Friedrich Lürssen (born 1 March 1851 in

Lemwerder Lemwerder is a municipality in the district of Wesermarsch, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is on the left bank of the Weser, approximately east of Oldenburg, and northwest of the centre of Bremen. Since April 2001, Lemwerder is governed by Ma ...

; died 30 November 1916 in

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie H ...

) was a German

shipbuilder Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...

and company founder of the German company

Lürssen Lürssen (or Lürssen Werft) is a German shipyard with headquarters in Bremen-Vegesack and shipbuilding facilities in Lemwerder, Berne and Bremen-Fähr-Lobbendorf. Lürssen designs and constructs yachts, naval ships and special vessels. Tradi ...

. He constructed the first

motorboat A motorboat, speedboat or powerboat is a boat that is exclusively powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard motor, inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion ...

for inventor

Gottlieb Daimler Gottlieb Wilhelm Daimler (; 17 March 1834 – 6 March 1900) was a German engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf ( Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He wa ...

Life

On 27 June 1875, the 24 year-old Friedrich Lürssen set up a boatbuilding workshop in Aumund, a suburb of Bremen, Germany. His first vessel demonstrates his trademark: originality and high-quality. Friedrich Lürssen's shipyard grew and thrived, and at one point he also began placing orders with his father. Lürssen won several trophies in

boat racing Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other w ...

. Eleven years later, in 1886, Friedrich Lürssen built the world's first

. The 6-meter REMS was commissioned by the inventor and engine manufacturer

, who needed a boat to put his new engine through its paces. Friedrich Lürssen, always open to new ideas, designed and built it without delay. Daimler: Gottlieb Daimler memorial in Bad Cannstatt
/ref> This motorboat was first tested on the German river

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Sc ...

. He was married and his son

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorde ...

(1880–1932) worked for the Lürssen company.

References

External links

Deutsche Biographie: Friedrich Lürssen (German)Official website by Lürssen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lurssen, Friedrich 1851 births 1916 deaths German shipbuilders 19th-century German businesspeople 20th-century German businesspeople German company founders German naval architects German industrialists Lürssen