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Edmund Elias Rumpler (4 January 1872 – 7 September 1940) was an
Edmund Elias Rumpler (4 January 1872 – 7 September 1940) 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 automobile and aircraft designer.
Born 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 ...
, then Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
(now Austria),Wise 1974, p.1964 he worked mainly in Germany.Lyons 1988, p.73 An automotive engineer by training, he collaborated with Hans Ledwinka
Hans Ledwinka (14 February 1878 – 2 March 1967) was an Austrian automobile designer.
Youth
Ledwinka was born in Klosterneuburg (Lower Austria), near Vienna, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
He started his career as a mechanic, a ...
on the first Tatra car (at that time called ''Nesselsdorfer-Wagenbau''), the Präsident
The Präsident was an automobile manufactured by Nesselsdorfer Wagenbau-Fabriks-Gesellschaft A.G. (Nesselsdorf or NW, now known as Tatra) in 1897. It was the first actually drivable factory made petrol-engined automobile produced in Austria-Hu ...
, in 1897.
By age 30, in 1902, he had quit Daimler to become technical director of Adler. He designed the first German engine to have engine and gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), diff ...
as a unit at Adler. The next year, he patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
ed a swing axle
A swing axle is a simple type of independent (rear wheel) suspension designed and patented by Edmund Rumpler in 1903. This was a revolutionary invention in automotive suspension, allowing driven (powered) wheels to follow uneven road surfaces ...
rear suspension system (an idea later adopted by Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was an Austrian-German automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline–electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volksw ...
for the ''KdF Wagen'' and Porsche 356
The Porsche 356 is a sports car that was first produced by Austrian company Porsche Salzburg, Porsche Konstruktionen GesmbH (1948–1949), and then by German company Porsche, Dr. Ing. h. c. F. Porsche GmbH (1950–1965). It was Porsche's first ...
, as well as by Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ou ...
for the Corvair).
The Wright brothers turned Rumpler's attention to aviation. He quit Adler in 1907, and in 1910, copying countryman Igo Etrich's Taube
Taube is a surname. It may refer to:
People
* Taube family, a Baltic German noble family
Persons
* Aino Taube (1912–1990), Swedish film and theatre actress
* Arvid Taube (1853–1916), Swedish politician and noble
* Astri Taube (1898–1980 ...
, Rumpler became the first ever aircraft manufacturer in Germany. In 1911, he took on Melli Beese as a student pilot and used her flying appearances in competitions as promotion for his aeroplanes.
Rumpler continued to be interested in automobiles, and after the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, he applied aircraft streamlining to a car, building the ''Tropfenwagen'' (German, "drop car") 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 constitu ...
. A production model proved a sensation at the 1921 Berlin Auto Show
The Berlin Motor Show originally started in 1897 in the German capital Berlin as the home of the International Motor Show (''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'', IAA) and ran until 1939. From 1951 the IAA eventually became established in Fran ...
. Rumpler's efforts produced a car with an astoundingly low Cw of only 0.28 (when tested in 1979); the Fiat ''Balilla'' of the period, by contrast, was 0.60.Setright 1974, p.38
The Rumpler design inspired the 1923 Benz ''Tropfenwagen'' (which used the virtually-unchanged Rumpler chassis) and Auto Union
Auto Union AG, was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony. It is the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today.
As well as acting as an umbrella firm f ...
(also built in part by Rumpler engineers) Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
racers.
Rumpler's ''Tropfenwagen'' was not a commercial success, and only 100 ''Tropfenwagen'' were built, just two of which survive. Rumpler returned to aircraft.Lyons 1988, p.74
Because Rumpler was Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
, he was imprisoned after Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...
took power in 1933, and his career was ruined, even though he was soon released. He died in Züsow Germany in 1940, and the Nazis
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 N ...
destroyed his records.
See also
* Notable owners of Tatra 77; Rumpler was one of them.Notes
Sources
* Lyons, Pete. "10 Best Ahead-of-Their-Time Machines". ''Car and Driver'', 1/88, pp. 73–4. * Setright, L. J. K. "Aerodynamics: Finding the Right Shape for the Car Body", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 1, p. 38. * Wise, David Burgess. "Rumpler: One Aeroplane which Never Flew", in Northey, Tom, ed. ''World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis, 1974), Vol. 17, p. 1964. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rumpler, Edmund Austrian automotive pioneers Austrian inventors 1872 births 1940 deaths Austrian Jews Engineers from Vienna