Ferdinand Jakob Redtenbacher (1809–1863)

The rapid development of technology in the twentieth century, especially in the automotive and aircraft industries as well as machine tool and manufacturing engineering, is causally connected to the developments of the scientific principles of mechanical engineering in the nineteenth century. The transformation of mechanical technology from a mainly workshop-based profession into an engineering science, particularly in the area of design of machines and mechanisms, is closely related with the name of Ferdinand Redtenbacher. He was of eminent historical importance for this evolution of mechanical engineering to a technical science in the nineteenth century. Redtenbacher’s role as the originator of mechanical engineering as a science in Germany is fundamental and of general interest since the introduction of science into engineering is a “sine qua none” for the development of a powerful high tech industry. As a professor and the director of the Polytechnic School in Karlsruhe, Germany – today the University of Karlsruhe (TH) –, Redtenbacher’s influence therefore helped establish the German manufacturing systems engineering even today.