Dr. Carl Auer, baron von Welsbach (* 1 September 1858 in Vienna; "† 4 August 1929 in K¤rnten), was a Austrian chemist and entrepreneur. He was founder of the Treibacher industry AG.

It rendered services as discoverer of the four chemical elements neodymium, praseodymium, ytterbium and lutetium and as an inventor of the glowing trunk in the Gaslicht, the metal filament lamp and the in the lighter.

The Auergesellschaft with seat in Berlin, created by it, later acquired itself a world-wide call than manufacturers of compressed air oxygen masks for fire-brigades and today belonged to the American MSA company. At the location Berlin beside the fire-brigade equipment gas glowing trunks for the road lighting are still produced.

Life and work

Auer studied chemistry in Vienna and in Heidelberg. There, in the laboratory of Robert William Bunsen, he began with investigations to the rare ground connection. To its graduation in May 1882 it returned to Vienna, where it continued these work. By often repeated fractionated crystallization it could divide 1885 the Didym, which had been considered up to then as element, into the elements neodymium and praseodymium.

With its work he observed a shining of the connections the rare ground connection in the flame of the Bunsen burner. If it soaked cotton threads with their salt solutions, and a stand from the oxides burned, stayed the dried threads, which shows a strong Thus Auer 1885 invented the glowing trunk, also as Auerstrumpf admits, which improved those at that time already well-known Gasbeleuchtung substantially, since one could receive substantially better luminous efficiencies with smaller gas consumption. After Auer had optimized the composition (originally magnesium and/or zircon, lanthan and Yttriumoxid, then thorium and cerium oxide) was the gas glow light ("Auerlicht") all at that time well-known sources of light superior: it was not clearly brighter only as candle or Kienspan, but was also more favorable than other gas lamps or the electrical carbon filament lamp. Thus it became also economically Erfolg.Dennoch busy Auer also with the electrical light: 1898 it let the first useful metal filament lamp patent. It developed for it a procedure for the production of wires from osmium (patent 1890), which was considered at that time as metal with the highest melting point (tungsten melts at still higher temperatures).

1899 he married Marie Nimpfer; they had four children.

1903 it invented the an alloy from cerium and iron, from which by rubbing pieces could be reduced, which catch fire from air. it brought appropriate lighters to 1907 on the market, and also the today's lighters with are based on Auers cerium iron.

Emperor Franz Josef I. raised Carl Auer 1901 into the baron conditions. 1905 discovered Auer - independent of Georges Urbain - the elements ytterbium and lutetium.

Honour happened to it by its Portrait on a 25-Schilling silver coin and on a 1,50-Schilling stamp.

Related links

• http://www.althofen.at/AvW-Museum/Deutsch/texte_d.htm
• http://www.althofen.at/AvW-Museum/Deutsch/biographie_d.htm
• http://www.treibacher.com
• http://www.msa-auer.de

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