Friedrich Clemens Gerke
Encyclopedia
Friedrich Clemens Gerke was a German
writer, journalist
, musician and pioneer of telegraphy who revised the Morse code
in 1848. It is Gerke's notation which is used today.
immigrant. They tried to establish a hatter business, but it soon failed and went into bankruptcy. They then decided to emigrate, like many other Europeans in the 19th century, and planned to join the British Army. Via Twielenfleth (Lower Saxony
) and the Isle of Heligoland in the German Bight, they went to Canada
in 1820, and Gerke served as a musician in the Rifle Battalion, 60th Regiment. He played the clarinet
and horn.
Gerke did not enjoy being in the military service, and he managed to find someone else to take his place in the army. He subsequently returned to Hamburg in 1823.
. This area of Hamburg was under Danish
administration in those days. He also started a career in writing and journalism and published many articles about social life and criticized
misgovernment. Gerke wrote several books about life in general, nature, and healthcare. After some years he terminated his musical profession because he earned enough money from his writings.
From 1838 on he joined the optical telegraph of J.L. Schmidt, who established a private telegraph line between Hamburg and Cuxhaven. Gerke's first job was to fix their technical problems. This optical telegraph line served as a ship reporting system between Cuxhaven at the Elbe estuary and the some 120 km further upstream port of Hamburg. In 1842, the year of the 'Great Hamburg Fire', he requested help from
neighbouring fire brigades using the optical telegraph.
By request of the Hamburg Senator Mohring, the Americans William and Charles Robinson demonstrated their electrical Morse telegraph. Recognizing the great advantages of the new technology, Gerke defected to the Elektro-Magnetische Telegraph Companie which started its regular service on 15 July 1848 between Hamburg and Cuxhaven. Gerke became inspector of this company, which for the first time in Europe used Morse code on landlines.
and changed nearly half of it into its present form, the International Telegraph Alphabet. The original Morse code consisted of four different hold durations (the amount of time the key was held down), and some letters contained inconsistent internal durations of silence. In Gerke's system there are only "dits" and "dahs", the latter being three times as long as the former, and the internal silence intervals are always a single dit-time each. This new code was first adopted by the Deutsch-Oesterreichischer Telegraphenverein and in 1865 accepted by a convent of the International Telegraph Union in Paris
.
From 1868 on, Gerke worked with the then built Hamburger Telegraph Office and became its first director.
On 21 May 1888 Gerke died and was buried on the Hamburg Ohlsdorf cemetery. The grave was given up by the family in the 1930s.
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
writer, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
, musician and pioneer of telegraphy who revised the Morse code
Morse code
Morse code is a method of transmitting textual information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...
in 1848. It is Gerke's notation which is used today.
Life
Gerke grew up in modest circumstances. At the age of 16, he came to Hamburg as a servant and houseboy to the private scientist Arnold Schuback. In 1818, he became a clerk with Senator Brunnemann, and received a fixed wage for the first time in his life. On 10 July 1820 he married Sophie Marianne Duclais, a young, non wealthy FrenchFrench people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
immigrant. They tried to establish a hatter business, but it soon failed and went into bankruptcy. They then decided to emigrate, like many other Europeans in the 19th century, and planned to join the British Army. Via Twielenfleth (Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
) and the Isle of Heligoland in the German Bight, they went to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1820, and Gerke served as a musician in the Rifle Battalion, 60th Regiment. He played the clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
and horn.
Gerke did not enjoy being in the military service, and he managed to find someone else to take his place in the army. He subsequently returned to Hamburg in 1823.
Optical and electrical telegraph
In the years before Gerke joined the optical and later the electrical telegraph, he worked as a musician in pubs and establishments for sailors on the ReeperbahnReeperbahn
The Reeperbahn is a street in Hamburg's St. Pauli district, one of the two centres of Hamburg's nightlife and also the city's red-light district...
. This area of Hamburg was under Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
administration in those days. He also started a career in writing and journalism and published many articles about social life and criticized
misgovernment. Gerke wrote several books about life in general, nature, and healthcare. After some years he terminated his musical profession because he earned enough money from his writings.
From 1838 on he joined the optical telegraph of J.L. Schmidt, who established a private telegraph line between Hamburg and Cuxhaven. Gerke's first job was to fix their technical problems. This optical telegraph line served as a ship reporting system between Cuxhaven at the Elbe estuary and the some 120 km further upstream port of Hamburg. In 1842, the year of the 'Great Hamburg Fire', he requested help from
neighbouring fire brigades using the optical telegraph.
By request of the Hamburg Senator Mohring, the Americans William and Charles Robinson demonstrated their electrical Morse telegraph. Recognizing the great advantages of the new technology, Gerke defected to the Elektro-Magnetische Telegraph Companie which started its regular service on 15 July 1848 between Hamburg and Cuxhaven. Gerke became inspector of this company, which for the first time in Europe used Morse code on landlines.
Revision of Morse's Code
Gerke perceived the disadvantages of the American Morse codeAmerican Morse code
American Morse Code — also known as Railroad Morse—is the latter-day name for the original version of the Morse Code developed in the mid-1840s, by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail for their electric telegraph...
and changed nearly half of it into its present form, the International Telegraph Alphabet. The original Morse code consisted of four different hold durations (the amount of time the key was held down), and some letters contained inconsistent internal durations of silence. In Gerke's system there are only "dits" and "dahs", the latter being three times as long as the former, and the internal silence intervals are always a single dit-time each. This new code was first adopted by the Deutsch-Oesterreichischer Telegraphenverein and in 1865 accepted by a convent of the International Telegraph Union in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
Latter years
In 1850 his wife Marianne died; they had no children. A short time later he married a much younger woman, Friedericke Wilhelmine Tietz, with whom he had 5 children.From 1868 on, Gerke worked with the then built Hamburger Telegraph Office and became its first director.
On 21 May 1888 Gerke died and was buried on the Hamburg Ohlsdorf cemetery. The grave was given up by the family in the 1930s.