Beck, Ernst Ludwig

Manufacturer, scholar

Born: 10.07.1841 in Darmstadt

died: 23.07.1918 in Biebrich am Rhein

Beck studied chemistry in Heidelberg and received his doctorate in 1861. His further education took him to the mining academies in Freiberg in Saxony and Leoben in Styria, to the mining and smelting works in Bad Ems, the Heinrichshütte near Hattingen and the Royal School of Mines in London. When he returned to Germany in 1865, he began his career as a blast furnace engineer in Sauerland.

In Biebrich, Beck acquired the ironworks of the Nassauische Rheinhüttengesellschaft and founded the company Ludwig Beck & Co. with seven workers on March 1, 1869. Beck soon switched production to castings for the chemical industry, where his knowledge of chemistry stood him in good stead. Rheinhütte achieved a leading position on the continent. Beck headed his company for almost 50 years. He joined the local craftsmen's and tradesmen's association, which he chaired in 1871; he was a co-founder of the Mittelrheinischer Fabrikanten-Verein, which he belonged to for almost 50 years and chaired from 1896-18. In 1880, he was elected to the Biebrich town council, served as head of the town council from 1891 to 1915 and was a member of the Wiesbaden district council. He founded a hospital association in Biebrich and was responsible for the construction of the Biebrich hospital. The public baths in Rudolf-Dyckerhoff-Straße (now the Museum of Local and Industrial History) and the construction of the "Volksheim" in Elise-Kirchner-Straße are also thanks to him. In 1915, the city made him an honorary citizen.

Beck also found the time to work academically. From 1906, he was chairman of the Römsch-Germanic Central Museum in Mainz. For 40 years, he was preoccupied with his life's scientific goal, the history of iron. Between 1884 and 1904, he published his five-volume work comprising over 6,000 pages. This was followed by further individual publications, including a history of the iron industry in Nassau. His services to science were recognized in 1905 when he was awarded the title of professor. In 1909, he received the Carl-Lueg memorial medal of the Association of German Ironworks. The TH Aachen appointed him Dr. Ing. E.h., the University of Heidelberg awarded him the Golden Doctorate in 1911. He was laid to rest in the Biebrich cemetery.