engineering

Matthias von Schönerer

Matthias von Schönerer is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Matthias von Schönerer rather than just read about it. In short: Mathias Ritter von Schönerer (9 January 1807 – 30 October 1881) was an Austrian engineer. He was one of the most important railway pioneers in Austria.

Key takeaways

Matthias von Schönerer belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Matthias von Schönerer to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Matthias von Schönerer from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mathias Ritter von Schönerer (9 January 1807 – 30 October 1881) was an Austrian engineer. He was one of the most important railway pioneers in Austria. He built the Südrampe or South Ramp on the Budweis–Linz–Gmunden Horse-Drawn Railway and its extension to Gmunden by the Traunsee lake. Following that, he was responsible for the construction of the Austrian Southern Railway or Südbahn from Vienna to Gloggnitz. After the dismissal of Franz Anton von Gerstner, Mathias Schönerer completed the first railway on continental Europe, the horse-drawn Budweis–Linz–Gmunden wagonway, despite financial and technical difficulties. In 1841 he was responsible for the construction of the first Austrian railway tunnel (165 m) at Gumpoldskirchen, whose northern portal bears Schönerer's motto Recta sequi in large antiqua letters. He was the construction and operations director of the Vienna–Gloggnitz Railway (Wien–Gloggnitzer Bahn or WGB) and in 1839 founded the repair shop near the WGB's Vienna station, later the Lokomotivfabrik der StEG. During the 1848–49 war he organised the first transportation for the military by train. From 1856 he was on the governing board of the Empress Elisabeth Railway, from 1867 that of the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway. For his services to railway construction he was elevated to the Austrian nobility in 1860 by Emperor Franz Joseph which entitled him and his descendants to the style of Ritter von in the case of male and von in the case of female offspring. Mathias von Schönerer was the father of the German politician Georg von Schönerer and the actress Alexandrine von Schönerer. He died on 30 October 1881 in his birthplace of Vienna in Austria.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Matthias von Schönerer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Matthias von Schönerer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Matthias von Schönerer before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Matthias von Schönerer ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Matthias von Schönerer

In research: Matthias von Schönerer appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Matthias von Schönerer in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Matthias von Schönerer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1807 births, 1881 deaths, 19th-century mechanical engineers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Matthias von Schönerer outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Matthias von Schönerer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Matthias von Schönerer means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Matthias von Schönerer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Matthias von Schönerer in simple terms?

Mathias Ritter von Schönerer (9 January 1807 – 30 October 1881) was an Austrian engineer. He was one of the most important railway pioneers in Austria.

Why does Matthias von Schönerer matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Matthias von Schönerer?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Matthias von Schönerer.