| Riepel, Franz Xaverborn born 29th November 1790, Graz, died 25th April 1857, Vienna Son of civil engineering inspector in Graz. He completed secondary school, and one year of philosophy studies. Then he studied metallurgy and mining at the Mining and Forestry Academy at Banská Štiavnica. He was employee of the Füstenbergs at their ironworks in Nižbor near Beroun. In 1816, he was in charge of mines and metallurgical plant in Jáchymov. When he returned from long expedition to Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria, Silesia and Moravia, he taught merchandise and natural science at the Polytechnic College in Vienna in 1819 - 1838. In 1823, he was mapping in the Alps, later in Dalmatia, he also studied geology of the Erzberg mining district (Styria). In 1828, he carried out geological survey of the estates belonging to Metternich family in Plasy (Pilsen region) where he contributed to the development of iron ore deposits and initiated the establishment of new ironworks. In 1829, as “Bergraf”, being in the employ of archbishop of Olomouc, he became founder of the Vítkovice ironworks. A year later he introduced there puddling furnaces, following the English model, and thus initiated reform of the whole Austrian metallurgy. In the same year he completed his life’s work, a project of the first railway in the Habsburg monarchy connecting Brno and Vienna (7th July 1839). Later he extended this project to connect the Adriatic Trieste with the northern border of the monarchy so that the whole country was crossed by the railway called Ferdinand’s Northern Railway . After 1838, he returned to geology, was geologist in Croatia, organized mining operations in Příbram, Idria and some coal fields in Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia till his death. He is author of the oldest geological map of Bohemia, completed just before he joined the College of Technology in Vienna. Its original is deposited in Vienna, Riepel’s first place of work.
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