Robert August Bosch was a German inventor, engineer and industrialist who founded Robert Bosch GmbH (Bosch), one of the world’s leading engineering firms, in 1886. Robert Bosch is noted for inventing the spark plug, a magneto-based ignition system, for automobiles.
Bosch was also a social pioneer, introducing an eight hour working day for his workers in 1906.
Early Life and Education:
Born on September 23, 1861, near Ulm in Württemberg, south-western Germany, Robert Bosch was the eleventh of twelve children from a wealthy farmer’s family.
He attended a Realschule in Ulm and then completed an apprentice as a precision fitter. Bosch also took a six month electrical engineering course at the Technical University at Stuttgart.
He then traveled overseas and found employment with “Siemens Brothers” in Great Britain and with “Edison Illuminating” in the United States.
Contributions and Achievements:
Robert Bosch established the Robert Bosch GmbH Corporation, one of the leading producers of automotive technology who also manufactured numerous other products. Bosch made important contributions to the expansion of the automobile industry and related sectors.
Returning to Gernany, Bosch started his own company, “Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Electrical Engineering”, when he was only 25 in 1886. Initially the business installed and repaired telephones, telegraphs and other light engineering tasks.
He invented a magneto for stationary engines in 1887, which was used to generate a spark to ignite the air-fuel mixture in the engine. In 1897 he adapted his magneto device and invented the first spark plug, a magneto-based ignition system; an invention which revolutionized the operation of automobiles due to its reliability.
In 1917, his business was transformed into a corporation.
His company largely benefited from the armament contracts during the First World War, but Bosch open-heartedly donated more than ten million Reich marks back to the German public.
He invented devised many improvements to motor vehicles including the introduction of diesel fuel injection in 1927; his design involved a plunger pump that forced fuel into the combustion chambers of the engine via a hydraulically operated nozzle.
Other inventions included:
- Ignition distributor
- Electrical starter
- Lighting system with first electric headlamp
- Car radio
- Bosch electric horn
- Battery ignition
In the 1920’s Bosch established a chain of repair and car service centers throughout Germany.
Bosch Industries faced severe crisis after the war due to the depressing economic downfall, but the company massively restructured in 1927, expanding into the manufacture of cameras, power tools, television sets, refrigerators and radios.
Social Pioneer:
Bosch was also a social pioneer, introducing an eight hour working day for his workers in 1906.
In 1910 he donated one million Reich marks towards technical education and he donated funds towards a hospital that was opened in 1940.
He stated
“Every job is important, even the lowliest. Let no man delude himself that his work is more important than that of a colleague.”
Later Life and Death:
During his life he married twice and had four children.
Robert Bosch died on March 12, 1942 in Stuttgart, Germany, of complications resulting from an inflammation of the middle ear. He was 80 years old.