Heimann, Walter

Physicist, entrepreneur

Born: 17.03.1908 in Dauborn (near Limburg)

died: 10.09.1981 in Mainz

Heimann studied electrical engineering at Darmstadt Technical University and obtained his doctorate in engineering in Berlin in 1933. At the research institute of the German Reichspost in Berlin, he developed a television tube that was used at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. In 1942, he habilitated in Heidelberg and became an honorary professor there at the end of 1944.

After the Second World War, he came to Wiesbaden with several employees and founded HEIMANN GmbH, known as "Physikalisch-Technische Werkstätten", on April 1, 1946. Based in Kohlheck since 1949, the company had its first successes with the development of electronic flash units for photography and the manufacture of light meters. A large number of optoelectronic components followed. Heimann made a special contribution to the further development of the television camera tube.

The company was also involved in the European space program ESRO through research contracts with the Max Planck Institute. Further research contracts came from the American army, the Federal Ministry of Defense and the Federal Ministry of Science and Research.

At the beginning of 1970 - HEIMANN GmbH had grown to around 500 employees - Heimann withdrew from the company. In 1993, Rheinmetall took over the security technology division of Heimann Systems GmbH. It was transferred to the Smith Group in 2002. The television technology division was taken over by the American company PerkinElmer in 1992.

Heimann has been honored many times for his achievements. In 1976, the Technical University of Braunschweig awarded him an honorary doctorate, and in 1978 he received the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class. The Fernseh- und Kinotechnische Gesellschaft, of which Heimann was an honorary member, awarded him the Richard Theile Medal in 1977 for outstanding achievements in the field of television.

Until his death, he conducted research in a laboratory set up especially for him and continued to lecture in his specialist field, television technology, at Darmstadt Technical University.