RIETSCHEL

GERMANY (see also List of Individuals)

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19.4.1847 Dresden/D - 18.2.1914 Berlin/D

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Hermann Rietschel graduated in 1870 from the Berlin Polytechnic and founded there a company for works in heating, ventilation, gas and water supply. One year later Rietschel&Henneberg was founded, specializing in the central heating technology, with branch offices in Dresden and Vienna. From 1880 Rietschel worked exclusively as a researcher. He was involved in the first Hygiene Exhibition in Berlin in 1883. In 1885 Rietschel was appointed first professor of ventilation and heating techniques at the Technical University of Berlin TUB, and founded there an experimental laboratory. His Leitfaden was published first in 1893, with five re-editions and numerous translations into other languages. In 1893 too, Rietschel was promoted to Geheimer Regierungsrat. TUB commemorated its centennial in 1899, with Rietschel as the head of the festivities. He managed a close collaboration between academia and professional practice, an issue that is presently sometimes missing.

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Rietschel was a true initiator in all belongings relating to house sanitation and added considerably to the modern way of life. He was a founding member of the Association of heating and ventilation engineering whose first conference was in 1896 with Rietschel as its president. Once retired from the Technical University in 1910, Rietschel was elected Honorary President of the Association which held bi-annual conferences all through Europe. Rietschel was also involved in the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure VDI, where he chaired the Berlin section from 1895 and where he was promoted to vice-president in 1899. Rietschel was awarded the Honorary Doctorate from Dresden University in 1909; he was an Honorary Member of Österreichischer Ingenieurund Architekten-Verein ÖIAV, the Royal Sanitary Institute, London, and a Corresponding Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Rietschel was also awarded a large number of distinctions for his services towards a better sanitation technology.

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_{Anonymous (1914). Hermann Rietschel. Zeitschrift VDI 58(19): 725-727. P}

_{Hartmann, K. (1914). Hermann Rietschel. Gesundheits-Ingenieur 37(12): 201-203. P}

_{Rietschel, H. (1893). Leitfaden zum Berechnen und Entwerfen von Lüftungsund Heizungs-Anlagen. Springer: Berlin.}

_{Rietschel, H. (1897). Theorie und Praxis der Bestimmung der Rohrweiten von Warmwasserheizungen. Oldenbourg: München.}

_{Schiele, E. (1910). Zum Jubiläum von Dr.-Ing. Rietschel. Gesundheits-Ingenieur 33(41): 749. P}

_{Uder, R. (1914). Hermann Rietschel. Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung 34(18): 154-155.}