Adolf Herz (1862 in

Nový Jičín Nový Jičín (; ) is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 23,000 inhabitants. The historic centre of Nový Jičín is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monument (Czech Republic)#Monument reservati ...

– 1947 in

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

) was an Austrian-Swiss engineer and inventor. He co-designed one of the first modern

blood pressure Blood pressure (BP) is the pressure of Circulatory system, circulating blood against the walls of blood vessels. Most of this pressure results from the heart pumping blood through the circulatory system. When used without qualification, the term ...

monitors.

Life

Herz was born as son of a well-to-do

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

owner. After completing the Realschule in

Brno Brno ( , ; ) is a Statutory city (Czech Republic), city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava (river), Svitava and Svratka (river), Svratka rivers, Brno has about 403,000 inhabitants, making ...

, he studied

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the k&k Technische Hocshschule in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he eventually settled down and obtained "das Bürgerrecht". He opened a werkstatt to produce some of his inventions, mainly related to automobiles, which then were in their infancy. He invented a much improved sparkplug, and a more effective shock absorber. Together with his brother Max, a cardiologist and

Privatdozent ''Privatdozent'' (for men) or ''Privatdozentin'' (for women), abbreviated PD, P.D. or Priv.-Doz., is an academic title conferred at some European universities, especially in German-speaking countries, to someone who holds certain formal qualifi ...

, he designed one of the first modern

monitors. He also became active as an amateur photographer, and in general participated in the typical Viennese " Kaffeehaus" culture, in the Kaffeehaus Central. From 1905 to 1913 Adolf Herz lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where he helped his younger brother

Leopold Leopold may refer to: People * Leopold (given name), including a list of people named Leopold or Léopold * Leopold (surname) Fictional characters * Leopold (''The Simpsons''), Superintendent Chalmers' assistant on ''The Simpsons'' * Leopold B ...

set up a business exploiting his personal inventions in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1918, after the end of World War I and the end of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

, Herz left Austria for

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

with an Austrian passport. His wife, May Priggen, who had worked for him in Vienna, and was born there as a British subject, followed him to Switzerland. They first lived in

Lugano Lugano ( , , ; ) is a city and municipality within the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino, Switzerland. It is the largest city in both Ticino and the Italian-speaking region of southern Switzerland. Lugano has a population () of , and an u ...

, Hertenstein, and

Weggis Weggis is a municipality in the district of Lucerne in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland. It forms part of the northern shore of Lake Lucerne. The official language is German. History In about 800 the monastery of Pfäfers acquired the court ...

, while searching for employment. He had lost much of his investments during the postwar economic crisis and the hyper inflation in Austria, and the rest due to the

fraudulent bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

of the Austrian Bank.

References

External links

* http://www.fotostiftung.ch/index.php?id=66&autor=1129 * http://www.fotokritik.de/artikel_37.html 1862 births 1947 deaths 20th-century Austrian people Engineers from Vienna Expatriates in Switzerland Moravian-German people Austrian expatriates in the United States People from Nový Jičín Austrian magazine founders 20th-century Austrian engineers Austrian mechanical engineers Engineers from Austria-Hungary {{Austria-engineer-stub