Robert Bosch

Life and work

Bosch attended the 'Realanstalt' in Ulm until 1879, including an apprenticeship as a precision-instrument maker, and later worked as a journeyman at C. & E. Fein.^[1] After military service in 1881, he worked for Schuckert & Co. until 1883, then studied under Professor Wilhelm Dietrich at the Stuttgart Technical University in 1883-84.^[1] On 24 May 1884, Bosch sailed for the United States and became an engineer under Thomas Edison and Sigmund Bergmann in New York.^[1] Bosch traveled to London on 13 May 1885 and secured a job at Siemens Brothers.^[1]

A request came from Gottlieb Daimler in 1887 for Bosch to create a low-voltage magneto device, similar to the one utilized by the Gasoline Engine Factory Deutz.^[1] Frederick Richard Simms met with Bosch in 1893 to discuss modifying stationary engine magnetos for use in motor vehicles, employing a tricycle made by Jules-Albert de Dion as a test platform.^[1] Gottlob Honold and Arnold Zähringer enhanced the Bosch device, achieving higher power and faster spark sequences, reaching up to 1800 rpm.^[1] Bosch was among the earliest German industrialists to implement an eight-hour workday and additional social benefits for his workers.^[2]

Millions of German marks were given by Bosch to charitable projects, which included funding for the Robert Bosch Hospital in Stuttgart, opened in 1940.^[2][3]

What the cited sources add

A 2014 Stuttgarter Zeitung article notes that Bosch's company derived more than 60 percent of its revenue from war materials as early as 1915.^[4] The Robert Bosch Stiftung account states that Bosch's legacy formulated a dual mandate of securing the company's continued existence and advancing his social commitment.^[5] The same blog notes that Bosch decided to sponsor the hospital to mark his 75th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his company in 1936.^[3] According to the same source, Wehrmacht contracts accounted for two-thirds of Bosch's revenue in 1940.^[4]