Otto, Nicolaus August

ENGINEER (GERMANY)
BORN 10 Jun 1832, Holzhausen an der Haide, Rheinland-Pfalz - DIED 26 Jan 1891, Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen
GRAVE LOCATION Köln, Nordrhein-Westfalen: Friedhof Melaten, Aachener Strasse 204 (Lit C zwischen HWG NS und Lit H, Grabnr. 76 a/b)

Son of a farmer. He was educated for commerce and worked as a businessman in Frankfurt am Main and Cologne. After he moved to Cologne he left his job to work on small gas engines, continuing the work of Étienne Lenoir and probably of the Italians Barsanti and Matteucci.

His design was a combustion engine that burnt fuel directly in a piston chamber and was pratically usable. Together with Eugen Langen he received a gold medal at the World Exhibition of 1867.

Otto was married to Anna Grossi. They had seven children. Their son Gustav Otto was an aircraft builder. In his birthplace Holzhausen an der Haide a museum is dedicated to him.

Images

The grave of Nicolaus August Otto at the Friedhof Melaten, Cologne.
Picture by Androom (16 Jun 2012)

 

Sources
Nicolaus Otto - Wikipedia


Oudinot, Charles, 2nd Duc de Reggio

Published: 13 Dec 2009
Last update: 02 May 2022