Karl Wilhelm Ritter

Wilhelm Ritter
Civil engineering
Born	(1847-04-14)14 April 1847 Liestal, Switzerland
Died	18 October 1906(1906-10-18) (aged 59) Zell, Zürich, Switzerland
Nationality	Swiss
Alma mater	ETH Zurich
Known for	The developer of the first design scheme of lining tunnels on the action of loads from the rock collapse
Spouse	Magdalena Jacobi
Scientific career
Fields	Civil engineering
Institutions	ETH Zurich

Karl Wilhelm Ritter (German: Karl Wilhelm Ritter; April 14, 1847 in Liestal (Switzerland) – October 18, 1906 in Zell, Zürich) was a civil engineer, professor of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and later rector of the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich (1887–1891).

Biography

Ritter was born to a teacher, Johann Friedrich Ritter, and his wife Barbara Salate on April 14, 1847.

He graduated from the Technical School in Basel (1865–68) with a diploma in engineering. In 1868, he became a railway engineer in Hungary, and in 1869, an assistant to Carl Culmann. In 1870, he became a professor of engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich, and from 1873 to 1882, a professor of engineering in Riga. From 1882 to 1905, he held a professorship of engineering in Zurich. Additionally, he would hold the rectorship of the Polytechnic Institute from 1887 to 1891.

Ritter died in Zurich on October 22, 1906, and was buried in the cemetery of Turbenthal.

Scientific activity

Ritter worked on the statics of engineering structures and the construction of bridges and railways at the Polytechnic Institute of Zurich. He also continued the teachings of Culmann as a theorist. He regarded statics as an engineering discipline and also developed kinematics. One of his students was Othmar Ammann.

Ritter contributed to the theory of calculating reinforced concrete structures, and also wrote a number articles on the state of real structures. He participated in the work of the Construction Commission of Zurich and the board of the Swiss Union of Engineers and Architects (1896–98).

Ritter developed the first design scheme for tunnel lining to deal with the effects of loads from collapsing rock.

Awards, recognition

• Honorary Citizen of Zurich (1889)
• Honorary Doctor of the University of Zurich (1896).

Personal life

Ritter married Magdalena Jacobi, an American, in 1875. His younger brother Herman Ritter (1851–1918) was an architect. Karl Wilhem's son, Woldemar Ritter (1880–c.1935) would also become a prominent architect, specializing in church buildings. Woldemar principally practiced in Boston and is noted for his work on Episcopal churches, especially Grace and St. Peter's Church and Emmanuel Church in Baltimore.

Bibliography

• Ritter, W.: Die statik der tunnelgewölbe. - Berlin, J. Springer, 1879. - 66 p.(in German)
• Ritter, W.: Statische Berechnung der Versteifungsfachwerke der Hängebrücken, in: Schweizerische Bauzeitung, 1883. Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 6–38. (in German).
• Ritter, W.: Anwendungen der graphischen Statik. Nach Professor C. Culmann. Erster Teil: Die im Inneren eines Balkens wirkenden Kräfte. Zurich: Meyer & Zeller, 1888. (in German).
• Ritter, W.: Anwendungen der graphischen Statik. Nach Professor C. Culmann. Zweiter Teil: Das Fachwerk. Zurich: Meyer & Zeller, 1890. (in German).
• Ritter, W.: Die Bauweise Hennebique. Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Vol. 3, 1899, No. 5, pp. 41–43, No. 6, pp. 49–52 & No. 7, pp. 59–61. (in German).
• Ritter, W.: Anwendungen der graphischen Statik. Nach Professor C. Culmann. Dritter Teil: Der kontinuierliche Balken. Zurich: A. Raustein, 1900. (in German).
• Ritter, W.: Anwendungen der graphischen Statik. Nach Professor C. Culmann. Erster Teil: Der Bogen. Zurich: A. Raustein, 1906. (in German).

Literature

• Rudolf Mumenthaler: Karl Wilhelm Ritter in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.(in German)
• Urs Widmer: Ritter, Karl Wilhelm. In: Isabelle Rucki und Dorothee Huber (Hg): Architektenlexikon der Schweiz - 19./20. Jahrhundert Basel: Birkhäuser 1998. ISBN 3-7643-5261-2 (in German)
• E. M.: Wilhelm Ritter. Nekrolog in: Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Bd 48 (1906), S. 204-206 doi:10.5169/seals-26179(in German)
• Christine Lehmann, Bertram Maurer: Karl Culmann und die graphische Statik. Ernst und Sohn, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-433-01815-6.(in German)