Karl von Etzel (old spelling Carl von Etzel; 6 January 1812 – 2 May 1865) was a German railway engineer and architect. He created many famous railway lines, bridges and viaducts, including the Bietigheim Enz Valley Viaduct.

Life

Karl Etzel was the son of the Stuttgart city planner Gottlieb Christian Eberhard von Etzel, the builder of the Neuen Weinsteige, a picturesque road in southeastern

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Because his father had built houses in

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...

for the Rauch and Mertz families in 1811–1812, it was commonly believed that he was born in Heilbronn, but his birth is registered in the parish register of Stuttgart. The young Etzel studied from 1831 to 1835 with Nikolaus Friedrich von Thouret. In 1835 Karl von Etzel worked on construction projects in France, including the Paris ( Saint-Lazare)– Saint-Germain railway with the bridge over the

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

at Asnières (destroyed during the

February Revolution of 1848 The French Revolution of 1848 (), also known as the February Revolution (), was a period of civil unrest in France, in February 1848, that led to the collapse of the July Monarchy and the foundation of the French Second Republic. It sparked t ...

and later rebuilt). In 1837 he was the Chief Engineer for the construction of the Versailles Railway. In 1840, he went to

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 oversaw several building projects. Together with

Ludwig Förster Ludwig Christian Friedrich (von) Förster (8 October 1797 – 16 June 1863) was a German-born Austrian architect. While he was not Jewish, he is known for building Jewish synagogues and churches. Ludwig Förster studied in Munich and Vienna. ...

, he rebuilt the first ''Dianabad'' with a steel hall, making it the first indoor bath house in continental Europe. In 1843, he was employed as a town planner in

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

, where he was responsible for the construction of the first railways in Württemberg, including the

Fils Valley Railway The Fils Valley Railway (, historically ''Filsbahn'' or ''Württembergische Ostbahn''—Württemberg Eastern Railway) designates the Württemberg line from Stuttgart via Göppingen to Ulm. It runs from Plochingen to Geislingen an der Steige thr ...

over the

Geislinger Steige The Geislinger Steige ("Geislingen climb") is an old trade route over the low mountain range of the Swabian Jura in southern Germany. It links Geislingen an der Steige with Amstetten and is one of the most famous ascents in the Jura. The name "Geis ...

—the first railway crossing of a mountain range in Europe. He built the first

Stuttgart Central Station Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (; ) is the primary railway station in the city of Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the ...

, opened on 26 September 1846. In 1853, Etzel joined the

Swiss Central Railway The Swiss Central Railway (''Schweizerische Centralbahn''; SCB or S.C.B.) was one of the five major private railway companies of Switzerland. The SCB with a track length of 332 kilometres was integrated into the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) in ...

as a construction manager and he oversaw the construction of the Hauenstein line, starting with the original Hauenstein tunnel. He then created his most famous and greatest work in Austria, the

Brenner Railway The Brenner Railway (; ) is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal ( German for "Wipp Valley"), passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal ( German for " ...

(1864–1867), although he did not live to see its completion. Etzel suffered a stroke on 13 November 1864 and therefore requested retirement. He died on 2 May 1865 in Kemmelbach between Vienna and

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

of a second stroke during a train ride on a special train to Stuttgart-Cannstatt, where he wanted to retire to live in the Villa Etzel, which had been built and furnished to his designs. During his life Etzel was in charge of the construction of more than 1,500 kilometres of railways. He had also written several literary works since 1844. He edited a few articles for the ''Stuttgarter Eisenbahn-Zeitung'' (Stuttgart railway newspaper). His published instructions were written with an unsurpassed brevity.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Etzel, Karl German civil engineers 1812 births 1865 deaths 19th-century German architects Engineers from Stuttgart People from the Kingdom of Württemberg