Biography of Fredinand Porsche

Ferdinand Porsche was born on September 30,1875 in Bohemia, which is now a part of the Czech Republic. He lived in a small town called Reichenberg. This town was a small peasant town filled with artisans, carpenters, and tailors. Ferdinand was a rebellious young man. His father Anton, wanted him to become a tinsmith and carry on the family business But the smoke, fire and gloom of his father's workshop did not interest young Ferdinand. He saw wonders in another world - the magical realm of electricity.
In 1890, when Ferdinand was 15 years old, he asked his father to buy him a battery. Ferdinand wanted to conduct electrical experiments in the loft of his family's home in Reichenberg. Ferdinand's mother Anna, insisted that Ferdinand had a special talent beyond the tinsmith shop and suggested they send Ferdinand to a special school in Vienna. Anton refused. He pointed out that Reichenberg had a technical school. Ferdinand could go to night classes and work in the shop during the day, then they would find out if Ferdinand was truly talented.
One night as Anton made his way home from a neighboring village, he saw a strange glow coming from his neighborhood Fearfully, he rushed home - perhaps his home was burning, but to his delight he discovered that the light was electricity. Ferdinand had built and installed a complete electrical system. It had a generator, switchboard, wires - everything.
The Porsche household was the envy of the neighborhood. Only the Ginzkey carpet factory had electric lights A few days later, the Ginzkey family approached Anton. They offered to send Ferdinand to Vienna to work as a student employed Bela Egger, a company that manufactured electrical equipemt and machinery. Besides working there, Ferdinand would become a part-tame student at the technical university. He could obtain a better education. Given what Ferdinand had done to their home, Anton now recognized his son's talent. With his father's blessing, 18-year-old Ferdinand went to Vienna He had a talent to solve technical problems and excelled at Bela Egger.
In just four years, he became the manager of their test department. At the same time, a Viennese businessman -Jacob Lohner - began looking for someone to help him build electric cars. Lohner owned Jacob Lohner & Company, which built horse-drawn carnages. but Lohner was convinced that electnc cars would soon replace carnages as a means of transportation.