SCHEMERL von LEYTHENBACH, Josef Maria
(ŠEMERL, Jožef)
* 26. 3. 1754, Ljubljana, Slovenia
† 28. 1. 1844, Vienna, Austria
Civil engineer
Already at Jesuit grammar school Gabriel Gruber, as his teacher, raised S.'s interest in construction, especially in hydraulic engineering. This led to S.’s studying the construction of river channels in the Netherlands and in the area of the river Rhine from 1777 to 1779. Based on this experience S. gathered a group of young, talented technicians in Ljubljana – one of them was also a mathematician Jurij →Vega – and they drew up extensive plans for roads and canals. S. was also the head of a drawing school, established by Gruber, the coordinator of roads construction and later a member and head of the river regulation commission. Among other things he also regulated the Sava river up to the Croatian-Slovenian border. The commission to build a canal from Vienna through Hungary and Slovenia via Trieste was founded in 1796 and S. received a contract for its design, which he combined with the draining of wetlands around Ljubljana. In 1799 he and his family moved to Vienna, where he took on the construction of canals Vienna – Leitha and Leitha – Schottwien (channel for ship navigation Wien-Neustadt). Since 1804 S. held the position of civil servant and in 1810 presented an overall plan to build a waterway from Vienna to the Adriatic Sea. In Vienna, S. was also engaged in designing roads and architectural drafts. Among other things he made plans for the principal structure of Polytechnic Institute on Karlplatz in Vienna and led its construction from 1815 to 1818.
