Nicolaus Otto

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Nicolaus August Otto was a 19th century German mechanical engineer, widely celebrated as the pioneer who developed the first commercially practical four-stroke internal combustion engine. His work established the foundational operating cycle (later named the Otto Cycle) that became the global standard for nearly all modern gasoline-powered powertrains used in vehicles, stationary equipment and early aircraft.

Key moments

1832-06-10Born in Holzhausen, Germany
1861Completed his first experimental gas engine, drawing inspiration from earlier Lenoir internal combustion designs
1867Won a gold medal at the Paris World Exposition for his improved high-efficiency free-piston gas engine developed in partnership with industrialist Eugen Langen
1876Unveiled his landmark breakthrough four-stroke reciprocating gas engine, delivering far higher thermal efficiency than all prior competing internal combustion designs
1877Granted U.S. Patent for his four-stroke engine architecture
1886His core four-stroke patent was ruled invalid in litigation, due to a previously filed conceptual patent from French inventor Alphonse Beau de Rochas, but Otto's working practical design remained the global industry standard
1891-01-26Died in Cologne, Germany
1981Inducted into the U.S. National Inventors Hall of Fame for his foundational contributions to modern engine technology

Practical Engineering Outweighs Theoretical Priority for Historical Recognition

While Alphonse Beau de Rochas had documented the four-stroke operating cycle as a theoretical concept in 1862, he never constructed a functional working prototype nor validated that the design could deliver usable, scalable power. Otto's decades of iterative testing, material refinement, and productization work turned the abstract theory into a mass manufacturable engine that could be adopted across industrial use cases, which is the key reason the four-stroke spark-ignition cycle is universally named after Otto rather than the earlier French inventor who only proposed the idea.

Unplanned Innovation That Enabled The Entire Global Auto Industry

Otto never intended to create a power source for personal transportation: his original 1876 four-stroke engines were built exclusively as stationary units, designed to replace low-efficiency steam engines for factory and small business power needs. The compact, high power-to-weight ratio of his design became the critical missing technical component that allowed Karl Benz, Gottlieb Daimler and other early automotive pioneers to build the first functional mass-production cars less than 10 years after Otto's breakthrough, triggering the century of mass global motorization that reshaped human society.

Cross-Generational Family Legacy In Mobility Technology

One of Otto's seven children, Gustav Otto, grew up to found the early aircraft engine manufacturing firm that would later become part of BMW, creating a multi-generational lineage linking the original inventor of the four-stroke cycle to one of the world's most famous premium automotive brands.

Overview

Nicolaus Otto

birth name	Nicolaus August Otto
birth date	June 10, 1832
birth place	Holzhausen an der Haide, Duchy of Nassau, German Confederation
death date	January 26, 1891
death place	Cologne, Prussia, German Empire
known for	Internal combustion engine Founder of Deutz AG
occupation	Engineer

spouse	Anna Gossi

children	e.g. Gustav Otto

Nicolaus August Otto (10 June 1832 – 26 January 1891) was a German engineer who successfully developed the compressed charge internal combustion engine which ran on petroleum gas and led to the modern internal combustion engine. The Association of German Engineers (VDI) created DIN standard 1940 which says "Otto Engine: internal combustion engine in which the ignition of the compressed fuel-air mixture is initiated by a timed spark", which has been applied to all engines of this type since.[1][2]

Biography

Nicolaus August Otto was born on 10 June 1832[3] in Holzhausen an der Haide, Germany.[4] He was the youngest of six children. His father died in 1832. He began school in 1838. After six years of good performance he moved to the high school in Langenschwalbach[5] until 1848. He did not complete his studies but was cited for good performance.

His main interest in school had been in science and technology but he graduated after three years as a business apprentice in a small merchandise company. After completing his apprenticeship he moved to Frankfurt where he worked for Philipp Jakob Lindheimer as a salesman of colonial goods and agricultural products (he was a grocery salesman). Otto worked for various companies, first for IC Alpeter and then in 1860 for Carl Mertens. He traveled throughout Western Germany and sold colonial goods—coffee, tea, rice, and sugar.[2]

Lenoir engine

In late autumn of 1860 Otto and his brother learned of a novel gas (illuminating gas) engine that Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir had built in Paris.[2] The brothers built a copy of the Lenoir engine and applied for a patent in January 1861 for a liquid fueled engine based on the Lenoir (Gas) engine with the Prussian Ministry of Commerce, but it was rejected.

First four stroke engine, 1861

Otto was aware of the concept of compressed fuel charge and tried to make an engine using this principle in 1861. It ran for just a few minutes before breaking. Otto's brother gave up on the concept, resulting in Otto looking for help elsewhere.[2][3]

From 1862 to 1863 Otto experimented with the help of Cologne Mechanic Michael J. Zons in an effort to improve the engine. Running low on funds, in 1862 Otto worked for Carl Mertens in order to continue work on his engine.[2]

Partnership with Eugen Langen

Early in 1864, Otto sought investors to fund his research. He found Eugen Langen, whose father was a sugar industrialist. Together they entered into a partnership on 31 March 1864 and named it NA Otto & Cie in Cologne. This was the world's first company focused entirely on the design and production of internal combustion engines.[2]

The 1864 Otto & Langen engine was a free piston atmospheric engine (the explosion of gas was used to create a vacuum and the power came from atmospheric pressure returning the piston). It consumed less than half the gas of the Lenoir and Hugon atmospheric engines and so was a commercial success. The Lenoir engine was a double acting engine. In essence these engines are a steam engine altered to run on illuminating gas. The engines of Italian inventors Eugenio Barsanti and Felice Matteucci in their British Patent no 1625 of 1857, were built and are in a museum. Unlike Otto's engine these are two stroke atmospheric engines which are not in any way comparable.

For all its commercial success, with the company producing 634 engines a year by 1875,[6] the Otto and Langen engine had hit a technical dead end as an atmospheric engine: it produced only 3 hp, yet required 10 - 13 ft headroom to operate.[7]

The Otto cycle

The Otto engine was designed as a stationary engine and in the action of the engine, the stroke is an upward or downward movement of a piston in a cylinder. Used later in an adapted form as an automobile engine, four strokes are involved:

Otto only sold his engine as a stationary motor.

(1) downward intake stroke—coal-gas and air enter the piston combustion chamber,
(2) upward compression stroke—the piston compresses the mixture,
(3) downward power stroke—ignites the fuel mixture by flame and later electric spark,
(4) upward exhaust stroke—releases exhaust gas from the piston chamber.

Earlier patents

Otto had obtained many patents from several different nations and for several different features. When his former manager Gottlieb Daimler wanted to build small engines for transportation Otto showed no interest. Daimler left and took Maybach with him. Daimler had no desire to pay royalties to Otto (Deutz AG) and so hired a lawyer to find a solution. What the lawyer found was a patent for the concept of a four cycle engine that had been issued to Beau De Rochas, a French engineer, in 1862. This resulted in Otto losing one of his patents and allowed Daimler to sell his engines in Germany without paying royalties. Neither Otto nor Daimler were aware of the Rochas patent. Rochas never built an engine. It is likely he could not have done so.[9]

Several of the inventions that are sometimes mentioned as having preceded the Otto engine, such as Marcus, Barsanti, etc. are for two cycle (two stroke) atmospheric engines which do not compress the fuel charge. Otto's atmospheric engine is not the VDI (and other associations) Otto engine type. The only significant engines were those from Lenoir. His engines were the first to go into serial production. Lenoir eventually sold approximately 700 engines.

Production

Over 50,000 engines were produced in the 17 years following introduction.[10]

Honors

Otto received numerous honors for his engines.

The 1864 atmospheric engine won the gold medal in the 1867 World Exhibition in Paris.[11]
In 1882 Otto received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Würzburg.[1]
His home has been turned into a museum which is promoted by the local government.
In 1936 Professor Nagël, head of the Association of German Engineers, decreed that DIN Standard 1940 specify that "Ottomotor" applies to all engines that draw in a fuel mix, compress it and ignite it by special device, thus replacing such terms as "explosion motor", "detonation engine", "benzine engine", and "ignition engine."[1]

Milestones

1862: First experiments with four-stroke engines
1864: Establishing the first engine factory in the world: NA Otto Cie
1867: Gold Medal of the World Exhibition in Paris for the gas engine
1869: The company relocates and changes its name to Langen, Otto, and Roosen
1872: The company relocates to larger facilities and changes its name to Deutz Gasmotoren Fabrik
1876: Development of four-stroke engine (Otto-motor)
1882: Production of the Atmospheric engine is discontinued after 2649 were made[12]
1884: Nicolaus Otto invents the electric ignition
1885: Gottlieb Daimler and Karl Benz built the first automobiles using liquid petroleum engines.[13]

External links

—1877

References

Ottomotor Deutz AG, retrieved 12 July 2016^
Nicolaus August Otto (1832-1891), Erfinder LVR Fur Mensch, retrieved 11 July 2016^
Nicolaus August Otto Museum retrieved 11 July 2016^