Johann-Andreas Schubert (19 March 1808 – 6 October 1870) was a German general engineer (''Universalingenieur''), designer and

university lecturer Lecturer is an academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. They may also conduct res ...

Life

Schubert was born on 19 March 1808 in Wernesgrün (

Vogtland Vogtland (; cz, Fojtsko) is a region spanning the German states of Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia and north-western Bohemia in the Czech Republic. It overlaps with and is largely contained within Euregio Egrensis. The name alludes to the former ...

) in the

Kingdom of Saxony The Kingdom of Saxony (german: Königreich Sachsen), lasting from 1806 to 1918, was an independent member of a number of historical confederacies in Napoleonic through post-Napoleonic Germany. The kingdom was formed from the Electorate of Saxon ...

in Germany. He was the son of a

day labourer Day labor (or day labour in American and British English spelling differences, Commonwealth spelling) is work done where the worker is hired and paid one day at a time, with no promise that more work will be available in the future. It is a form ...

(''Tagelöhner'') and was brought up by foster parents, who enabled him to have a sound education at the St Thomas School in Leipzig, at the garrison school at

Königstein Fortress Königstein Fortress (german: Festung Königstein), the "Saxony, Saxon Bastille", is a hilltop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, above the town of Königstein, Saxony, Königstein on the left bank of the River Elbe. It is one ...

and at the Freemasons Institute in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

's Friedrichstadt. He studied civil and structural engineering (architecture) at the architecture school in the academy of

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

in Dresden and in 1828 (at the age of 20 ) was given a post as a lecturer with the recently founded Royal Institute for Technical Education (''Königlich-Technischen Bildungsanstalt Dresden'' or ''TBD'') in Dresden, the forerunner of the

Dresden University of Technology TU Dresden (for german: Technische Universität Dresden, abbreviated as TUD and often wrongly translated as "Dresden University of Technology") is a public research university, the largest institute of higher education in the city of Dresden, th ...

. On 28 April 1832 Schubert was hired as a senior professor (''Prädikat Professor''). He was the first lecturer in mathematical and technical sciences at the ''TBD'' and at the same time lecturer in mathematical sciences at the architecture school of the

Dresden Academy of Fine Arts The Dresden Academy of Fine Arts (German ''Hochschule für Bildende Künste Dresden''), often abbreviated HfBK Dresden or simply HfBK, is a vocational university of visual arts located in Dresden, Germany. The present institution is the product o ...

. In 1836 the

Maschinenbauanstalt Übigau The Maschinenbauanstalt Übigau, full name ''Dresdener Actien-Maschinenbau-Verein, Maschinenbau-Anstalt Uebigau'',albert-gieseler.deDresdener Actien-Maschinenbau-Verein, Maschinenbau-Anstalt Uebigau/ref> was a German engineering firm based in t ...

was founded and Schubert became its technical director and chairman of the board. That same year he was a co-founder of the Saxon Elbe Steamship Company (''Sächsische Elbe-Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft''). In 1837 the first

steamship A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

on the Upper

Elbe The Elbe (; cs, Labe ; nds, Ilv or ''Elv''; Upper and dsb, Łobjo) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Repu ...

, the ''Königin Maria'', was built and one year later the steamer, ''Prinz Albert'', followed – both were designed by Schubert. In April 1838 Schubert quit his contract with the

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

company and became a university lecturer again. On 8 April 1839 at the opening of the first German long-distance railway between

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

and Dresden, Schubert drove the '' Saxonia'', the first effective, working,

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

in Germany, which he had designed. He drove behind the official train which was hauled by two English locomotives. On 31 May 1845 the foundation stone for the

Göltzsch Viaduct The Göltzsch Viaduct (German: ''Göltzschtalbrücke'') is a railway bridge in Germany. It is the largest brick-built bridge in the world, and for a time it was the tallest railway bridge in the world. It spans the valley of the Göltzsch River b ...

, designed again by Schubert, was laid. Schubert made the attempt, for the first time in Germany, to base the design of railway bridges on theoretical calculations. With over 26 million bricks, the Göltzsch Viaduct is the largest brick bridge in the world. It is 574 m long, 78 m high and has 81 arches. Opened on 15 July 1851, it is still standing today, only minor maintenance being needed to enable it to cope with the loading of modern-day railway traffic. In 1866 Johann-Andreas Schubert resigned from his university posts. On 6 October 1870 he died in Dresden. His grave is located in the Evangelical Cemetery of St Matthew's Church (''Matthäuskirche'') in Friedrichstrasse.

Honours

* In his memory, one of the buildings at the

University of Technology An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

in Dresden's ''Südvorstadt'' district bears the name ''Andreas-Schubert-Bau''. * On the occasion of his 200th birthday in July 2008 the university organised an academic exhibition and a Schubert open day. * Both in 1985 and in 2008 stamps appeared in honour of Schuberts and his achievements. * On his house of birth in Wernesgrün he is commemorated by a memorial tablet.

References

Sources

* :de:Johann Andreas Schubert * Manfred Bachmann (ed.): ''Prof. Johann Andreas Schubert - Wissenschaftler und Konstrukteur.'' In: ''Kleine Chronik großer Meister - Erzgebirger, auf die wir stolz sind.'' Teil 1, Druckerei und Verlag Mike Rockstroh, Aue 2000, p. 43-46 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schubert, Johann Andreas 1808 births 1870 deaths People from Vogtlandkreis People from the Kingdom of Saxony German railway pioneers German railway mechanical engineers Engineers from Saxony

Life

Honours

See also

References

Sources