Otto Metzger
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Otto Metzger was a
German-British There are many Germans living in the United Kingdom, and many Britons or ''German British'' () have German ancestry, including the British royal family. While those born in Germany constitute one of the UK's largest Foreign-born population of the ...
engineer, and inventor of an impact-extrusion process for forming seamless zinc and brass cans.


Family

Otto Metzger was the son of Jewish parents: Ludwig Metzger (18521931) and Gretchen (Guldmann) (18641943). He grew up in
Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
, Germany, where he met his wife, Sophie (Josephthal) (18941998).


First World War

Otto Metzger had previously served as a
reserve officer A military reserve force is a military organization whose members (reservists) have military and civilian occupations. They are not normally kept under arms, and their main role is to be available when their military requires additional m ...
in the Bavarian Engineers and so, at the outbreak of the
First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he was immediately
conscripted Conscription, also known as the draft in the United States and Israel, is the practice in which the compulsory enlistment in a national service, mainly a military service, is enforced by law. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it contin ...
. He served in the
Imperial German Army The Imperial German Army (1871–1919), officially referred to as the German Army (), was the unified ground and air force of the German Empire. It was established in 1871 with the political unification of Germany under the leadership of Kingdom o ...
on the Western Front, and rose to the rank of
lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...
, and was awarded
Iron Cross The Iron Cross (, , abbreviated EK) was a military decoration in the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire (1871–1918), and Nazi Germany (1933–1945). The design, a black cross pattée with a white or silver outline, was derived from the in ...
medals (1st and 2nd class).


Engineering career in Germany

After his early schooling at the ''Neues Gymnasium'' in Nuremberg, he continued his studies at the
Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...
(TH) in
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
, and obtained a
Diplom-Ingenieur An engineer's degree is an advanced academic degree in engineering which is conferred in Europe, some countries of Asia and Latin America, North Africa and a few institutions in the United States. The degree may require a thesis but always require ...
degree in
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 TH in
Berlin-Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...
. Otto Metzger then spent several years travelling and gaining engineering experience both in Germany, and also in Austria, France, Britain, USA and in Mexico. On his return to Nuremberg in 1912, he took a post with a local metals company, ''Schmidtmer & Co'', first as an engineer, and then becoming a partner. After the First World War, he returned to his previous work; the company (then called ''Süddeutsche Metallindustrie'') was taken over by '' Vereinigte Deutsche Metallwerke AG'' in 1926, and in 1930 became a subsidiary of the conglomerate ''Metallindustrie AG''. He was to stay with that company in various engineering and management positions until 1938, during which time he developed and
patented A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
inventions related to impact-extrusion of zinc, brass and other
non-ferrous metals In metallurgy, non-ferrous metals are metals or alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which in most cases at least one is a metal, metallic element, although it is also sometimes used for mixtures of elements; herein only meta ...
. Typical products for these patents were seamless cans for zinc-carbon batteries, brass
shell casings A cartridge, also known as a round, is a type of pre-assembled firearm ammunition packaging a projectile (bullet, shot, or slug), a propellant substance (smokeless powder, black powder substitute, or black powder) and an ignition device ( pri ...
, and containers for
foodstuff Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin and contains essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is in ...
and for drinks.


Nazi persecution and emigration

Starting in about 1933, the
persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...
of Jews in
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
Germany intensified. This reached a climax on 9November 1938, when Jews were attacked in their homes and businesses during the night of
Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...
. Otto Metzger was returning from Britain, where he had just concluded a licensing agreement with a British company, Enfield Rolling Mills Ltd, to use his patented impact-extrusion technology. He was arrested by the
Gestapo The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
at the German border, on his way home to Nuremberg, and imprisoned in the
Dachau concentration camp Dachau (, ; , ; ) was one of the first concentration camps built by Nazi Germany and the longest-running one, opening on 22 March 1933. The camp was initially intended to intern Hitler's political opponents, which consisted of communists, s ...
. Meanwhile his wife, having had their home and belongings invaded and smashed by Nazi stormtroopers and having spent the night wandering the streets of Nuremberg, waited in vain for Otto’s return. Otto Metzger was released from Dachau on 15December 1938, and returned home to Nuremberg. By late-February 1939, he had managed to obtain the necessary travel documents to leave Germany, and he and his wife left for Britain. Otto had been unable to obtain documents for his mother Gretchen (who by that time was aged 74); she remained in Nuremberg, and was transported by the Nazis to
Theresienstadt concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination c ...
, where she died in 1943.


Later life in Britain

On arrival in Britain in early 1939, Otto Metzger was immediately employed by Enfield Rolling Mills Ltd. He stayed with the company until his retirement in 1958, rising to the position of
Managing Director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...
. During the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, Otto Metzger was not interned as an
enemy alien In customary international law, an enemy alien is any alien native, citizen, denizen or subject of any foreign nation or government with which a domestic nation or government is in conflict and who is liable to be apprehended, restrained, secur ...
, as were most German immigrants; the British Government valued his expertise for the war effort. Otto Metzger died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
in 1961.


Memorialization

Otto and his wife Sophie are commemorated by adjacent rose bushes, planted in the Liberal Jewish Cemetery in London. Two adjacent
Stolpersteine A (; plural ) is a concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. Literal translation, Literally, it means 'stumbling stone' and metaphorically 'stumbling block'. ...
, commemorating Otto and his wife Sophie, are laid in a Nuremberg street directly outside the apartment where they lived prior to fleeing Germany in 1939.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metzger, Otto 1961 deaths 1885 births 20th-century British engineers 20th-century German engineers 20th-century British inventors Burials at Liberal Jewish Cemetery, Willesden Dachau concentration camp survivors 20th-century German inventors German Jewish military personnel of World War I Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Engineers from Nuremberg Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 1st class Recipients of the Iron Cross (1914), 2nd class Technische Universität Berlin alumni Technical University of Munich alumni