Hermann Oestrich (30 December 1903 – 2 April 1973) was a German-French engineer. He was involved in the development of jet engines as an employee of

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

and later of

Snecma Safran Aircraft Engines, previously Snecma (''Société nationale d'études et de construction de moteurs d'aviation'') or Snecma Moteurs, is a French aerospace engine manufacturer headquartered in Courcouronnes and a subsidiary of Safran. It d ...

Life

Born in

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

Beeckerwerth Beeckerwerth is a district of Duisburg located in a bend right of the Rhine. It has a population of 3,807 and an area of 7.62 km2. History Until the Middle Ages, Beeckerwerth was surrounded by water on all sides: on the west and northwest b ...

, Oestrich studied at the Technische Hochschule Hannover and in Berlin. After completing his studies, he first went to the

Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt The German Aerospace Center (, abbreviated DLR, literally ''German Center for Air- and Space-flight'') is the national center for aerospace, energy and transportation research of Germany, founded in 1969. It is headquartered in Cologne with 3 ...

in 1926, where he remained until he moved to Brandenburgische Motorenwerke in 1935. He became chief engineer of

after earning a doctorate at the TH Berlin-Charlottenburg in Berlin in 1937. As part of the new development of jet engines, Oestrich began research in this field. In 1939 he was appointed head of the development of jet engines in the BMW plant in Berlin-

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs of Berlin, boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence (geography), confluence of the Havel and Spree (river), Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smalle ...

. His developments eventually led to the

BMW 003 The BMW 003 (full RLM designation 109-003) is an early axial turbojet engine produced by BMW AG in Germany during World War II. The 003 and the Junkers Jumo 004 were the only German turbojet engines to reach production during World War II. W ...

engine, which was bought in 1946 by the French Air Ministry. In 1943, Oestrich was appointed department director and took over managing gas turbine development. After the Second World War, Oestrich was captured and interrogated for a long time on technical issues. Finally, he was offered a job in the US, which he declined. Together with other former BMW employees, such as

Hans-Georg Münzberg Hans-Georg Münzberg (21 August 1916 – 7 November 2000) was a German engineer who specialized in airplane turbines and space flight. He taught at the TU Berlin, the TH Munich, and wrote textbooks. Life Münzberg was born in Děčín, Tetsche ...

, August Wilhelm Quick and Otto David, he accepted a five-year contract with the French Ministry of Aviation. He founded

Atar Atar, Ahtra, Atash, Azar () or ''Dāštāɣni'',, s.v. ''agni-.'' is the Zoroastrian concept of holy fire, sometimes described in abstract terms as "burning and unburning fire" or "visible and invisible fire" (Mirza, 1987:389). It is conside ...

(Atelier technique aéronautique de Rickenbach) in 1946 and headed this development group of 120 employees. He went to

Decize Decize is a commune in the Nièvre department in central France. Geography The town is situated on a former island in the Loire ("''en Loire assise''") at the confluence of the Aron river. The right channel of the Loire was dammed up to recla ...

in 1946, where he worked for

subsidiary Aeroplanes Voisin. Oestrich and his team worked on the further development of the

Atar 101 The Snecma Atar is a French axial-flow turbojet engine built by Snecma. It was derived from the German World War II BMW 018 design, and developed by ex-BMW engineers through a progression of more powerful models. The name is derived from its or ...

. In 1948 he acquired French citizenship and in 1950 he rose to technical director of Snecma in

Villaroche Melun Villaroche Aerodrome () is an aerodrome located north of Melun, a commune in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. The airport is located east-southeast of Moissy-Cramayel and southeast o ...

, where the developments of the BMW 003 engine were being monitored. He retired from Snecma in 1960. For his services at Snecma overseeing the development of

Snecma Atar The Snecma Atar is a French axial-flow turbojet engine built by Snecma. It was derived from the German World War II BMW 018 design, and developed by ex-BMW engineers through a progression of more powerful models. The name is derived from it ...

turbojet engines, he was awarded

Knight of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was o ...

in 1962.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oestrich, Hermann 1903 births 1973 deaths 20th-century German engineers German aerospace engineers German emigrants to France People from Duisburg Recipients of the Legion of Honour Engineers from North Rhine-Westphalia