Felix Heinrich Wankel (German: [ˈfeːlɪks ˈhaɪnʁɪç ˈvaŋkl̩]; August 13, 1902 – October 9, 1988) was a German mechanical engineer and inventor. The Wankel engine was named after him. After World War I, Wankel joined groups that opposed Jewish people and was an important member of the Nazi Party.

Early life

Felix Wankel was born in 1902 in Lahr, a town in the Grand Duchy of Baden, which is now part of southwestern Germany. He was the only child of Gerty Wankel (born Heidlauff) and Rudolf Wankel, a forestry official. His father died during World War I, and after that, the family moved to Heidelberg. Wankel attended high school in Donaueschingen, Heidelberg, and Weinheim but did not earn his Abitur diploma in 1921. He learned the job of a purchaser at the Carl Winter Press in Heidelberg and worked there until June 1926. Starting in 1924, he and some friends operated a small workshop in a backyard shed in Heidelberg. He wanted to get unemployment benefits and focus on the workshop. A friend who had graduated from university helped make the workshop an official repair place for DKW and Cleveland motorcycles in 1927. Wankel worked there occasionally until his arrest in 1933.

Wankel showed talent from a young age, with a strong ability to imagine how machines work. He was especially interested in engines. After his mother became a widow, he could not afford university or an apprenticeship. However, he taught himself technical subjects. At age 17, he told friends he had dreamed of building a car with "a new type of engine, half turbine, half reciprocating. It is my invention!" As predicted, he designed the Wankel engine in 1924 and received his first patent in 1929.

Wankel and the Nazi Party

During the early 1920s, Wankel was part of groups that opposed Jewish people. In 1921, he joined the Heidelberg branch of the Deutschvölkischer Schutz- und Trutzbund. In 1922, he became a member of the Nazi Party (NSDAP), which was later banned. Wankel started and led youth groups connected to a group that worked with the NSDAP. These groups did activities like military-style training, scouting games, and night walks. Because many in the German Youth Movement did not share his interest in technology, he was invited in 1928 to speak about technology and education with Adolf Hitler and other top National Socialists.

At the same time, Wankel’s mother, Gerty, helped start the local chapter of the NSDAP in his hometown of Lahr. In 1926, Wankel re-joined the party in Lahr and met Robert Heinrich Wagner, the regional leader of the NSDAP. In 1931, Wagner gave Wankel the job of leading the Hitler Youth in Baden. However, they had disagreements because Wankel wanted more military training, while Wagner believed the Hitler Youth should focus on politics. In a serious argument, Wankel publicly accused Wagner of corruption. Wagner responded by removing Wankel from his position by early 1932 and had him expelled from the party in October 1932.

Wankel, who supported the social-revolutionary group within the NSDAP led by Gregor Strasser, created his own split group in Lahr and continued criticizing Wagner. After the Nazis took control of Germany on January 30, 1933, Wagner had Wankel arrested and sent to jail in Lahr in March 1933. Because of the help from Wilhelm Keppler, Adolf Hitler’s economic adviser, and Hitler himself, Wankel was released in September 1933. Keppler, a member of the Reichstag from 1933 to 1945 and a friend of Wankel since 1927, supported Wankel’s work in technology. Keppler helped Wankel get government contracts and start his own experimental workshop in Lindau.

Wankel tried to rejoin the NSDAP in 1937 but was refused. With Keppler’s help, he joined the SS in 1940 as an Obersturmbannführer. Two years later, his SS membership was removed for unknown reasons.

Career

During World War II, Felix Wankel created special parts for German air force planes and navy torpedoes. He also worked for companies like BMW and Daimler-Benz. After the war, France took control of the area where Wankel lived. In 1945, French authorities imprisoned Wankel for several months, and they closed his laboratory. His work was taken away, and he was not allowed to continue his research. However, by 1951, Wankel received money from Goetze AG to build a new Technical Development Center in his private home in Lindau on Lake Constance. He started developing the engine at NSU Motorenwerke AG, and the first working model ran on February 1, 1957. This early version of the engine had both the rotor and housing moving, unlike modern Wankel engines. His design was first licensed by Curtiss-Wright in New Jersey, United States.

On January 19, 1960, the rotary engine was shown to experts and reporters at the Deutsches Museum in Munich during a meeting of the German Engineers' Union. In the same year, the first practical rotary engine was tested in a modified NSU Prinz car called the KKM 250. Around this time, the term "Wankel engine" became the common name for the rotary engine, replacing the earlier name "Motor nach System NSU/Wankel." In 1963, NSU presented the NSU Wankel-Spider, the first car for the public with a rotary engine, which began production in 1964. In 1967, NSU gained attention for the modern NSU Ro 80 sedan, which had a 115-horsepower engine with two rotors. This car was named "Car of the Year" in 1968.

In Japan, Mazda licensed the engine and found solutions to problems like chatter marks. Mazda used the engine in several models, including the Mazda Cosmo (1967), R100 (1968), RX-7 (1978–2002), and RX-8 (2003–2012). Mazda plans to use the engine again in the MX-30 R-EV as a range extender starting in 2023. Mercedes-Benz used a three-rotor Wankel engine in one of its C111 experimental cars in 1969. A later model in 1970 had a four-rotor engine and could reach speeds of 290 km/h, but it was never made for sale.

Wankel became successful by licensing the engine to companies worldwide. In 1958, he and partners started Wankel GmbH, which gave him a share of the profits from selling the engine. Companies like Daimler-Benz (since 1961), General Motors (since 1970), and Toyota (since 1971) were licensees. A state-owned engineering firm in the DDR paid higher fees for the rights to use the engine. Wankel’s company initially received 40% of the licensing fees, which later dropped to 36%. In 1971, Wankel sold his share of the royalties for 50 million Deutschmarks, which was about €87 million in 2021 when adjusted for inflation. A year later, he regained his Technical Development Center from the Fraunhofer Society. From 1986, the Felix Wankel Institute worked with Daimler-Benz, which covered the institute’s costs in exchange for research rights. Wankel later sold the institute to Daimler-Benz for 100 million Deutschmarks.

The term "rotary" can be misleading when describing the Wankel engine. The Wankel principle only refers to a "rotary piston," not the entire engine. Unlike the rotary engines used in World War I aircraft, where the whole engine rotated around a fixed crankshaft, the Wankel engine is a stationary assembly.

Personal life

Wankel married Emma "Mi" Kirn in 1936. They remained married for life but did not have any children. Emma passed away in 1975.

Wankel did not hold a driver’s license because he had very poor eyesight. However, he owned an NSU Ro 80 car equipped with a Wankel engine, which was driven by a chauffeur.

In 1969, Wankel received an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the Technical University of Munich. He was known for supporting animal rights and opposing the use of animals in testing.

Wankel died in Heidelberg in October 1988 at the age of 86. His grave is located in the Bergfriedhof cemetery of Heidelberg. After his death, the Felix Wankel Foundation sold its property to Volkswagen AG. The Heidelberg Fire Department displays his final workshop. Wankel’s documents are stored in the Technoseum in Mannheim. Additionally, an exhibition titled "AUTOVISION · Tradition & Forum" in Altlußheim features a permanent display of over 80 rotary engines and many vehicles powered by Wankel engines.

Honors and awards

• Received an honorary doctorate degree from Technische Universität München on December 5, 1969.
• Awarded the Gold Medal by the Federation of German Engineers (VDI) in 1969.
• Received the Grand Federal Service Cross, Germany’s highest honor for non-military service, in 1970.
• Honored with the John Price Wetherill Medal in Philadelphia in 1971.
• Received the Bavarian Service Medal in 1973.
• Named an "Honour Citizen" of Lahr in 1981 and granted the title of Professor in 1987.
• Awarded the Soichiro Honda Medal in 1987.
• Offered honorary citizenship of Lindau, which was not accepted.

Cited sources

• Markus Popplow (2011). Felix Wankel: More Than Just an Inventor's Life. Sutton Verlag GmbH. ISBN 978-3-86680-763-1.