1. Siegfried Marcus made the first petrol-powered vehicle, a handcart, in 1870, while living in Vienna, Austria.
19 Facts About Siegfried Marcus
1. 2.
Siegfried Marcus' vehicles had no influence on the development of cars, and his experimental vehicles were regarded by some journalists as "impractical".
3.
However, Siegfried Marcus is credited with developing the ignition magneto used in spark-ignition engines.
4.
Siegfried Marcus was born in Malchin, in the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in the German Confederation, into a Jewish family.
5.
Siegfried Marcus began work at age 12 as an apprentice mechanic.
6.
Siegfried Marcus moved to Vienna, the capital of the Austrian Empire, in 1852, working first as a technician in the Physical Institute of the Medical School.
7.
Siegfried Marcus then worked as an assistant to Professor Carl Ludwig, a physiologist.
8.
In 1860, Siegfried Marcus opened his own workshop which made mechanical and electrical equipment.
9.
Siegfried Marcus was buried at the Protestant Cemetery at Hutteldorf, Vienna.
10.
Siegfried Marcus was not satisfied with this cart and dismantled it.
11.
In 1937, the Austrian Harand Movement Against Racial Hatred had issued a series of stamps featuring prominent Jews, including Siegfried Marcus, who had contributed to mankind in response to The Eternal Jew art exhibition by Julius Streicher in Munich.
12.
Siegfried Marcus was credited by the movement as having invented the petrol driven motor car.
13.
Siegfried Marcus was removed from German encyclopedias as the inventor of the modern car, under a directive from the German Ministry for Propaganda during World War II.
14.
Siegfried Marcus's name was replaced with the names of Daimler and Benz.
15.
Some early publications suggested that Siegfried Marcus may have had a petrol powered vehicle running earlier than 1870, but this lacks evidence.
16.
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 Siegfried Marcus automobile was actually built in 1888, and not in 1875 as he had originally published for the 1900 Austrian exhibits at the Paris Exposition.
17.
Siegfried Marcus was the holder of 131 patents in 16 countries.
18.
Siegfried Marcus never applied for a patent for the motorcar and, of course, he never held one.
19.
In conjunction with Captain E von Wohlgemuth of the Imperial German Navy, Siegfried Marcus invented an electrical ignition of ships cannons.