Heusinger von Waldegg, Gottlieb Heinrich Franz Edmund

Engineer, publicist

Born: 12.05.1817 in Langenschwalbach (today Bad Schwalbach)

died: 02.02.1886 in Hanover

Heudinger von Waldegg attended the Pädagogium in Wiesbaden and completed an apprenticeship as a bookseller in Hanover from 1833-36. He then studied physics and mathematics in Göttingen and Leipzig from 1837-39. There he witnessed the opening of the Leipzig-Dresden railroad, which prompted him to devote himself to railroad engineering in the future. In 1841 he joined the Taunusbahn. As early as 1846, he was promoted to head of the railroad's central workshop in Kastel. Involved in the initial planning of the Frankfurt-Homburg Railway from the early 1850s, he moved to Homburg in 1854 to devote himself entirely to the construction of the line, which opened in 1860.

In 1863, Heusinger von Waldegg was given a permanent position as editor of the trade journal "Organ für die Fortschritte des Eisenbahnwesens in technischer Beziehung" ("Organ for the progress of the railroad system in technical terms") published by the Association of German Railway Administrations in Hanover. He left his mark on this journal until his death.

His most important inventions as a railroad engineer include the "Heusinger control" of 1849, which acted as a mechanical device on a steam locomotive to transfer energy from the cylinder to the wheel, as well as the passenger coach with side compartments and an internal passageway, the so-called through coach (1874).

However, his publishing work is far more important: the "Organ für die Fortschritte des Eisenbahnwesens", which he founded in Wiesbaden in 1845 and was instrumental in designing for decades, developed into one of the world's most important technical railroad journals until it was discontinued in 1944. Like some of his numerous technical railroad publications, it was published by Christian Wilhelm Kreidel's publishing house.