Karl Hoecken (1874–1962)

After the death in 1922 of Wilhelm Hartmann, the direct successor of Franz Reuleaux in the “Lehrstuhl für Getriebelehre” (Chair of Kinematics) at the Technische Hochschule (TH) in Berlin-Charlottenburg, there was a succession of interim professors, until Hermann Alt from Dresden finally got the chair in 1939, again as full professor. Karl Hoecken belonged to this row of interims, serving from 1930 to 1934. Looking through Hoecken’s estate, we find some new aspects of the famous kinematic model collection established by Reuleaux. This paper also takes up four publications by Hoecken on mechanisms, models and their kinematic equations, and thus, gives a historical overview of Hoecken’s contribution to the field of kinematics at that time.