Gunther Burstyn (6 July 1879 in
Bad AusseeBad Aussee is a town in the Austrian state of Styria, located at the confluence of the three sources of the Traun River in the Ausseerland region. Bad Aussee serves as the economic and cultural center of the Styrian part of the Salzkammergut lakes region...
, Steiermark - 15 April 1945 in
KorneuburgKorneuburg is a town in Austria. It is located in the state Lower Austria and is the administrative center of the district of Korneuburg. Korneuburg is situated on the left bank of the Danube, opposite the city of Klosterneuburg, and is 12 km northwest of Vienna...
,
Lower AustriaLower Austria is the northeast state of the nine states or Bundesländer in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten , but formerly, the capital of Lower Austria was Vienna, even though Vienna is not properly part of Lower Austria...
) was a technician and officer of the
Austro-Hungarian ArmyThe Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy . It was composed of the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .Most of Hungarian cavalry, infantry and artillery troops...
.
In 1911, he designed the first cross-country
tankA tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities...
with swiveling turret, based on American agricultural tractors, which he called the
Motorgeschütz (literally motor-gun). The draft design, which was more modern than other tank designs of the First World War, was rejected both by Austria-Hungary and by the German Empire.
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Gunther Burstyn (6 July 1879 in
Bad AusseeBad Aussee is a town in the Austrian state of Styria, located at the confluence of the three sources of the Traun River in the Ausseerland region. Bad Aussee serves as the economic and cultural center of the Styrian part of the Salzkammergut lakes region...
, Steiermark - 15 April 1945 in
KorneuburgKorneuburg is a town in Austria. It is located in the state Lower Austria and is the administrative center of the district of Korneuburg. Korneuburg is situated on the left bank of the Danube, opposite the city of Klosterneuburg, and is 12 km northwest of Vienna...
,
Lower AustriaLower Austria is the northeast state of the nine states or Bundesländer in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten , but formerly, the capital of Lower Austria was Vienna, even though Vienna is not properly part of Lower Austria...
) was a technician and officer of the
Austro-Hungarian ArmyThe Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy . It was composed of the joint army , the Austrian Landwehr , and the Hungarian Honvédség .Most of Hungarian cavalry, infantry and artillery troops...
.
In 1911, he designed the first cross-country
tankA tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility and tactical offensive and defensive capabilities...
with swiveling turret, based on American agricultural tractors, which he called the
Motorgeschütz (literally motor-gun). The draft design, which was more modern than other tank designs of the First World War, was rejected both by Austria-Hungary and by the German Empire. He later sought to patent his design, but was told that it might infringe existing patents, so he dropped all plans. In 1941 Günther Burstyn was awarded with the
War Merit CrossThe War Merit Cross was a decoration of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, which could be awarded to civilians as well as military personnel...
.
At the end of the war he committed suicide because he feared Soviet captivity, as endured by other German inventors like
Ferdinand PorscheProf. Dr. Ing h.c. Ferdinand Porsche was an Austro-Hungarian automotive engineer. He is best known for creating the Volkswagen as well as the first of many Porsche automobiles, and for his contributions to advanced German tank designs: Tiger I, Tiger II and the Elefant.Porsche was awarded in...
.
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