Editing Siegfried Marcus

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox engineer
|image = Marcus_sitzend.jpg
|caption = Siegfried Marcus
|name = Siegfried Marcus
|nationality = German
|birth_date = 18 September 1831
|birth_place = [[Malchin]], [[Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]
|death_date = {{d-da|1 July 1898|18 September 1831}}
|death_place = [[Vienna]], [[Austria-Hungary]]
}}
'''Siegfried Samuel Marcus''' ({{IPA|de|ˈziːkfʁiːt ˈmaʁkʊs|lang}}; 18 September 1831 – 1 July 1898) was a German engineer and inventor, born in the [[Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]. He made the first [[petrol]]-powered vehicle, a [[handcart]], in 1870, while living in Vienna, Austria. Marcus created a second vehicle in 1888/1889,<ref name=PrMuse /> but it is not known if he used it, and he did not develop it further.<ref name=MBG>{{Cite web |title=Forerunners to the automobile |url=https://group.mercedes-benz.com/company/tradition/company-history/forerunners-to-the-automobile.html |publisher=Mercedes-Benz Group}}</ref> Marcus' vehicles had no influence on the development of [[Car|cars]],<ref name=KFT>''Siegfried Marcus – Sein Automobil, seine Motoren.'' In: Kraftfahrzeugtechnik 1/1964, pp. 14–16 and 11/1964, p. 434.</ref> and his experimental vehicles were regarded by some journalists as "impractical".<ref name=Nixon1938 /> However, Marcus is credited with developing the [[ignition magneto]] used in [[spark-ignition engine]]s.<ref name=KFT />

==Life==
[[Image:Wiener Zünder.jpg|thumb|left|Blasting machine, "Wiener Zünder" ''(Viennese Igniter)'', 1864]]
Marcus was born in [[Malchin]], in the [[Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]] in the [[German Confederation]], into a Jewish family. He began work at age 12 as an apprentice mechanic. At 17, he joined [[Siemens & Halske]], an engineering company that built [[Telegraphy|telegraph]] lines. He moved to [[Vienna]], the capital of the [[Austrian Empire]], in 1852, working first as a technician in the Physical Institute of the Medical School. He then worked as an assistant to Professor [[Carl Ludwig]], a physiologist. In 1860, Marcus opened his own workshop which made mechanical and electrical equipment.<ref name="ASME">{{cite web |title=Siegfried Marcus Car (ca. 1875) |url=https://www.asme.org/about-asme/who-we-are/engineering-history/landmarks/203-siegfried-marcus-car |access-date=2016-09-22 |work=Landmarks |publisher=American Society of Mechanical Engineers}}</ref> The first was located at Mariahilferstrasse 107 and the second at Mondscheingasse 4.

His chief improvements include a telegraph relay system and ignition devices such as the "Wiener Zünder", a [[blasting machine]]. Marcus was buried at the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] Cemetery at [[Hütteldorf]], Vienna. Later, his remains were transferred to an "Honorary Tomb" of Vienna's [[Vienna Central Cemetery|Central Cemetery]]. During his lifetime he was awarded the Golden Cross of Merit by the Austro-Hungarian Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph]] for his scientific achievements.<ref>Siegfied Marcus, Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)04 Jan 1928, Wed, Page 8, accessed through Newspapers.Com 3 November 2021</ref>

==Marcus' cars==
[[File:MW1 signiert klein.jpg|thumb|upright|Marcus cart of 1870]]
[[File:TMW Marcuswagen links 2018-07-21.jpg|thumb|The second Marcus car of 1888/89 in Vienna’s Technical Museum]]

Based on the information from existing sources, Marcus' first machine was built on a simple handcart in 1870.<ref>handritten notes of Marcus himself on the photo</ref> It had to be started by lifting the drive wheels off the ground and spinning them. The [[internal combustion engine]] was designed for liquid combustibles and made him the first to propel a vehicle, a handcart, by means of [[Gasoline|petrol]]. Marcus was not satisfied with this cart and dismantled it.<ref name=Brit/> However, his first vehicle model was displayed at the Vienna Exhibition in 1873.<ref>Austo-Hungary, The Jewish Voice (St. Louis, Missouri)11 Nov 1904, Fri, Page 8, retrieved from Newspapers.Com on 3 November 2021</ref>

In 1883, a patent for a low-voltage [[ignition magneto]] was given to Marcus in Germany, and a new petrol engine was built.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/156028394/?terms=%22siegfried%2Bmarcus%22%2Bvienna |title=Ignition |newspaper=The Record-Union
|location=Sacramento, California |date=13 December 1884 |page=7 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> This design was used for all further engines, including that of the only existing Marcus car of 1888/1889. It was this ignition, in conjunction with the "rotating brush [[carburetor]]", that made the engine's design very innovative. By 1886, the [[German Navy]] was using the engine in its torpedo boats.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/search/#query=%22Siegfried+Marcus%22&dr_year=1860-1895 |title=Austro-Hungary |newspaper=[[The Times]]
|location=London |date=16 November 1886 |page=5 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In 1887, Marcus started a co-operation with the [[Moravia]]n company Märky, Bromovsky & Schulz. They offered two stroke and — after the fall of the [[Nicolaus Otto|Otto]]-Patent in 1886 — four stroke engines of the Marcus type.

In the 1904 book, ''The Motor'', it was stated that Siegfried Marcus is widely credited with having invented the benzine motor.<ref>"The Motor," Volume 6,  (IPC Specialist & Professional Press Limited, 1904) [https://books.google.com/books?id=WnrVAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA375 p.375]</ref>

John Nixon of ''[[The London Times]]'' in 1938 considered Marcus' development of the motor car to have been experimental, as opposed to [[Carl Benz|Benz]] who took the concept from experimental to production. Nixon described Marcus' cars as "impractical".<ref name="Nixon1938">{{cite news |title=The First Motor Car |first=John C. |last=Nixon |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=29 March 1938 |issue=47955 |page=52}}</ref> In 1950, ''The Times'' described his second car erroneously as being built in 1875, and the first petrol-powered road vehicle. A description of its first journey of 7.5 miles from Vienna to [[Klosterneuburg|Klosterneuberg]] was included in the article.<ref>{{cite news |title=1875 Motor-Car Driven Again |newspaper=The Times |location=London |date=17 April 1950 |issue=51667 |page=3}}</ref> In 1968 and 1971, it was disproved that Marcus had constructed his car in 1875; it was built in 1888/89.<ref name=PrMuse /><ref name=MBG /> Since the car was moved to the [[Vienna Technical Museum]] in 1918, it has only been driven twice, once when sent for display in Sweden.<ref>Chore to drive this, News-Pilot (San Pedro, California)12 Apr 1955, Tue, Page 7, retrieved through Newspapers.com 3 November 2021</ref>

==Nazi rewrite==
[[File:GuentherZ 2007-04-27 2771 Wien04 Karlsplatz Siegfried Marcus.jpg|upright=0.6|thumb|Monument at Vienna Technical Museum]]
[[File:Austrian Golden Cross of Merit (1849), front.jpg|thumb|125px|Golden Cross of Merit]]
Because of Marcus' Jewish ancestry, his name and all memorabilia, particularly in Austria, vanished under the [[Nazism|Nazis]]. In 1937, the Austrian Harand Movement Against Racial Hatred had issued a series of stamps featuring prominent Jews, including Marcus, who had contributed to mankind in response to [[The Eternal Jew (art exhibition)|''The Eternal Jew'' art exhibition]] by [[Julius Streicher]] in Munich. Marcus was credited by the movement as having invented the petrol driven motor car.<ref>{{cite news |title=Philosemitic Aryans |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=30 November 1937 |issue=25742 |page=14}}</ref> With the [[Anschluss|German occupation of Austria]] in March 1938, the memorial in front of the [[TU Wien|Vienna Technical University]] was removed. After [[World War II]], the monument was rebuilt and his car, which had been hidden, was returned to display.

Marcus was removed from German encyclopedias as the inventor of the modern car, under a directive from the [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda|German Ministry for Propaganda]] during World War II. His name was replaced with the names of [[Gottlieb Daimler|Daimler]] and [[Carl Benz|Benz]]. The directive (in German) read as follows:
{{quotation|Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda
Geschäftszeichen. S 8100/4.7.4.0/7 1

Berlin W8, den 4. Juli 1940<br>
Wilhelmplatz 8-9

An die Direktion der Daimler-Benz-A.G. Stuttgart-Untertürkheim

Betrifft: Eigentlichen Erfinder des Automobils<br>
Auf Ihr Schreiben vom 30. Mai 1940 Dr.Wo/Fa.

Das Bibliographische Institut und der Verlag F.A. Brockhaus sind darauf hingewiesen worden, dass in Meyers Konversations Lexikon und im Großen Brockhaus künftig nicht Siegfried Marcus, sondern die beiden deutschen Ingenieure Gottlieb Daimler und Carl Benz als Schöpfer des modernen Kraftwagens zu bezeichnen sind.}}
In English this would be

{{Quotation | Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda
Reference number S 8100 / 4.7.4.0 / 7 1

Berlin W8, 4 July 1940<br>
Wilhelmsplatz 8-9

To the Directorate of Daimler-Benz A.G. Stuttgart-Untertürkheim

Subject: True inventor of the automobile <br>
Referring to your letter of 30 May 1940 Dr.Wo / Fa.

The Bibliographical Institute and the publisher F. A. Brockhaus have been notified that in the future, [the encyclopedias] [[Meyers Konversations-Lexikon|Meyers Konversations Lexikon]] and the [[Brockhaus Enzyklopädie|Große Brockhaus]] are to refer to the two German engineers [[Gottlieb Daimler]] and [[Carl Benz]] as the creators of the modern automobile, not to Siegfried Marcus.}}

Current thinking is that Marcus' car only ran in 1888/1889, years after the [[Benz Patent-Motorwagen]].<ref name=TMV>{{cite web |url=http://www.technischesmuseum.at/object/marcus-wagen-1888-1889 |title=Marcus-Wagen, 1888/1889 |first=Anne-Katrin |last=Ebert |publisher=Vienna Technical Museum |access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref> Some early publications suggested that Marcus may have had a petrol powered vehicle running earlier than 1870 (in 1864 or 1866), but this lacks evidence.<ref name=Progress>{{cite journal |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/P19070301.2.15?query=motor |title=Motor Notes. By "Accumulator." |journal=Progress |volume=II |issue=5 |date=1 March 1907 |access-date=22 September 2016 |page=20}}</ref> ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'' still cites 1864 for Marcus' first car with a 10-year gap to the second.<ref name=Brit>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Siegfried-Marcus |title=Siegfried Marcus {{!}} German inventor |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref> However, some sources call this the "Marcus myth", stating that early chroniclers confused an automobile he had built in 1888/89 (also called the "Second Marcus Car") with the construction (handcart) he had built in 1870, giving rise to unsubstantiated years of construction such as 1864 and 1875.<ref>{{cite book |title=Sustainable Automotive Technologies | isbn=9783319018843 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0ajBBAAAQBAJ&dq=siegfried+marcus+1888+historian&pg=PA128 | last1=Wellnitz | first1=Jörg | last2=Subic | first2=Aleksandar | last3=Trufin | first3=Ramona | date=24 September 2013 | publisher=Springer }}</ref>

In an article titled, "The End of the Marcus Legend", evidence is presented that the "1875” automobile was actually built much later, in 1888. The originator of the 1875 date, Ludwig Czischek-Christen, was asked by patent lawyers to produce any evidence to support the 1875 date, and during the course of his investigation, he uncovered "decisive" evidence that the Marcus automobile was actually built in 1888, and not in 1875 as he had originally published for the 1900 Austrian exhibits at the [[Exposition Universelle (1900)|Paris Exposition]].<ref name=PrMuse>{{cite web |title=Project Muse -The End of the Marcus Legend |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/893559/summary}}</ref>

==Patents==
Marcus was the holder of 131 [[patent]]s in 16 countries. He never applied for a patent for the motorcar and, of course, he never held one. Nevertheless, he was the first to use petrol to propel a vehicle, a simple handcart, in 1870. It is uncertain whether the second Marcus car ran before 1890.<ref name=MBG />

Some examples of his patents:
* 33258, 10 September 1861, Improvements to relay magnets<ref>Report of the Commissioner of Patents, Volume 1, Published 1863, page 494</ref>
* 2058, 6 July 1872, Device for mixing of fuel with air<ref>The London Gazette, Part 3 Publisher T. Neuman, 19 July 1872, page 3270</ref>
* 286030, 2 October 1883, Improved gas engine<ref>Specifications and Drawings of Patents Relating to Electricity Issued by the U. S., Volume 33, Published 1885</ref>
* 306339, 7 October 1884, Electrical igniting device for gas engines<ref>Specifications and Drawings of Patents Relating to Electricity Issued by the U. S., Volume 37, Published 1886</ref>

In conjunction with Captain E von Wohlgemuth of the Imperial German Navy, Marcus invented an electrical ignition of ships cannons. The advantages of the system were that it allowed for the simultaneous firing of the cannons, or selection of a particular firing pattern, and the ability to fire them from the ship's bridge.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Electrical discharge of artillery on board men-of-war |journal=Telegraphic Journal and Electrical Review |volume=16 |date=16 May 1885 |pages=442–443}}</ref>

== Sources ==
* {{cite book |first=Ursula |last=Bürbaumer |title=Das erste Auto der Welt? |trans-title=The first car in the world? |location=Vienna |year=1998 |publisher=Erasmus |language=de}}
* {{cite book |first=Horst |last=Hardenberg |title=Siegfried Marcus, Mythos und Wirklichkeit |trans-title=Siegfried Marcus, Myth and Reality |series=aus der Wissenschaftlichen * Schriftenreihe des DaimlerChrysler Konzernarchivs |location=Bielefeld |year=2000 |publisher=Delius & Klasing |language=de}} Awarded as the June 2001 book of the month by the Austrian Academy of Science.
* {{cite book |first=Norbert |last=Böttcher |title=Siegfried Marcus |location=Teetz |year=2005 |publisher=Hentrich & Hentrich |language=de}}
* {{cite book |first1=Ursula |last1=Bürbaumer |first2=Johannes |last2=Steinböck |first3=Horst |last3=Hardenberg |first4=Gerhard |last4=Schaukal |first5=Ladislav |last5=Mergl |editor-first=Helmuth |editor-last=Grössing |title=Autos-Fahrer – Konstrukteure |location=Vienna |year=2000 |publisher=Erasmus |language=de}}
* {{citation |publisher=Austrian Research Centers |work=Dissertation Database |last1=Bürbaumer |first1=Ursula |title=Siegfried Marcus in Wien |year=2003 |language=de}}

== See also ==
* [[History of the internal combustion engine]]
* [[List of Austrian scientists]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{cite encyclopedia |url=http://aeiou.iicm.tugraz.at/aeiou.encyclop.m/m138853.htm;internal&action=_setlanguage.action?LANGUAGE=en |title=Marcus, Siegfried |encyclopedia=AEIOU Encyclopedia |access-date=22 September 2016}}
* {{cite web |url=http://www.museum-malchin.de/siegfried-marcus/ |title=Siegfried Marcus |work=Museum Malchin |language=de |access-date=22 September 2016}}
* {{cite web |url=http://media.obvsg.at/DD00039396 |title=Siegfried Marcus in Wien. Der Mikrokosmos eines unkonventionellen Mechanikers |trans-title=Siegfried Marcus in Vienna. The microcosm of an unorthodox mechanic |first=Ursula |last=Buerbaumer |work=Österr. Bibliothekenverbund & Service GmbH |year=2003 |access-date=22 September 2016}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Marcus, Siegfried}}
[[Category:1831 births]]
[[Category:1898 deaths]]
[[Category:Jewish scientists]]
[[Category:People from Malchin]]
[[Category:German automotive pioneers]]
[[Category:German scientific instrument makers]]
[[Category:People from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin]]
[[Category:Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery]]
[[Category:Engineers from Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania]]