Pregledni rad
Marcel Pl. Kiepach – A Forgotten Inventor on the Field of Electrotechnics
Zoran Homen
Sažetak
For the purpose of the management of their estates, the aristocratic family Kiepach of Haselburg moves to Križevci after the year 1830. They stem from the South of Tirol, and in the 16th ct. they are awarded the title of «the noblemen of Haselburg» (Haselburg is a fort near Bozen). Ignac Kiepach was the first of the Kiepachs to move to Croatia around 1800. He becomes the owner of the city of Samobor by marriage. His son is the progenitor of the Križevci branch of the Kiepachs. The aristocratic family Kiepach lived in Križevci for over 100 years and because of their credits on the areas of economy, the advancing of agriculture and other beneficences, they represent one of the most significant families ever to have lived in Križevci. Unfortunately, after World War II the communist government confiscate their property and their castle in Križevci, and the inheritors mostly leave Croatia. Paula Kiepach-Nestoroff, the daughter of the last nobleman, is the only one who has stayed. Thanks to her, the City Museum of Križevci acquired all of the preserved documentation on the Kiepach family, which enabled us to investigate on their origin, genealogy and the significance of the family as a member of the Croatian aristocracy. In the heritage of the Kiepach family there were also the original documents concerning the inventor’s work of the young Marcel Kiepach (1894- 1915), brother of the mentioned Paula. While still in high school, he became famous for his inventions at the age of 16. The newspapers called him a «monster of the mind» (Wunderkind), and his inventions were a sort of a sensation among experts as well as in the broader public. As early as in 1910, Marcel Kiepach patents his gyrocompass in Berlin. It was a device for the remote transmission of the inclination of the ship compass, upon which undesired magnetic forces or the metal surroundings of the ship had no effect. This invention enabled the ships to navigate more precisely. After that, in 1912 he patents the «dynamo machine for the lighting of all kinds of vehicles» in Paris. In the same year he reports to the office in Berlin an electric switch for X-ray machines, which worked on the basis of gas pressure. The invention of the small transformator for low voltage (which was used for miners’ and dentists’ lamps, massage motors etc.) was also of special importance, and it was patented by him together with the famous designer Heinrich Weiland. Marcel also worked on other inventions on the field of electrotechnics, which is shown by many sketches, calculations and notes, preserved in the City Museum of Križevci. For his inventions, he was called the «Tesla of Križevci». His career however ended by his tragic death in World War I, where he died in 1915 as a volunteer on the front at the age of 21. Except the City Museum of Križevci, numerous documents about Marcel Kiepach (sketches, calculations, correspondence) have also lately been discovered in the Archive of Maribor (Slovenia). His relative Milan Kiepach, a fellow-student of his in Berlin, took all of the documentation of the young inventor after his death and brought it to Maribor where he found employment. For this reason there are proposals to organize an international scientific assembly on Marcel Kiepach, in order to try to discover other documents in the countries with which he was in contact regarding his inventions. This is the only way to establish the real contribution of Marcel Kiepach, the unjustly forgotten inventor on the field of electrotechnics. (Translated by Marina Bertovic)
Ključne riječi
the Kiepach family; Marcel Kiepach; inventor; patent; dynamo; gyrocompass; small transformator; electrotechnics
Hrčak ID:
2615
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.12.2005.
Posjeta: 5.999 *