125 Years ago Karl Pateisky was born on 04.16.1891 in Großolbersdorf, district Wagstadt, Sudetenland, which belonged at that time to Austria. From 1902 to 1909 he attended the German state secondary school in Troppau and studied mining afterwards at the Mining University in Leoben from 1909 to 1913. On 26.01.1923 he was promoted to a doctor of Montanistic Sciences and on 13.12.1924 to a Doctor of Mining Science of the Montanist College in Příbram, Bohemia. From November 1915 to May 1945 he was employed by the Count Johann Wilczek’schen Ostrava coal- and cokingplants. There he managed several mines as technical director. After his displacement to the Ruhr District, Patteisky got a job at the Westphalian Miners’ Union Fund, Bochum, in 1947 through the mediation of Prof. Dr. Kukuk and Dr. Haack. There he examined inter alia the thermal brines in the Ruhr Carboniferous and its source gases. In 1952 he established the research centre for rock pressure and firedamp. After his retirement in 1959, he was lecturer at the Mining University of Leoben until 1968 and honorary professor at the University of Vienna between 1964 and 1968. His activity is documented in numerous publications on geology and paleontology, but especially in his book “Grubengas- und Schlagwetterkunde” (Fundamentals of minegas and firedamp) from 1964 and the unique mapworks “Inkohlungskarte” (map of coalification) and “Grubengaskarte” (Maps of minegas), which have lost none of its topicality and importance considering firedamp protection and gas exploration. His humor and his Austrian charm made him unforgettable to all who knew him also in human terms. On 16.10.1968 Prof. Dr. Karl Patteisky died in Bochum and was carried to the grave by his employees and colleagues according to good mining tradition.
Prof. Dr. Wilhelm G. Coldewey, Münster
