchweiler, where Feick lived for several years, a monument in the form of a centrifugal ''Rhönrad'' was erected on the central island of a roundabout on Bundesstraße
''Bundesstraße'' (German for "federal highway"), abbreviated ''B'', is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.
Germany
Germany's ''Bundesstraßen'' network has a total length of about 40,000 km.
German ''Bundesstraßen'' ...
423 in the Bettenhausen district.
Further reading
* Anette Konrad: ''Erste Rollversuche an der Blies. Wie der Ludwigshafener Otto Feick vor 90 Jahren das Rhönrad erfand.'' in: ''Die Rheinpfalz / Ludwigshafener Rundschau'' Nr. 198, 18. August 2012.References
External links
VSK-Germania Niederfeld 1919 e.V.
Official website of TK Rhönradturnen in Deutscher Turner-Bund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Feick, Otto German gymnasts 20th-century German inventors People from Kaiserslautern (district) 1890 births 1959 deaths