The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Engerth, Wilhelm, Baron

ENGERTH, Wilhelm, Baron, Austrian engineer: b. Pless, Prussian Silesia, 1814; d. 1884. He received his education in architecture at the Polytechnic Institute and the Academy of Arts, Vienna. He became professor of mechanical engineering at Gratz in 1844. He is known internationally as the inventor of the “Engerth system” for freight locomotives, which was generally adopted throughout Europe. He also designed and constructed a river gate near Nussdorf to prevent ice from entering the Danube Canal, which previously was the cause of annual inundations. In 1873 he was supervising architect of the Vienna Exposition buildings and had complete charge of the engineering department at the exposition.