Business & Science

Inventors from Magdeburg

Otto von Guericke
The former Lord Mayor of Magdeburg attracted worldwide attention with the invention of the first piston-type vacuum pump in 1649. Guericke focused his research activities on the characteristics of a space that is essentially empty of matter, the vacuum. He carried out spectacular public experiments to demonstrate the force of air pressure. In fact, the so-called Magdeburg hemispheres experiment became famous all over the world where teams of horses attempted to pull apart two joined hemispheres when the air within had been pumped out. The horses were unable to separate the hemispheres. Guericke demonstrated that the hemispheres easily fell apart when air was let back in. In another experiment, the famous Magdeburg born inventor set up a cylinder which was provided with a movable piston. Guericke then fastened a rope to the piston, ran it over a winding and told 50 men to hold it tight. The air was sucked out of the cylinder chamber and henceforth the men were no longer able to prevent the piston from sliding downwards. The experiment made history since it paved the way for the invention of lifting devices.

Friedrich Albert Immanuel Mellin
Born in Magdeburg in 1796, Friedrich Albert Immanuel Mellin became a pioneer in the area of rail traffic telegraphy. Together with Professor Heinrich Dove (considered a forefather in the field of meteorology sciences of today and weather forecast) and Franz August O'Etzel (pioneering in the implementation of telegraphy in Germany), he carried out first experiments in the aforementioned field.

Carl Friedrich Deneke
Deneke was the founder of the Wittenberg railway in the mid 19th century. Furthermore, he advocated the construction of a railway line between Magdeburg and Helmstedt.

Hermann Gruson
Hermann Gruson, born in Magdeburg in 1821, was particularly committed to finding ways to improve the resistance of cast iron. In the mid 19th century, he achieved his objective by batching and blending, i.e. mixing different sorts of pig iron. As a result, chilled cast iron products from the Gruson factories became a brand. These products played an important role in the development of engineering and railway construction in Germany.

Richard Assmann
In 1892, the meteorologist Assmann developed the so-called aspiration psychrometer, which was named after him, an instrument for measuring temperature and humidity which is well shielded from radiation. With his development he further increased the popularity of meteorology and today he is considered a co-founder of aerology.