Today, Braunschweig is one of Europe’s leading research and development locations, and not just in GDP terms. The following examples of outstanding personalities from the city of Braunschweig show that this is based on a long scientific tradition and a historical spirit of discovery.
His likeness should still be familiar to most people from the 10 D-Mark bill and from Gaussian distribution or from divergence theorem that are still taught in schools today: Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) is one of the world’s most important mathematicians, physicists, and astronomers. Many of the formulas and theorems he developed are still valid today. At the suggestion of Alexander von Humboldt, the former mathematical prodigy also researched geomagnetism and headed the observatory in Göttingen. To this day, the Carl Friedrich Gauss Medal of the Braunschweig Academy is awarded to honor scientific achievement.
Heinrich Büssing (1843-1929) is considered a pioneer of truck and bus construction. His theoretical knowledge “only” stemmed from a guest lectureship at the venerable Collegium Carolinum. The owner of almost 250 patents and founder of Büssing AG initially set new standards in the construction of railroad signals and signal boxes. At the age of 60, the restless entrepreneur switched to construction of trucks and buses. As early as 1904, he set up the world’s first 15-kilometer-long motorized bus route between Wendeburg and Braunschweig to test his vehicles, followed by four more in the Harz Mountains. In 1909, Büssing founded the “Automobil-Omnibus-Betriebs-Gesellschaft Braunschweig” for this purpose, which became the Kraftverkehrsgesellschaft Braunschweig (KVG) in 1919. Büssing AG has been part of the MAN Group since 1971. The Heinrich Büssing vocational school named after him is located next door to the DMSB in Braunschweig.
Pioneers of milling technology
As the son of a miller, Ernst Amme (1863-1930) was born with a passion for milling. He was one of the foremost names in modern milling technology. Together with his former fellow partners from the Braunschweig “Maschinenfabrik und Mühlenbauanstalt G. Luther”, Carl Giesecke and Julius Konegen, he founded the mill construction company “Amme, Giesecke and Konegen” in 1895. In 1925, AGK merged with four other companies to form MIAG, Maschinen und Industrie AG. Two years later, the first MIAG machines were launched on the market, combining the know-how and patents of all the predecessor companies.
The first roller mill was the GN model, developed from the AGK G mill. In the first MIAG plansifter, the Konegen cantilever, the Luther slide brush and the Seck brothers’ frame insert worked in tandem. Other successful innovations were the grain preparer and the HN roller mill with servo control. With these advanced machines, MIAG became the most important mill construction company in the world. After a turbulent company history, MIAG was taken over by Bühler in 1972, which remains a hidden champion in grain processing and several other business sectors to this day. Ernst Amme is remembered for the eponymous medal for outstanding achievements in the field of milling technology.
