Linde, Carl von (ennobled 1897)

Scientist, inventor, entrepreneur

born: 11.06.1842 in Berndorf

Died: 16.11.1934 in Munich

Linde, the son of a Lutheran pastor, began studying mechanical engineering at the Swiss Federal Polytechnic in Zurich (now ETH Zurich). In 1864 he was de-registered due to a student protest. On the basis of private recommendations from his professors, he was offered his first job at the Borsig works in Berlin and moved to Munich in 1866 to head the design office of Georg Krauss's new locomotive factory.

In 1868, Linde was appointed to the newly founded Polytechnic University in Munich (now TU Munich), where he became a full professor in 1872. It was here that he developed the theoretical basis for his first refrigeration machine, which was patented in 1873.

With the support of the technical director of the Mainz stock beer brewery Carl Lang and several well-funded entrepreneurs, Linde founded the "Gesellschaft für Linde's Eismaschinen AG" in Hildastrasse in Wiesbaden on June 21, 1879, which became the largest supplier of refrigeration machines in Europe. The machines were built at MAN in Augsburg and later at Sulzer in Switzerland.

As planned, Linde returned from Wiesbaden to Munich in 1890 to devote himself once again to scientific work at the Technical University. Here, in 1895, he developed his pioneering process for the liquefaction of air and in 1897 was awarded a personal title of nobility in recognition of his scientific achievements. In 1902, he then succeeded in separating liquid air into nitrogen and oxygen by rectification, a variant of distillation.

In Wiesbaden, his closest colleague and student Friedrich Schipper took over as Chairman of the Executive Board. Linde remained Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Wiesbaden-based technology group until 1930. In 2007, the company relocated its headquarters to Munich and today operates as an engineering and industrial gases company in over 100 countries. In Wiesbaden, Carl-von-Linde-Straße commemorates the founder of the company.