Ferdinand Porsche
Ferdinand Porsche | |
---|---|
Ferry Porsche | |
Parent(s) | Anton Porsche (father) Anna Ehrlich (mother) |
Engineering career | |
Projects | Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, Tiger I, Tiger II, Elefant, Panzer VIII Maus, Volkswagen Beetle |
Awards | German National Prize for Art and Science (1938) SS-Ehrenring War Merit Cross Wilhelm Exner Medal, 1936 |
Signature | |
Ferdinand Porsche[a] (3 September 1875 – 30 January 1951) was a German-Bohemian automotive engineer and founder of the Porsche AG. He is best known for creating the first gasoline–electric hybrid vehicle (Lohner–Porsche), the Volkswagen Beetle, the Auto Union racing cars, the Mercedes-Benz SS/SSK, and several other important developments and Porsche automobiles.
An important contributor to the German war effort during World War II,[1] Porsche was involved in the production of advanced tanks such as the VK 45.01 (P), the Elefant (initially called "Ferdinand") self-propelled gun, and the Panzer VIII Maus super-heavy tank, as well as other weapon systems, including the V-1 flying bomb.[2] Porsche was a member of the Nazi Party and an officer of the Schutzstaffel (SS).[3][4] He was a recipient of the German National Prize for Art and Science, the SS-Ehrenring and the War Merit Cross.
Porsche was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1996 and was named the Car Engineer of the Century in 1999.
Early life
Ferdinand Porsche was born to Anna Porsche (née Ehrlich) and Anton Porsche, in Maffersdorf (Vratislavice nad Nisou) in northern Bohemia, part of Austria-Hungary at that time, and today part of the Czech Republic.[5][6] Ferdinand was his parents' third child. His father was a master panel-beater.[7]
Ferdinand showed a great aptitude for technology and was especially intrigued by electricity from a young age. He was already attending classes at the Imperial Polytechnical College in
After the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the end of World War I, he chose Czechoslovak citizenship.[10] In 1934, either Adolf Hitler or Joseph Goebbels made Porsche a naturalized German citizen.[11][12]
Early career
In 1897
The Egger–Lohner was a carriage-like car driven by two
Still employed by Lohner, Porsche introduced the "
Though over 300 Lohner–Porsche chassis were sold up to 1906, most of them were two-wheel drive; either front- or rear-wheel driven trucks, buses and fire-engines. Some four wheel drive buses were produced, but no four wheel drive automobiles.
The vehicles achieved speeds of up to 56 kilometres per hour (35 mph), broke several Austrian speed records, and also won the Exelberg Rally in 1901, with Porsche himself driving a front-wheel drive hybrid. It was later upgraded with more powerful engines from
In 1902, he was drafted into military service. He served as a chauffeur to Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne whose assassination has been credited with contributing to the start of WWI.[15]
Austro-Daimler
In 1906,
Porsche had advanced to managing director by 1916 and received an
A few months later Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft hired Porsche to serve as Technical Director in Stuttgart, Germany, which was already a major center for the German automotive industry. In 1924, he received another honorary doctorate from the Stuttgart Technical University for his work at Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft in Stuttgart and was later given the honorary title of Professor.[17] While at Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft he came up with several very successful race car designs. The series of models equipped with superchargers that culminated in the Mercedes-Benz SSK dominated its class of motor racing in the 1920s.
In 1926, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft and
Founding of Porsche
In April 1931, Porsche returned to Stuttgart and founded his consulting firm Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche GmbH, Konstruktionen und Beratungen für Motoren und Fahrzeugbau (designs and consulting services for motors and vehicles). With financial backing from his son-in-law the Austrian attorney
Their first project was the design of a middle class car for
With car commissions scarce due to the depressed economic climate, Porsche founded a subsidiary company, Hochleistungs Motor GmbH (High Performance Engines Ltd.), to develop a
In 1932,
These projects led to two projects for Porsche, and set a precedent for the rest of the decade, with Porsche undertaking further projects for the German Government, including the Tiger tank and the Elefant tank destroyer.
Volkswagen Beetle and government commission
In June 1934, Porsche received a contract from Hitler to design a people's car (or "
Since being engaged by the National-Socialist authorities in building the Volksauto, Porsche was praised as the Great German Engineer.
A new city, "Stadt des KdF-Wagens" was founded near
Auto Union racing car
German racing driver Hans Stuck had met Hitler before he became Chancellor, and not being able to gain a seat at Mercedes, accepted the invitation of Rosenberger to join him, von Oertzen and Porsche in approaching the Chancellor. In a meeting in the Reich Chancellery, Hitler agreed with Porsche that for the glory of Germany, it would be better for two companies to develop the project, resulting in Hitler agreeing to split the money between Mercedes and Auto Union with 250,000 ℛ︁ℳ︁ to each company. This highly annoyed Mercedes, who had already developed their Mercedes-Benz W25, and resulted in a heated exchange both on and off the racing track between the two companies for the period until World War II.
Having obtained state funds, Auto Union bought Hochleistungs Motor GmbH and hence the P-Wagen Project for 75,000 ℛ︁ℳ︁, relocating the company to Chemnitz. As Porsche became more involved with the construction of the Wolfsburg factory, he handed over his racing projects to his son, Ferry. The dominance of the Silver Arrows of both brands was only stopped by the outbreak of World War II in 1939.
Military vehicles
Porsche produced a heavy tank design in 1942, the
The Ferdinand was driven by a hybrid electric powertrain, and was armed with a long barrel development of the 88mm anti-aircraft gun. The most common reason for losses was because the vehicle became stuck or broke down, and so the crews often had to destroy their own vehicles to avoid allowing them to be captured. It had a kill ratio of nearly 10:1, but as with most German wartime vehicles, lack of supplies made maintenance a serious problem, reducing the effectiveness of the vehicles, and forcing crews to destroy many otherwise operational vehicles.[26]
After the war
In November 1945, Porsche was asked to continue the design of the Volkswagen in France and to move the factory equipment there as part of
While his father was in captivity, Ferry worked diligently to keep the company in business, developing a division for the repair of automobiles, water pumps, and
The legal basis of Piëch and Porsche's imprisonment was principally Ferdinand Porsche's contribution to his country's war effort and personal friendship with Hitler. In the Porsche family's own account, the affair was a thinly-veiled attempt at extorting money and forcing them to collaborate with Renault.[28] But the family was deceptive about the use of forced labor and the size of their wartime operation.[29] It was later shown that approximately 300 forced laborers were employed, including Poles and Russians.[30] During the war, it was common practice for German factories of this size (about 1000 workers) to use what was essentially slave labor, often with Slavic prisoners of war, who were frequently worked to death. The post-war French government required a payment of one million francs, variously described as ransom or bail, for the release of Piëch and Porsche. Initially unable to obtain this amount of money, the family eventually raised it through their contract with Cisitalia. During a trial, witnesses were brought forward to testify that no French prisoners had been imported to work at the plant.[31]
In addition to its work with Cisitalia, the company also started on a new design, the
Return to Stuttgart
The Porsche family returned to Stuttgart in 1949 not knowing how to restart their business. While the banks would not give them credit, as the company's plant was still under American embargo and could not serve as collateral, they did still possess considerable resources. So Ferry Porsche took one of the limited series 356 models from Gmünd and visited Volkswagen dealers to raise some orders. He asked the dealers to pay for the ordered cars in advance.[32]
The series production version made in Stuttgart had a steel body, welded to the central-tube platform chassis, instead of the aluminium body used in the initial limited Gmünd-made series. When Ferry Porsche resurrected the company he counted on series production figures of about 1,500. More than 78,000 Porsche 356s were manufactured in the following 17 years.
Porsche was later contracted by Volkswagen for additional consulting work and received a
In November 1950, Porsche visited the Wolfsburg Volkswagen factory for the first time since the end of World War II. Porsche spent his visit chatting with Volkswagen president Heinrich Nordhoff about the future of VW Beetles, which were already being produced in large numbers.
A few weeks later, Porsche suffered a stroke. He did not fully recover, and died on 30 January 1951.[33]
In 1996, Porsche was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame and in 1999 posthumously won the award of Car Engineer of the Century.
Views on labour
Porsche visited Henry Ford's operation in Detroit many times where he learned the importance of productivity. There he learned to monitor work. He was also surprised at how the workers and the managers treated each other as equals; even he, as a visiting dignitary, had to carry his own tray in the cafeteria and eat with the workers.[34]
The need to increase productivity became a primary interest of Porsche's. Conventional methods for increasing productivity included longer working hours, a faster rate of work, and new labour-saving techniques. Originally, the Volkswagen project was to be a collaboration of the existing German auto manufacturers, but they bowed out of the project, and a complete workforce was needed.[34] The Volkswagen plant was completed in 1938 after Italian labour was brought in. Volkswagen, under Ferdinand Porsche, profited from forced labour. This included a large number of Soviets. By early 1945, German nationals only made up 10% of Volkswagen's workforce.[2]
Controversy in Porsche's birthplace
Following protests from local World War II survivors that Porsche's Czech birthplace Vratislavice nad Nisou was promoting Nazism by displaying signs commemorating its native son, in 2013 the town authorities removed the signs and changed the content of a local exhibition so that it would cover not only his automotive achievements, but also his Nazi party and SS membership, and the importance of his work for the Nazi war cause. The move was criticized by the local association of Porsche car owners as silly and intent on smearing the name of Porsche.[35] Moreover, Porsche AG removed cars that it had previously provided for the museum.[36]
Notes
See also
- Arthur Constantin Krebs, managing director of Panhard with whom Ferdinand Porsche designed a hybrid car.
References
- ^ "Porsche founder made fortune from closeness to Adolf Hitler" Sunday Express. Allan Hall. 19/10/17. Retrieved: 27/05/18
- ^ a b "Volkswagen's history of forced labour". Le Monde diplomatique - English edition. Mondediplo.com. 28 November 1947. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
- ^ ISBN 9780345521446.
- ISBN 9783638006354.
- ^ Porsche Founder’s Legacy Hits Nazi Past in Czech Hometown
- ^ Robert Nitske, W. (1958). "The Amazing Porsche and Volkswagen Story".
- ^ "Sensations-Fund: Der erste Porche [....Elektroauto P1...]". Auto, Motor und Sport. 04 2014. Stuttgart: Motor Presse Stuttgart GmbH & Co: 135. 2014.
- ^ a b c d e Ferdinand Porsche - Cars, Life & Facts | Biography.com
- National Geographic Hungarian ed. (in Hungarian). 3 September 2004. Archived from the originalon 12 June 2008. Retrieved 10 December 2008.
- ISBN 978-0345521446.
- ^ ISBN 978-0262560559.
- ISBN 0306813130.
- ISBN 9783900310080
- ^ Lohner–Porsche: The Real Story Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Long 2002, p. 6.
- ISBN 1557884218.
- ISBN 9780810859678.
- ^ ""Čech" Ferdinand Porsche chtěl stavět auta, bez Hitlera by to nesvedl" (in Czech). idnes.cz. 27 December 2013. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
- ISBN 9780674075757.
- ^ a b Bernhard, Reuss (2008). Hitler's Motor Racing Battles: The Silver Arrows Under the Swastika.
- ^ François, Etienne (2009). Deutsche Erinnerungsorte (in German). C.H.Beck.
- ^ von Preradovich, Nicolas (2004). Die Schutzstaffel der NSDAP: eine Dokumentation (in German). Druffel & Vowinckel-Verlag.
- ^ "Slavný Porsche mizí z tabulí ve Vratislavicích. Byl nacista" (in Czech). denik.cz. 22 November 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ISBN 978-08376-1331-4“Porsche: Origin of the species” Karl Ludvigsen
- ^ "Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger (P)". Archived from the original on 18 February 2014. Retrieved 20 August 2014.
- ^ "Panzerjäger Tiger(P) – Ferdinand – Elephant". Achtungpanzer.com. 3 May 2010. Archived from the original on 12 May 2015. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
- ISBN 0-525-10117-9.
- ^ Kandell, Jonathan (28 March 1998). "Ferdinand Porsche, Creator of the Sports Car That Bore His Name, Is Dead at 88". www.nytimes.com.
- ^ Klawitter, Nils. "Porsche's Past: The Dark Pre-History of the World's Favorite Sports Car". Der Spiegel.
- ^ "Details of Porsche's Nazi ties spoil centennial bash". Haaretz.
- ^ "After The Winds of War - Porsche's Early Days (Part I) - Heacock Classic Insurance". heacockclassic.com/. 1 November 2019.
- ^ Howstuffworks "Porsche Takes Root"
- ^ "Ferdinand Porsche - Porsche Tradition - Classic World - Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG". Porsche.com. Retrieved 29 May 2014.
- ^ ISBN 9780837601472.
- ^ "Porsche's Nazi Past Prompts Protest in Czech Birthplace". Bloomberg. Bloomberg. 26 November 2013. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
- ^ Jan Mikulička (16 December 2013). "Porsche si odvezlo z Vratislavic svá vystavená auta. Už je sem nevrátí - iDNES.cz" (in Czech). Liberec.idnes.cz. Retrieved 12 April 2017.
- Long, Brian (2002). Porsche 356. Veloce Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781903706480. - Total pages: 160
Further reading
- Barber, Chris (2003). Birth of the Beetle: The Development of the Volkswagen by Ferdinand Porsche. Haynes Publishing. ISBN 1-85960-959-7.
- ISBN 0854290907.
- Hiott, Andrea: "Thinking Small: The Long Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle." Random House, 2012, ISBN 0345521420.
- Ludvigsen, Karl E. (2008). Porsche: Excellence Was Expected – The Comprehensive History of the Company, Its Cars and Its Racing Heritage. Brooklands Books. ISBN 978-0-8376-0235-6
- ———————— (2018). Professor Porsche's Wars: The Secret Life of Ferdinand Porsche, the Legendary Engineer Who Armed Two Belligerents Through Four Decades. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Military. ISBN 9781526726797.
- Hans Mommsen; Manfred Grieger: Das Volkswagenwerk und seine Arbeiter im Dritten Reich, ECON Verlag, Düsseldorf 1996, ISBN 3-430-16785-X(in German)
- Peter Müller: Ferdinand Porsche. Der Vater des Volkswagens, 4. Aufl., 1998 (in German)
- Martin Pfundner: Austro Daimler und Steyr. Rivalen bis zur Fusion. Die frühen Jahre des Ferdinand Porsche. Böhlau, Wien 2007. ISBN 978-3-205-77639-0(in German)
External links
- Ferdinand Porsche at Find a Grave
- West Ham's Cedes Stoll Trolleybus Porsche design
- Website of the Society of Automotive Historians about him
- Hybrid-Vehicle.org: The Lohner–Porsche Archived 24 February 2021 at the Wayback Machine
- Hybrid-Vehicle.org: The Landwehr and C-train Archived 7 August 2014 at the Wayback Machine
- Newspaper clippings about Ferdinand Porsche in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW