Roland Johannes Hüttenrauch (26 January 1928 – 12 January 2006) was in charge of

Stiftung Warentest Stiftung Warentest is a German consumer organisation and foundation involved in investigating and comparing goods and services in an unbiased way. It was founded on 4 December 1964 by the Federal Republic of Germany as an independent foundat ...

, the German consumer organisation in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

from 1967 to 1994. Roland Hüttenrauch was born in

Oberlungwitz Oberlungwitz () is a town in the Zwickau district, in Saxony, Germany. It is situated 18 km northeast of Zwickau, and 15 km west of Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Ge ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. After finishing school in 1946, he went on to study, first at the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

and then at

Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...

. There he graduated with a degree in

Physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

, followed by a doctorate in

Engineering Physics Engineering physics (EP), sometimes engineering science, is the field of study combining pure science disciplines (such as physics, mathematics, chemistry or biology) and engineering disciplines (computer, nuclear, electrical, aerospace, medic ...

in 1961. He was a lecturer in the university's Engineering Department till 1964 and worked as a freelancer for the German Association of Consumer Organisations. He was appointed Head of the Technology Department of Stiftung Warentest shortly after it was established in 1964 and as such, he played a major role in its development to a successful and internationally recognised institution. In 1967 he succeeded Olaf Triebenstein as the managing director of Stiftung Warentest and was then appointed executive director in 1972. During this time, he developed the method of comparative product testing. Roland Hüttenrauch retired in 1994 and was succeeded by Werner Brinkmann. He remained a member of Stiftung Warentest's Supervisory Board till 1999. In 1988 he was awarded the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

(First Class). In Germany he is generally considered to be "the father of the comparative testing of goods".

Selected publications

* ''The methodology of comparative product testing'', Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer Netherlands 1, 2 (March 1977), pp. 143 to 150 * ''Gebrauchstauglichkeit und Gebrauchswert'', chapter 35 in: ''Handbuch Qualitätsmanagement'', Hanser Fachbuchverlag (1999), 4th Edition * ''Einige Einflüsse der Rechtsprechung auf die Arbeitsmethodik der Stiftung Warentest'', in: ''Vergleichender Warentest: Testpraxis, Testwerbung, Rechtsprechung'', Verlag Moderne Industrie, Landsberg/Lech (1986), pp. 25 to 34

External links

Roland Hüttenrauch
im Munzinger Archiv
press release of Stiftung Warentest
17 January 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Huttenrauch, Roland Consumer rights activists Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German physicists 1928 births 2006 deaths People from Zwickau (district)

Selected publications

Further reading

External links