Review | Received: 31 -08-201 9 | Accepted: 25-1 1 -201 9 Carl Ritter von Ghega – 2018 Surveyor of the Year Rinaldo PAAR University of Zagreb, Faculty of Geodesy, Kačićeva 26, 1 0000 Zagreb, Croatia
[email protected] Abstract: Carl Ritter von Ghega was proclaimed 201 8 Surveyor of the Year on 21 March 201 8. In this paper, we explore how this Austrian of Albanian extraction, born in Venice, played an important role in geodesy and the surveying profession and the honours he got up to the present day. We investigate his background and details of his professional path, education and most important contributions in the areas of surveying and engineering at large. We describe his most significant achievement, that is, the Semmering Railway, which was dismissed at the time as impossible to achieve. In 1 998, the Semmering Railway was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Apart from this project, which left a great impression on the engineering profession, von Ghega also developed the Borovnica Viaduct built in the mid-1 9th century in Slovenia. Keywords: Carl Ritter von Ghega, European Surveyor, Semmering Railway 1 Introduction the most prominent engineer of the mid-19th cen- tury (The Architect 1870). In recognition of his ex- Since 2012, the Council of European Geodetic Sur- ceptional services, the Austrian Emperor Franz Jozef veyors has proclaimed each year a European Surveyor knighted him on 22 June 1851. Thus, he became Carl of the Year. In order, these have been: Gerardus Mer- Ritter (Knight) von Ghega. He is numbered among cator (2012), Galileo Galilei (2013), Friedrich Georg the top hundred famous Austrians as the most es- Wilhelm von Struve (2014), Euclid (2015), Ruđer Josip teemed engineer ofthose times (Canaj 2007).