Editing Rudolf Hell

{{Short description|German electrical engineer and inventor (1901–2002)}}
{{for|the astronomer and priest|Maximilian Hell}}
{{distinguish|text=the pioneering punk singer [[Richard Hell]]}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2008}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rudolf Hell
| image = Rudolf Hell führt seinen Wetterkartenschreiber vor (Kiel 44.592).jpg
| caption = Hell (centre) in 1968
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1901|12|19|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Eggmühl]], Germany
| death_date = {{death date and age|2002|3|11|1901|12|19|df=yes}}
| death_place = [[Kiel]], Germany
| occupation = [[Inventor]], [[engineer]]
}}
'''Rudolf Hell''' (19 December 1901 – 11 March 2002)<ref>{{cite web|last = Robat|first = C|title = Rudolf Hell|publisher = The History of Computing Project|date = 11 November 2007|url = http://www.thocp.net/biographies/hell_rudolf.htm|access-date = 11 May 2008}}</ref> was a German [[inventor]] and [[engineer]].

== Career ==
Hell was born in [[Eggmühl]]. From 1919 to 1923, he studied [[electrical engineering]] in [[Munich]]. He worked there from 1923 to 1929 as assistant of Prof. Max Dieckmann, with whom he operated a television station at the ''Verkehrsausstellung'' (lit.: "traffic exhibition") in Munich in 1925. In the same year Hell invented an apparatus called the ''[[Hellschreiber]]'', an early forerunner to [[impact dot matrix printer]]s and [[fax]]es. Hell received a patent for the Hellschreiber in 1929.

In the year 1929 he founded his own company in [[Potsdam-Babelsberg|Babelsberg]]. After [[World War II]] he re-founded his company in [[Kiel]]. He kept on working as an engineer and invented machines for electronically controlled engraving of printing plates and an electronic photo typesetting system called ''digiset'' marketed in the US as ''VideoComp'' by [[RCA]] and later by [[Information International, Inc.|III]].

He has received numerous awards such as the Knight Commander's Cross of the [[Federal Cross of Merit|Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]], the [[Gutenberg Prize of the International Gutenberg Society and the City of Mainz]], the [[Werner von Siemens Ring]] and the [[Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor]] from the German [[Eduard Rhein Foundation]] (1992).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.eduard-rhein-stiftung.de/html/Ehrenring_e.html |title=The Eduard Rhein Ring of Honor Recipients |publisher=[[Eduard Rhein Foundation]] |access-date=5 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718234106/http://www.eduard-rhein-stiftung.de/html/Ehrenring_e.html |archive-date=18 July 2011 }}</ref>

His company was taken over by [[Siemens]] in 1981 and merged with [[Mergenthaler Linotype Company|Linotype]] in 1990, becoming ''Linotype-Hell AG''.

Hellschreiber is still in use today by [[amateur radio]] (ham) operators around the world. Hellverein Kiel collects Hell devices and keeps them functional. In addition, the website contains numerous documents and patents relating to the Hell devices: https://www.hell-kiel.de/en/

== Death ==
Rudolf Hell died in [[Kiel]] on 11 March 2002.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Biography|Germany}}
*[[German inventors and discoverers]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hell, Rudolf}}
[[Category:1901 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Regensburg (district)]]
[[Category:20th-century German inventors]]
[[Category:German men centenarians]]
[[Category:German electrical engineers]]
[[Category:Werner von Siemens Ring laureates]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany]]
[[Category:Technical University of Munich alumni]]
[[Category:Engineers from Bavaria]]


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