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Franz Dinnendahl (20 August 1775 - 15 August 1826) was a German engineer and industrialist who was most prominently known for his pioneering work during the
Popular legend has it that although he was an excellent engineer, he lacked business qualities such that he died in poverty in 1826. Yet the metal industry in general was experiencing hard times in the period after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and in 1818, Dinnendahl's works was a notable exception in that it showed a modest profit and employed 60 menBlood and Steel - The Rise of the Krupps, Bernhard Menne, page 33
According to some sources,Blood and Steel - The Rise of the Krupps, Bernhard Menne, page 28 he was betrayed by the Hütte Gute Hoffnung, who appropriated his expertise and then ruined his business by introducing competition to his business.
He was buried in the cemetery in Rellinghausen. In 1936, he was re-interred in an 'Ehrengrab' in the Südwestfriedhof (South West Cemetery).
On the grounds of his former works at Trentelgasse 4 in Essen, a main tax office was erected in 1907/08, a memorial plaque was put there in remembrance of him. In 2006, the building was acquired by a private investor erworben, lavishly re-furbished and given the name of "Villa Dinnendahl". Today a private health academy occupies the building.
Dinnendahlstraße in Bergerhausen and Huttrop was named for Franz Dinnendahl in 1920. Elsewhere, the Franz-Dinnendahl-Realschule (school) in
industrialization
Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econ ...
in the Ruhr valley
The Ruhr ( ; german: Ruhrgebiet , also ''Ruhrpott'' ), also referred to as the Ruhr area, sometimes Ruhr district, Ruhr region, or Ruhr valley, is a polycentric urban area in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population density of 2,800/km ...
and building the first steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...
in Essen in 1803. He was among the founder and namesake of Westfalia Dinnendahl Gröppel
Westfalia is the designation of various specially converted Volkswagen Volkswagen Westfalia Campers, camper vans. It is named after Westfalia-Werke, the contractor that built the vans, which is headquartered in the town of Rheda-Wiedenbrück, loca ...
.
Life
Dinnendahl was the son of a miller. As a youth he worked for two years as a swineherd and then for two years he earned his money selling coal. On the advice of his uncle he learnt to be a carpenter. It was here that his fascination for technology was born. When he received a contract to build a machine house out of wood, he became more interested in the machine than in the house. The first steam engine - conceived inBritain
Britain most often refers to:
* The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands
* Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
- was employed in the Zeche Vollmond in Bochum-Langendreer. This was built in his first works in the Essener Innenstadt, on the Trentelgasse. Steam engines were to become extremely important for the extraction of coal in the Ruhr district. They were used, for example, for pumps to extract water from the lower levels. Dinnendahl established his own company and from 1801 to 1803 he constructed the first steam engine of his own construction.
In 1807 and 1808, he associated with Friedrich Krupp during the latter's spell as proprietor of the Gute Hoffnungshütte
MAN SE (abbreviation of ''Maschinenfabrik Augsburg- Nürnberg'', ) was a manufacturing and engineering company based in Munich, Germany. Its primary output was commercial vehicles and diesel engines through its MAN Truck & Bus and MAN Latin Am ...
in Sterkrade.
In 1821 his works were burnt down and he built a new factory in Bergerhausen (later: Westfalia-Dinnendahl-Gröppel AG).Popular legend has it that although he was an excellent engineer, he lacked business qualities such that he died in poverty in 1826. Yet the metal industry in general was experiencing hard times in the period after the end of the Napoleonic Wars and in 1818, Dinnendahl's works was a notable exception in that it showed a modest profit and employed 60 menBlood and Steel - The Rise of the Krupps, Bernhard Menne, page 33
According to some sources,Blood and Steel - The Rise of the Krupps, Bernhard Menne, page 28 he was betrayed by the Hütte Gute Hoffnung, who appropriated his expertise and then ruined his business by introducing competition to his business.
He was buried in the cemetery in Rellinghausen. In 1936, he was re-interred in an 'Ehrengrab' in the Südwestfriedhof (South West Cemetery).
On the grounds of his former works at Trentelgasse 4 in Essen, a main tax office was erected in 1907/08, a memorial plaque was put there in remembrance of him. In 2006, the building was acquired by a private investor erworben, lavishly re-furbished and given the name of "Villa Dinnendahl". Today a private health academy occupies the building.
Dinnendahlstraße in Bergerhausen and Huttrop was named for Franz Dinnendahl in 1920. Elsewhere, the Franz-Dinnendahl-Realschule (school) in Essen-Kray
Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and ...
bears his name.
References
Literature
*Essener Beiträge - Beiträge zur Geschichte von Stadt und Stift Essen Band 26. - Essen : Fredebeul & Koenen, 1905, S. 5-52.External links
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dinnendahl, Franz 1775 births 1826 deaths 19th-century German businesspeople Engineers from Essen Sterkrade Steam engine engineers