Ferdinand Oechsle

Christian Ferdinand Oechsle ( born December 26, 1774 Buhlbach in Baiersbronn, † March 17, 1852 in Pforzheim, Germany ) was a German mechanic, goldsmith and inventor.

Following the method he developed for the determination of the must weight the quality of the grape must in the unit is measured degrees Oechsle until today in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg.

Life and work

After training as a goldsmith in 1794 Öhringen Oechsle moved to Pforzheim and was there in 1800 Cabinet masters in gold goods factory of Dennig. In 1803 he married Caroline Gmelin. In 1810 he founded his own machine shop in which he produced mainly bridges and precision balances. In 1820 he was given by the Grand Duke of Baden, the office of Grand Ducal Baden Gold Controller transmitted.

His inventions he published in 1825 in Dingler's Polytechnic Journal.

Oechsles Mostwaage

In 1836 he published his work On the use of must and wine scale in which he described his method for determining the specific density in freshly pressed grape juice. With the invention of his Mostwaage, he had developed with his son Christian Ludwig, the must weight is measured in degrees Oechsle today.

The Mostwaage itself has already been invented earlier. Oechsles knowledge "If you could measure the sugar content of the must, it should be possible to foresee the development of auszubauenden wine better " led from the 1830s to the mass production of Oechsles Most scales.

Oechsles merit lies in the fact that he introduced the practically applicable graduation on the spindles and his meter winemakers made ​​accessible by mass production.

In honor of this important invention for growing grapes in late August to early September is celebrated the multi-day wine festival in Pforzheim Oechsle every year since 1986.

He also invented a gold alloy balance ( 1838), a calculating machine for imitation jewelry manufacturer (1840 ), a risk-free oxyhydrogen blower for soldering or variants of Lebensrads, which is considered a forerunner of the cinematograph.

Works

• About the silver sample in the wet way at all. Pforzheim, 1833
• Practical guidance for calculating the Goldlegirung, drifting and clean melting of the filings and for the preparation of a good Goldschlagloths: besides Legirungs tables for costume jewelery manufacturers and goldsmiths. 2, verm and verb. Ed by Chr L. Oechsle, son., 1851.