Wilhelm Schmidt
Wilhelm Schmidt (1858-1924), founder of the Schmidt Heissdampf Gesellschaft in Cassel, and was an authority of heat engines.
1924 Obituary[1]
"On February 16th after a long and painful illness, there died at Bethel, near Bielefeld, Wilhelm Schmidt, the founder of the Schmidt Heissdampf Gesellschaft in Cassel. Wilhelm Schmidt was self-educated. He was born on February 18th, 1858, at Wegeleben, near Halberstadt, the only son of simple agricultural people. His inclination towards technical matters was manifest in his early youth, and through the influence of friends her entered the Dresden Technical High School, under taht famous professor, Dr. Zeuner..." Read more
1924 Obituary[2]
"The Late Dr. Ing. Wilhelm Schmidt.— We regret to record the death of Wilhelm Schmidt, who did so much to advance the use of super-heated steam. He spent some years in England as manager of the English Schmidt-superheater Works. His father was a farmer of small means near Halberstadt, and young Schmidt, born in February, 1858, went from the local school to a locksmith without any higher ambition. He remained essentially a self-trained man. Working later in Dresden, he became acquainted with Professors Zeuner and Lewicki, and found occupation in Ehrhardt’s engine works at Wolfenbiittel. He invented a rotary engine in 1870 which attracted notice, and his employer offered to send him to a technical college. But he preferred to remain independent, and was busy perfecting his hot-air engine until—accidentally, it is said—he discovered that the engine continued to run after shutting off the air supply on a relatively small amount of superheated steam. He then concentrated his efforts on superheated steam, going at once from the maximum temperature of 250 deg. 0., then tried up to 350 deg. C. (480 and 660 deg. F.). With the support of the firm of Beck and Henkel, of Cassel, he brought out his first tandem engine in 1894; this engine went to Sweden, but was brought back after 25 years’ service and placed in the German Museum at Munich. Schmidt later joined the Ascherslebener Maschinen-fabrik, but left it again to turn his attention to superheating on locomotives. He found more financial support in England than in Germany, and was before the war President of an American Schmidt company, although he never crossed the Atlantic. He had little regard for academic training, but surprised the professors frequently by the simple way in which he solved difficult, problems. His fellow-workers were deeply attached to him. His Dr. Ing. degree came from the Technical College at Karlsruhe; he was holder of the Grashof medal of the Verein Deutsoher Ingenieure and of a gold medal of the Berlin Building Academy."