Wilhelm Freiherr von Engerth (26 May 1814 – 4 September 1884) 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 ...

n architect and engineer, known for being the designer of the first practical mountain locomotive. For his services he was elevated in 1875 to the

baronetcy A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

Life and work

Wilhelm Engerth was born on 26 May 1814 at

Pleß Pleß is a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany. The town has a municipal association with Boos, Bavaria Boos is a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free St ...

Prussian Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

(present-day

Pszczyna Pszczyna (german: Pleß, cs, Pština) is a town in southern Poland with 25,823 inhabitants (2019), and a seat of a local gmina (commune). It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship, and was a part of the Katowice Voivodeship from 1975 until ad ...

Silesian Voivodeship Silesian Voivodeship, or Silesia Province ( pl, województwo śląskie ) is a voivodeship, or province, in southern Poland, centered on the historic region known as Upper Silesia ('), with Katowice serving as its capital. Despite the Silesian V ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

). From 1834 Engerth studied at

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

- firstly architecture and then mechanical engineering - and then went to Galicia as an architect, where he was soon entrusted with a lot of work. He returned to Vienna in order to devote himself to engineering, became a teacher of mechanics at the ''Polytechnikum'', then professor of descriptive geometry and, in 1844, professor of mechanics and engineering principles at the Joanneum in Graz. He designed a tender locomotive for the Semmering railway (''Semmeringbahn'') which met the requirements so well that, since then, his Engerth system has found many uses. In 1850 Engerth was nominated as the technical director (''Rat'') on the executive board for railways, and later took over the Department of Engineering in the Austrian Ministry of Trade. In 1855 he took over as ''Zentraldirektor'' of the Austrian railways and later became its managing director (''Generaldirektor''). In 1859 he was a member of the ''Zollenquetekommission'' and in 1860 he left government service. He worked with great circumspection (''Umsicht'') on the organisation of technical studies in Austria and was one of the most enthusiastic proponents of regulating the

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , p ...

river. He invented the

Schwimmtor The Schwimmtor (''Floating gate''), also known as the Sperrschiff (''Blocking ship''), was a floating barrier designed to protect the areas along the Donaukanal in Vienna from flooding and ice. It was built by Wilhelm von Engerth, entered service on ...

, a barrier for preventing floating ice from entering the Danube canal. At the Vienna World Exposition in 1873 he acted as the head of engineering and led the construction of the exhibition halls as the chief engineer. He instigated the tunnels through the

Arlberg Arlberg () is a massif between Vorarlberg and Tyrol in Austria. The highest peak is the Valluga at . The name ''Arlberg'' derives from the tradition of the "Arlenburg", who are said to have once established themselves on the Tyrolean side of the A ...

. In 1874 he was called to the upper house (''Herrenhaus'') of the Austrian parliament, the Reichsrat and, in 1875 awarded a baronetcy. He died on 4 September 1884 in Leesdorf, part of Baden bei Wien,

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

. His brother was the artist, Eduard von Engerth.

Sources

* Wilhelm Engerth: ''Die Lokomotive der Staats-Eisenbahn über den Semmering: Resultate d. Erprobung d. Kettenkuppelung an d. Preis-Lokomotive Bavaria, Erörterung d. Konstruktionen d. Wilhelm Engerth: Bildliche Darstellungen der einfachen Maschinen in isometrischer Projection/entworfen von Wilhelm Engerth.'' Wien 1845. * Wilhelm Engerth: ''Konkurs-Lokomotive u. Beschreibung mehrerer projektirten Gebirgs-Lokomotive; mit einem Atlas von 13 Kupfertaf. u. einem lithogr. Längenprofile d. Semmeringbahn.'' Aus: Zeitschrift des Österreichischen Ingenieur-Vereins. 1853 u. 1854. (Umschlagt.: Semmering Locomotive). * Wilhelm Engerth: ''Personen- und Lastwagen, Tender-Ausrüstung, Werkstätten-Einrichtung und Werkzeuge. Zeichnungen aus der K. K. Österreichischen Staatseisenbahn-Gesellschaft.'' Wien 1857. * Wilhelm von Engerth: ''Das Schwimmthor zur Absperrung des Wiener Donaucanales.'' Wien 1884. * Eduard Frhr. von Engerth: ''Wilhelm Freiherr von Engerth: Ein Gedenkblatt zu seinem 100. Geburtstag (26. Mai 1814).'' Wien 1914.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Engerth, Wilhelm 1814 births 1884 deaths People from Pszczyna People from the Province of Silesia Barons of Austria Austrian people of German descent Members of the House of Lords (Austria) Austrian railway mechanical engineers Austrian railway pioneers

Wilhelm Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Mount ...

Life and work

See also

Sources

External links