Friedrich Hermann Wölfert

Friedrich Hermann Wölfert (17 November 1850 in Riethnordhausen, Kreis Sangerhausen - 12 June 1897 in Tempelhof (in Berlin)) was a German publisher and aviation pioneer.Schulz]

Early life

From 1870 he studied theology and philosophy at Leipzig, and he founded his own publishing company in 1873. He published over 50 books and newspapers, some of which he wrote himself. In the same year he married Christiane Trautmann, with whom he had two daughters.Editors of German wikipedia]

Human-powered airships

After meeting the forester Georg Baumgarten in 1879, he became fascinated with airship flight and offered not only financial support but helped him further develop airships. Baumgarten had patented and experimented with his own airship designs, but his royal employer soon forbad him from airship work. Therefore they both continued work using Wölfert's name. Their first cooperative work, the " _de. Dreigondelluftschiff" (three gondola airship) flew in 1880-01-31, and crashed. In 1881 further models were built, all of them, non-rigid designs. Due to their activities the " _de. Verein zur Förderung der Luftschifffahrt" was founded in 1881-09-08.

Wölfert neglected his publishing business, which was sold in 1881. After Baumgarten's death in 1884 he continued the work and built a series of seven airships, including the human-powered "Deutschland" which flew in Berlin.

Gottlieb Daimler's petrol engine

After flying another airship in Dresden in 1887, a Leipzig illustrated newspaper printed a detailed account, describing it as a muscle-powered airship and hinting at a military project. Gottlieb Daimler noticed this article and, after patenting his new petrol engine for airflight, invited Wölfert to Cannstatt.

On 1888-08-10 Wölfert's airship, driven by Daimler's so-called _de. "Standuhr" (Grandfather Clock) petrol engine,George Whale, 1995, Chapter II / Early airships and their development to the present day / Germany. "8 horse-power benzine Daimler motor drove a twin-bladed aluminium propeller"] flew 10 kilometres from Cannstatt to Aldingen (part of Remseck am Neckar) and back. Other flights were made in Cannstatt, Ulm, Augsburg, Munich, and Vienna. He also offered the use of one for military purposes to the Berlin airship department.

1896 Berliner Gewerbeausstellung

Wölfert wished to present his airship at the 1896 _de. "Berliner Gewerbeausstellung" (a large commercial exposition). A sponsor provided 50,000 Mark to build a hangar at the expo. At least three flights were made; one on 1896-05-20 reached the then record height of 1,940 metres.

Later flights included the delivery of Post, from which some envelopes still exist. These successes led to support from the military and at the last, and fatal, flight at Tempelhof guests from Greece, China and Japan were present. Wölfert again named the airship "Deutschland", which rose up about 500 metres but caught fire and crashed on 1897-06-12, killing both him and his mechanic.

References

* Whale, George. 1995. "British Airships, Past / Present / Future", ISBN 1426400748, BiblioBazaar (October 26, 2007) (also [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/762 1996 Gutenberg version] )
* Editors of German wikipedia [http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Friedrich_Hermann_W%C3%B6lfert&oldid=47187721] ()
* Schulz, Günter O. [http://www.luftschiffseiten.de/TextseiteGeschichteBaumgartenWoelfert.htm Luftschiffseiten - Geschichte von Baumgarten & Wölfert] . (German) (biography and photographs of Wölfert, Baumgarten and the airship) Retrieved 2008-08-10

Persondata
NAME = Wölfert, Friedrich Hermann
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = German publisher and airship builder
DATE OF BIRTH = 1850-11-17
PLACE OF BIRTH = Riethnordhausen, Kreis Sangerhausen
DATE OF DEATH = 1897-06-12
PLACE OF DEATH = Tempelhof (in Berlin)