100th birthday - Austria / II. Republic of Austria 1976 - 2.50 Shilling

The inventor of the Kaplan turbine was born on 27 November 1876 in the Styrian industrial town of Mürzzuschlag. In 1895 Viktor Kaplan passed his school leaving exam and subsequently completed his studies of mechanical engineering at the Vienna University of Technology. In 1903 he took over the position of a designer at the German Technical University in Brno. Initially, he dealt with combustion engines there, from 1905 he turned to the improvement of the "Francis turbine". This turbine was next to the Peltonrad the most used water turbine, with the electric generators could be driven directly. In the next few years, his main interest was in turbine technology. He developed his own turbine, which he applied for a patent on 28 December 1912 as a "rotary machine I" with a radial stator and mainly axially flowed impeller. On August 7, 1913, the application followed the "Regulation I main patent". This patent includes the typical way for the Kaplan turbine to adjust the impeller blades. In May 1918 Viktor Kaplan was appointed full professor at the German Technical University in Brno. He realized the practical realization of his invention in the "Börtel und Strickwarenfabrik M. Hofbauers Widow" in Velm, Lower Austria. Later, after 40 years of service, this Velmer turbine came to the Technical Museum in Vienna. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. techn. Dr. h.c. Victor Kaplan died on 23 August 1934 from a stroke.