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Werner Gruner (1904–1995) was a small-arms designer, mechanical engineer, university teacher and was rector of the Dresden University of Technology from 1958 to 1961.
His father taught in a Volksschule and he attended the Realgymnasium in Döbeln. In 1923 Gruner ended his secondary education in Leipzig with the abitur and was enrolled at the Technical University of Dresden in the same year. He studied mechanical engineering from 1923 to 1928 and after graduating (Doktoringenieur) worked there as a research assistant for another four years till 1932,bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de: Biographical information from the handbook "Who was who in the GDR?": Werner Gruner Retrieved 8 June 2014 when he became a technical designer for the Metall- und Lackwarenfabrik Johannes Großfuß ( Metal and lacquerware factory Johannes Großfuß) in Döbeln.
On May 1, 1933, he joined the NSDAP. In his role as constructor at Großfuß during the 1930s Gruner is credited with the invention of the well-known MG 42 general-purpose machine gun, the development of which was ordered by the Waffenamt after shortcomings of the MG 34 had been recognized. Named like its predecessor after the year of entry into active service, the MG 42 first supplemented and later replaced the MG 34 in the last years of World War II.
In 1943 Gruner was appointed as lecturer in the field of non-cutting shaping of sheet metal at the Braunschweig University of Technology, an appointment to the RWTH Aachen University in late 1944 was hindered by the advance of the Western Allies. In May 1945 he witnessed the arrival of the Red Army in Döbeln.
Gruner received emeritus status in 1969, but held lectures at the Dresden University of Technology until 1978.University Archives of the TU Dresden, personnel files Prof. Werner Gruner He died in Dresden and his grave is located in the cemetery Waldfriedhof Weißer Hirsch in the eastern borough of Loschwitz above the right bank of the Elbe.Photos of the grave at the forest cemetery Weißer Hirsch Retrieved 8 June 2014
In 1959 Gruner received the Patriotic Order of Merit, 1961 the National Prize of the GDR second class and in 1969 the Order of Banner of Labor. In 1972 he obtained the honorary degree Dr. Ing. h.c. from the College of Agriculture Engineering in Rostov-on-Don. In 1979 he was appointed Honorary Senator of the TU Dresden and in the same year received the Dr. h.c. from the Wilhelm Pieck University in Rostock.
Post-war decades
In August 1945 a work commitment was imposed on Gruner by the SMAD and he was later transferred to the Soviet Union as a technical-scientific specialist from 1945 (according to another source 1946) until his return to Dresden in 1950 (according to the other source 1952). Since 1952 he lectured in the field of manufacturing technology for chipless shaping at the TU Dresden, in 1953 he became a full professor of mechanical engineering and in 1969 the head of the Institute of Agricultural Machinery Engineering.
Awards
Gruner received in 1940 and 1944 the War Merit Cross Second Class and the War Merit Cross First Class, respectively, and in 1944 the Fritz Todt-prize in silver.
Writings
External links
Categories: 1904 Births, 1995 Deaths, People From Colditz, People From The Kingdom Of Saxony, Nazi Party Members, Firearm Designers, 20th-century German Inventors, German Military Engineers, Academic Staff Of Tu Braunschweig, German Expatriates In The Soviet Union, Recipients Of The Patriotic Order Of Merit, Recipients Of The Banner Of Labor, Recipients Of The National Prize Of East Germany, Academic Staff Of Tu Dresden, Engineers From Leipzig, 20th-century German Engineers
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