Carl Roman Abt

Carl Roman Abt ( in the literature sometimes Carl Abbot, * July 16, 1850 in Bünzen; † May 1, 1933 in Lucerne ) was a Swiss mechanical engineer, inventor and freelance contractor.

Biography

The son of the straw industrialist Abbot Roman graduated from the school district in Muri and the district school in Frauenfeld. In his youth he had dealt with the construction and improvement of braiding machines, which is why he (now ETH Zurich ) studied mechanical engineering from 1869 to 1872 at the Federal Polytechnic.

After graduation, he worked as a design engineer in the central workshop of the Swiss Central Railway in Olten, then to 1879 in the run by Niklaus Riggenbach and Olivier Zschokke factory of the International Society of lifts in Aarau. Until 1881 he worked as a control engineer at the Swiss railway department, after which he started his own business.

Abbot made ​​groundbreaking discoveries, such as the " Abt system " for rack railways by a combination of adhesion and rack locomotives, as well as the automatic Abtsche switch with no moving parts for funiculars. He personally directed the construction of 72 mountain railways in all parts of the world. These included the Brig -Visp- Zermatt -Bahn, the Gornergrat Bahn, the Furka -Oberalp -Bahn and the Monte Generoso Railway in Switzerland itself as Chairman of the Gotthard Railway Company he led in 1903 to the nationalization of the private railways the buyback negotiations with the federal government.

Abt has received many honors, including an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Hanover. In addition, was abbot, who reached his professional activities and his inventions to great prosperity, an art connoisseur and patron. As such, he was from 1904 to 1907 a member of the Swiss Federal Art Commission and 1905-1911 President of the Swiss Art Association. Abbot collected mainly the works of the goldsmith's art. He let himself be missed by any coin or medal if this particular beauty aroused by his artistic interest. Its in this respect large collection was auctioned after his death. He was a primary sponsor for the construction of the county hospital for the free office in Muri, which could be opened to the public on 10 December 1908 with a generous donation.

His younger brother Heinrich Eugen abbot and his nephew Henry Roman Abt proposed a political careers and were both in the National Council.