František Antonín Gerstner was born to the mathematician, physicist and engineer František Josef Gerstner on 19 April 1796 in Prague. Here he also studied and from 1817 he worked as a professor of practical geometry at the Polytechnic Institute in Vienna. His major life achievement was the construction of the first Austrian railway between Linz and České Budějovice, the aim of which was to connect the Danube and Vltava rivers. F. A. Gerstner had been in the management of the railway company since 1824 and based his work on his father`s plans. On 7 September 1827 a trial operation of the railway in the section České Budějovice-Leopoldschlag was started. Gerstner tried to build a very solid railway not only for the planned horse-drawn railway but also for the future operation with the help of locomotives. However, this exceeded the planned financial budget, and he had to leave his position in 1929. The railway started to be fully operational only on 1 August 1832, under the leadership of Gerstner's successor Matthias Schönerer, who advocated less demanding construction methods. F. A. Gerstner then implemented the project of building the Russian railway between St. Petersburg and Pavlovsk. From 1838 he travelled around America for educational purpose, but died in Philadelphia two years later. In honour of Gerstner`s merits, a monument to him was unveiled on 9 July 1933, which now stands in the grounds of the Rybník railway station.

Connected places: The birthplace of Franz J. Gerstner in Chomutov
Grave of Franz J. Gerstner in Chomutov

František Josef GerstnerRodný dům Františka J. Gerstnera v Chomutově; Hrob Františka J. Gerstnera v Chomutově; Památník Františka Josefa Gerstnera v Chomutově

Keywords: mathematics; practical geometry, horse-drawn railway, polytechnics

Monument to František Antonín Gerstner in Trojany u Dolního Dvořiště