Otto

Dix, Otto, 1891-1969, German painter and draftsman. Dix fought in World War I and returned to Düsseldorf haunted by the horrors he had witnessed. Associated with the new objectivity movement in German expressionism, he depicted the sordid world of prostitutes and swindlers with a painful precision and intensity. In 1924 he published War, a series of 50 etchings, fantastic visions executed with great clarity. Accused of an attempt on Hitler's life in 1939, he was imprisoned in Dresden and later made prisoner of war by the French. After the war he worked in West Germany.

Lilienthal, Otto, 1848-96, German aeronautical engineer, a pioneer in his experiments with gliders. He made major developments in the glider based on his observations of birds and wrote a number of books on aviation. His brother, Gustav Lilienthal, 1849-1933, was associated with Otto in his flying experiments and continued them after his brother's death.

Liman von Sanders, Otto, 1855-1929, German general. In 1913 he was made head of the German military mission to Constantinople to reorganize the army of the Ottoman Empire. His appointment caused a diplomatic crisis between Germany and Russia, which suspected German designs on the Ottoman capital. A compromise was reached when the Germans agreed that Liman become inspector general of the army, a post with less extensive authority. In World War I, Liman commanded Turkish armies in the Gallipoli campaign (1915-16) and was given (1918) supreme command in Palestine, where he was defeated by Allenby. He wrote Five Years in Turkey (1920, tr. 1957).

Winzer, Otto, 1902-75, East German political leader. A member of the German Communist party from 1925, he left Germany in 1935 during the Hitler era and returned after World War II. He became (1945) a member of the East German Socialist Unity (Communist) party and joined its central committee in 1946. Winzer served as secretary of state (1949-56) and first deputy minister of foreign affairs (1956-65) before becoming foreign minister. In the last position he participated in the negotiations that resulted in the 1970 nonaggression treaty between East and West Germany.

Nicolai, Otto, 1810-49, German composer. His opera Il Templario (1840), after Scott's Ivanhoe, was successful, but his masterpiece was the comic opera The Merry Wives of Windsor (1849). He founded (1842) the Philharmonic Concerts, Vienna, for the purpose of presenting adequate performances of Beethoven's music.

Wagner, Otto, 1841-1918, Austrian architect. A structural rationalism was exhibited in his stations for the Vienna city railroad, built in the 1890s. His later works, showing an individual and monumental style, include the Vienna Postal Savings Building and the Steinhof Church (1906). He became a professor at the Imperial Academy of Art in 1894. His many executed designs, his projects, his teaching, and his Moderne Architektur, of which there were four editions (1896-1914), were all widely influential both in Austria and abroad.

Wallach, Otto, 1847-1931, German chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Göttingen, 1869. Wallach was a professor at the Univ. of Bonn from 1870 to 1889 and at the Univ. of Göttingen from 1889 to 1915. In 1910 he received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in the field of alicyclic compounds. Wallach investigated and characterized a large number of essential oils called terpenes, successfully distinguishing among very similar compounds from a variety of plants. His work made a significant contribution to the chemical industry, providing the foundation for new methods of analysis and manufacturing.

Jespersen, Otto, 1860-1943, Danish philologist. Professor of English language and literature at the Univ. of Copenhagen and later rector there, Jespersen first earned a reputation for brilliant work in phonetics and later wrote widely used books on the English language and linguistics in general, notably The Growth and Structure of the English Language (1905), A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (in parts, 1909-31), Language (1922), Philosophy of Grammar (1924), and Analytic Syntax (1937).

Rank, Otto, 1884-1937, Austrian psychoanalyst; one of Sigmund Freud's first and most valued pupils. He early employed Freudian techniques to clarify the underlying significance of myths, producing the classic paper Der Mythus von der Geburt des Helden (1909; tr. Myth of the Birth of the Hero, 1914). Rank, in collaboration with Hanns Sachs, founded the psychoanalytic journal Imago in 1912. Rank's theoretical views, diverging from those of Freud, gave the birth trauma, rather than the Oedipus complex, the central position in the causation of psychoneurosis, claiming all neurotic anxiety to be a repetition of the physiological phenomenon of birth. As a therapist, he attempted to reduce the time required for a successful psychoanalysis to a few months. Rank emigrated to the United States a few years before his death. Among his writings are The Trauma of Birth (tr. 1929), Art and Artist (tr. 1932), Modern Education (tr. 1932), and Will Therapy (tr. 1936).

Bauer, Otto, 1882-1938, Austrian politician. His Die Nationalitätenfrage und die Sozialdemokratie (1907) advocated creating nation-states to solve the Austro-Hungarian nationalities problem. A prisoner of war in Russia during World War I, he led the left wing of the Social Democratic party when he returned, presenting them as a third force between the Communists and nationalists in the revolution of 1918. Named secretary of foreign affairs (1918) in the new Austrian republic, he signed a secret Anschluss agreement with Germany (1919) that was repudiated by the Allies. He resigned in 1919, and led the opposition to conservative governments. He was the guiding personality of the Social Democrats and the principle advocate of unification with Germany. His second theoretical work was Die Österreichische Revolution (1923). The failure of a socialist workers' revolt (1934) led to his exile abroad. He died in Paris.

Ludwig, Otto, 1813-65, German writer. He was one of Germany's first modern realists; although his plots were melodramatic, he sketched accurate and detailed backgrounds. After Hebbel, he was the most notable national dramatist of the period. Among his plays is the tragedy Die Erbförster (1850, tr., The Forest Warden, 1912). Ludwig's best-remembered works, however, are two tales, Die Heiterthei (1853) and, especially, Zwischen Himmel und Erde (1856, tr. Between Heaven and Earth, 1911).

Meyerhof, Otto, 1884-1951, American physiologist, b. Germany, M.D. Heidelberg, 1909. He was professor at the Univ. of Kiel (1912-24) and at the Univ. of Berlin and director of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Medical Research at Heidelberg (1929-38). Forced to leave Germany, he became professor of biochemistry at the Univ. of Pennsylvania in 1940. He studied cellular oxidation and discovered the transformation of lactic acid in muscles. For this he shared with A. V. Hill the 1922 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. His works include The Chemical Dynamics of Life Phaenomena (1924).

Klemperer, Otto, 1885-1973, German conductor, b. Breslau. Klemperer studied in Frankfurt and Berlin. Working first in Prague, he later conducted the Berlin State Opera (1927-33), introducing new works by Janáček, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, and Hindemith. With the rise of the Nazi regime, he went to the United States where he conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic (1933-39). Klemperer was celebrated for his interpretations of Beethoven, Mahler, and Richard Strauss. In 1938 he directed the reorganization of the Pittsburgh Orchestra. In 1946 he returned to Europe, where he conducted in Hungary, Germany, and England.

Hahn, Otto, 1879-1968, German chemist and physicist. His important contributions in the field of radioactivity include the discovery of several radioactive substances, the development of methods of separating radioactive particles and of studying chemical problems by the use of radioactive indicators, and the formation of artificial radioactive elements by bombarding uranium and thorium with neutrons. He received the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for splitting the uranium atom (1939) and discovering the possibility of chain reactions. The development of the atomic bomb was based on this work. Hahn was a member of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute of Chemistry, Berlin, from 1912 and director from 1928 to 1944. He was in Allied custody (1944-46) and on his return to Germany became head of the Kaiser Wilhelm Gesellschaft, Göttingen (later reorganized as the Max Planck Gesellschaft).

Bütschli, Otto, 1848-1920, German zoologist. He was professor of zoology at the Univ. of Heidelberg. His researches on invertebrate animals advanced knowledge of the development of gastropods, insects, and other forms; the structure of nematode worms; and processes of division of the nucleus and cell. A significant contribution was his theory (1878) of the structure of protoplasm, which suggested that it is alveolar or foamlike; he helped to establish that it is fluid in nature.

Brahm, Otto, 1856-1912, German theatrical director, manager and critic. Inspired by the work of Antoine in Paris, he founded a theater, the Freie Bühne, in Berlin in 1889. There he devoted his efforts to eliminating from the German stage old-fashioned techniques by employing the theories and methods of the naturalists. In 1894 he became director of the larger Deutsches Theater and the acknowledged leader of the modern German theater movement.

Stern, Otto, 1888-1969, American physicist, b. Germany, Ph.D. Univ. of Breslau, 1912. After resigning from his post at the Univ. of Hamburg in 1933, he became professor of physics at the Carnegie Institute of Technology and later professor emeritus at the Univ. of California, Berkeley. Stern was an outstanding experimental physicist; his contributions included development of the molecular-beam method, discovery of space quantization (with Gerlach, 1922), measurement of atomic magnetic moments, demonstration of the wave nature of atoms and molecules, and discovery of the proton's magnetic moment. He was awarded the 1943 Nobel Prize in Physics.

Loewi, Otto, 1873-1961, American physiologist and pharmacologist, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He was professor of pharmacology (1909-38) at the Univ. of Graz, Austria, until forced into exile after the Nazi purge of professors; from 1940 he was professor of pharmacology at the college of medicine of New York Univ. For his discovery of the chemical transmission of nerve impulses he shared the 1936 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Sir Henry Dale. Loewi investigated the physiology and pharmacology of metabolism, the kidneys, the heart, and the nervous system. In 1954 he was made a member of the Royal Society of London.

Sverdrup, Otto, 1855-1930, Norwegian arctic explorer. A companion of Fridtjof Nansen on the voyage across Greenland in 1888 and on Nansen's later (1893-96) polar expedition, Sverdrup was leader of an arctic expedition (1898-1902) that attempted to reach the North Pole by way of Smith Sound but failed because of ice in Kennedy Channel. However, valuable topographical observations were made in N Greenland; the unknown western part of Ellesmere Island was explored and charted, and Axel Heiberg Island and other areas were discovered. His New Land (tr. 1904) described this expedition. His later arctic expeditions included a voyage to the Kara Sea in 1920 and a searching trip for the Italian explorer Umberto Nobile's Italia in 1928.

Otto: see Hapsburg, Otto von.

Otto, Frei, 1925-, German architect. Most notable for his tensile and pneumatic structures, Otto is among the first major architects to experiment with lightweight design. He is a noted designer of exhibition tents and sports arenas. Otto has also experimented with pneumatic membranes stabilized and maintained by means of air and gas pressure. Structures built with these membranes are used for oil-storage tanks, grain silos, and greenhouses.

Otto, Nikolaus August, 1832-91, German engineer. He was coinventor (1867) of an internal-combustion engine, and he devised (1876) the four-stroke Otto cycle, which was widely adopted for automobile, airplane, and other motors.

(born Oct. 8, 1883, Freiburg im Breisgau, Ger.—died Aug. 1, 1970, West Berlin, W.Ger.) German biochemist. In the 1920s, after earning doctorates in chemistry and medicine, he investigated the process by which oxygen is consumed in the cells of living organisms, introducing the technique of measuring changes in gas pressure for studying the rates at which slices of living tissue take up oxygen. His search for the cell components involved in oxygen consumption led to identification of the role of the cytochromes. He was awarded a 1931 Nobel Prize for his research. He was the first to observe that the growth of cancer cells requires much less oxygen than that of normal cells.

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(born July 13, 1841, Penzing, near Vienna, Austrian Empire—died April 11, 1918, Vienna) Austrian architect and teacher. In 1893 his general plan (not executed) for Vienna won a major competition, and in 1894 he was appointed professor at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. As a teacher, Wagner soon broke with tradition by insisting on function, material, and structure as the bases of architectural design. Among his notable buildings, all in the Art Nouveau style, are a number of stations for the City Railway of Vienna (1894–97) and the Postal Savings Bank (1904–06). The latter, which had little decoration, is recognized as a milestone in the history of modern architecture, particularly for the curving glass roof of its central hall. Wagner's lectures were published in 1895 as Moderne Architektur.

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(born Feb. 17, 1855, Stolp, Pomerania—died Aug. 22, 1929, Munich, Ger.) German general. He entered the German army in 1874 and rose to lieutenant general. He reorganized the Turkish army and made it an effective fighting force in World War I. In command of the Turkish army at Gallipoli, he and the Turkish commanders forced the Allies to end the Dardanelles Campaign and prevented the seizure of Constantinople.

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orig. Otto Rosenfeld

(born April 22, 1884, Vienna, Austria—died Oct. 31, 1939, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Austrian psychologist. A protégé of Sigmund Freud, Rank's early books, including The Artist (1907) and The Myth of the Birth of the Hero (1909), extended psychoanalytic theory to explain the significance of myths. He edited the International Journal of Psychoanalysis (1912–24). The publication of The Trauma of Birth (1924), which was seen to undermine the principles of psychoanalysis by arguing that the basis of anxiety neurosis is psychological trauma occurring during birth, led to his expulsion from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. Rank settled in New York City in 1936, and his later work focused on the will as the guiding force in personality development.

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(born June 10, 1832, Holzhausen, Nassau—died Jan. 26, 1891, Cologne, Ger.) German engineer who developed the four-stroke internal-combustion engine. He built his first gasoline-powered engine in 1861, and in 1876 he built an internal-combustion engine using the four-stroke cycle (four strokes of the piston for each explosion), which offered the first practical alternative to the steam engine as a power source. Though the four-stroke cycle was patented in 1862 by Alphonse Beau de Rochas (1815–93), it is commonly known as the Otto cycle since Otto was the first to build such an engine.

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(born April 1, 1815, Schönhausen, Altmark, Prussia—died July 30, 1898, Friedrichsruh, near Hamburg) Prussian statesman who founded the German Empire in 1871 and served as its chancellor for 19 years. Born into the Prussian landowning elite, Bismarck studied law and was elected to the Prussian Diet in 1849. In 1851 he was appointed Prussian representative to the federal Diet in Frankfurt. After serving as ambassador to Russia (1859–62) and France (1862), he became prime minister and foreign minister of Prussia (1862–71). When he took office, Prussia was widely considered the weakest of the five European powers, but under his leadership Prussia won a war against Denmark in 1864 (see Schleswig-Holstein Question), the Seven Weeks' War (1866), and the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). Through these wars he achieved his goal of political unification of a Prussian-dominated German Empire. Once the empire was established, he became its chancellor. The “Iron Chancellor” skillfully preserved the peace in Europe through alliances against France (see Three Emperors' League; Reinsurance Treaty; Triple Alliance). Domestically, he introduced administrative and economic reforms but sought to preserve the status quo, opposing the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic church (see Kulturkampf). When Bismarck left office in 1890, the map of Europe had been changed immeasurably. However, the German Empire, his greatest achievement, survived him by only 20 years because he had failed to create an internally unified people.

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known as Otto the Great

(born Nov. 23, 912—died May 7, 973, Memleben, Thuringia) Duke of Saxony (936–61), German king (936–73), and emperor (962–73). He extended the frontiers of the German kingdom, winning territory from the Slavs in the east, forcing the Bohemians to pay tribute (950), and gaining influence in Denmark and Burgundy. In 951 Otto became king of the Lombards and married the queen of Italy. He quelled a rebellion by his son in 955 and defeated the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld. Crowned emperor by Pope John XII in 962, he deposed John in 963 and replaced him with Leo VIII. He returned to Italy (966–72) to subdue Rome, and he betrothed his son, Otto II, to a Byzantine princess (972). He also extended his authority over the church and promoted missionary activity in lands he had conquered. By his death, Otto had created the most powerful state in western Europe and laid the foundation for the later Holy Roman Empire.

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(born July 13, 1841, Penzing, near Vienna, Austrian Empire—died April 11, 1918, Vienna) Austrian architect and teacher. In 1893 his general plan (not executed) for Vienna won a major competition, and in 1894 he was appointed professor at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste. As a teacher, Wagner soon broke with tradition by insisting on function, material, and structure as the bases of architectural design. Among his notable buildings, all in the Art Nouveau style, are a number of stations for the City Railway of Vienna (1894–97) and the Postal Savings Bank (1904–06). The latter, which had little decoration, is recognized as a milestone in the history of modern architecture, particularly for the curving glass roof of its central hall. Wagner's lectures were published in 1895 as Moderne Architektur.

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orig. Otto Rosenfeld

(born April 22, 1884, Vienna, Austria—died Oct. 31, 1939, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Austrian psychologist. A protégé of Sigmund Freud, Rank's early books, including The Artist (1907) and The Myth of the Birth of the Hero (1909), extended psychoanalytic theory to explain the significance of myths. He edited the International Journal of Psychoanalysis (1912–24). The publication of The Trauma of Birth (1924), which was seen to undermine the principles of psychoanalysis by arguing that the basis of anxiety neurosis is psychological trauma occurring during birth, led to his expulsion from the Vienna Psychoanalytic Society. Rank settled in New York City in 1936, and his later work focused on the will as the guiding force in personality development.

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(born April 12, 1884, Hanover, Ger.—died Oct. 6, 1951, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) German biochemist. His work on glycolysis remains a basic contribution to the understanding of muscle action, despite the need for later revision. He shared with Archibald V. Hill (1886–1977) a 1922 Nobel Prize for his research on metabolism in muscle. His chief published work was The Chemical Dynamics of Life Phenomena (1924).

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(born Feb. 17, 1855, Stolp, Pomerania—died Aug. 22, 1929, Munich, Ger.) German general. He entered the German army in 1874 and rose to lieutenant general. He reorganized the Turkish army and made it an effective fighting force in World War I. In command of the Turkish army at Gallipoli, he and the Turkish commanders forced the Allies to end the Dardanelles Campaign and prevented the seizure of Constantinople.

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(born May 14, 1885, Breslau, Ger.—died July 6, 1973, Zürich, Switz.) German conductor. After studying composition with Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949), in 1905 he met Gustav Mahler, who recommended him for several positions, including chief conductor at the Hamburg Opera (1910). At the short-lived Kroll Opera (1927–31) he conducted the Berlin premieres of many important works by contemporary composers. In 1933 he fled Germany for the U.S., conducting in Los Angeles (1933–39) and studying with Arnold Schoenberg. A brain tumour in 1939 left him partly paralyzed. From the 1950s, though seated on the podium, he created a much-admired recorded legacy with London's Philharmonia Orchestra.

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(born July 16, 1860, Randers, Den.—died April 30, 1943, Roskilde) Danish linguist. He led a movement for basing foreign-language teaching on conversational speech rather than textbook study of grammar and vocabulary, helping to revolutionize language teaching in Europe. An authority on English grammar, Jespersen contributed greatly to the advancement of phonetics and linguistic theory. His many published works include Modern English Grammar, 7 vol. (1909–49), Language: Its Nature, Development, and Origin (1922), and The Philosophy of Grammar (1924). He originated Novial, an international language.

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or Otto of Brunswick

(born 1175/1182—died May 19, 1218, Harzburg Castle, Lower Saxony) German king and Holy Roman emperor. He was elected German king (1198) by the Guelph faction (see Guelphs and Ghibellines) but was opposed by the Hohenstaufens, who elected Philip of Swabia. The two factions were at war for several years, but after Philip's murder in 1208 a new election gave the throne to Otto. He was crowned emperor (1209) by Pope Innocent III after agreeing not to claim Sicily. When he violated this pact and conquered southern Italy (1210), the German princes invited Frederick II to replace him. With his uncle, John of England, Otto invaded France, Frederick's ally; defeated at the Battle of Bouvines, he was deposed in 1215.

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(born July 980—died Jan. 23, 1002, near Viterbo, Italy) German king (983–1002) and emperor (996–1002). He was elected German king at age 3, and his mother and grandmother served as regents until he came of age in 994. He went to Rome to put down a rebellion (996) and installed his cousin as Gregory V, the first German pope. After returning in 997 to quell another revolt, he made Rome the centre of his empire. He saw himself as leader of world Christianity and hoped to revive the glory of ancient Rome in a universal Christian state. When Rome rebelled against him (1001), he requested help from Bavaria but died before it arrived.

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(born Oct. 8, 1883, Freiburg im Breisgau, Ger.—died Aug. 1, 1970, West Berlin, W.Ger.) German biochemist. In the 1920s, after earning doctorates in chemistry and medicine, he investigated the process by which oxygen is consumed in the cells of living organisms, introducing the technique of measuring changes in gas pressure for studying the rates at which slices of living tissue take up oxygen. His search for the cell components involved in oxygen consumption led to identification of the role of the cytochromes. He was awarded a 1931 Nobel Prize for his research. He was the first to observe that the growth of cancer cells requires much less oxygen than that of normal cells.

Learn more about Warburg, Otto (Heinrich) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born March 8, 1879, Frankfurt am Main, Ger.—died July 28, 1968, Göttingen, W.Ger.) German physical chemist. He worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry (1912–44), serving as director from 1928. With Lise Meitner he discovered several radioelements. In 1938, with Meitner and Fritz Strassmann (1902–80), he found the first chemical evidence of nuclear-fission products, created when they bombarded uranium with neutrons. For his discovery of nuclear fission, Hahn was awarded a 1944 Nobel Prize. He became president of the Max Planck Society; a respected public figure, he spoke out strongly against further development of nuclear weapons. In 1966 he shared the Enrico Fermi Award with Meitner and Strassmann.

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(born Dec. 6, 1921, Waukegan, Ill., U.S.—died Dec. 17, 2003, Sarasota, Fla.) U.S. gridiron football player and coach. He was a star tailback at Northwestern University, but he is best remembered as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns during a 10-year period (1946–55) in which they won 105 games, lost 17, and tied 5 in regular season play and won 7 of 10 championship games. Graham's career average yardage per pass (8.63) was still an NFL record at the beginning of the 21st century. His coaching career was mainly with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (1959–66) and the Washington Redskins (1966–68). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

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(born Dec. 6, 1921, Waukegan, Ill., U.S.—died Dec. 17, 2003, Sarasota, Fla.) U.S. gridiron football player and coach. He was a star tailback at Northwestern University, but he is best remembered as quarterback of the Cleveland Browns during a 10-year period (1946–55) in which they won 105 games, lost 17, and tied 5 in regular season play and won 7 of 10 championship games. Graham's career average yardage per pass (8.63) was still an NFL record at the beginning of the 21st century. His coaching career was mainly with the U.S. Coast Guard Academy (1959–66) and the Washington Redskins (1966–68). He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

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(born April 1, 1815, Schönhausen, Altmark, Prussia—died July 30, 1898, Friedrichsruh, near Hamburg) Prussian statesman who founded the German Empire in 1871 and served as its chancellor for 19 years. Born into the Prussian landowning elite, Bismarck studied law and was elected to the Prussian Diet in 1849. In 1851 he was appointed Prussian representative to the federal Diet in Frankfurt. After serving as ambassador to Russia (1859–62) and France (1862), he became prime minister and foreign minister of Prussia (1862–71). When he took office, Prussia was widely considered the weakest of the five European powers, but under his leadership Prussia won a war against Denmark in 1864 (see Schleswig-Holstein Question), the Seven Weeks' War (1866), and the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71). Through these wars he achieved his goal of political unification of a Prussian-dominated German Empire. Once the empire was established, he became its chancellor. The “Iron Chancellor” skillfully preserved the peace in Europe through alliances against France (see Three Emperors' League; Reinsurance Treaty; Triple Alliance). Domestically, he introduced administrative and economic reforms but sought to preserve the status quo, opposing the Social Democratic Party and the Catholic church (see Kulturkampf). When Bismarck left office in 1890, the map of Europe had been changed immeasurably. However, the German Empire, his greatest achievement, survived him by only 20 years because he had failed to create an internally unified people.

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(born Dec. 2, 1891, Untermhaus, Thuringia, Ger.—died July 25, 1969, Singen, Baden-Württemberg, W.Ger.) German painter and printmaker. He studied at the academies of Düsseldorf and Dresden and experimented with Impressionism and Dada before arriving at Expressionism with a nightmarish personal vision of contemporary social reality, depicting the horrors of war and the depravities of a decadent society with great emotional effect. He was appointed professor at the Dresden Academy in 1926 and elected to the Prussian Academy in 1931. His antimilitary works aroused the wrath of the Nazi regime and he was dismissed from his academic posts in 1933. His later work was marked by religious mysticism. Seealso Neue Sachlichkeit.

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(born June 10, 1832, Holzhausen, Nassau—died Jan. 26, 1891, Cologne, Ger.) German engineer who developed the four-stroke internal-combustion engine. He built his first gasoline-powered engine in 1861, and in 1876 he built an internal-combustion engine using the four-stroke cycle (four strokes of the piston for each explosion), which offered the first practical alternative to the steam engine as a power source. Though the four-stroke cycle was patented in 1862 by Alphonse Beau de Rochas (1815–93), it is commonly known as the Otto cycle since Otto was the first to build such an engine.

Learn more about Otto, Nikolaus August with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born April 12, 1884, Hanover, Ger.—died Oct. 6, 1951, Philadelphia, Pa., U.S.) German biochemist. His work on glycolysis remains a basic contribution to the understanding of muscle action, despite the need for later revision. He shared with Archibald V. Hill (1886–1977) a 1922 Nobel Prize for his research on metabolism in muscle. His chief published work was The Chemical Dynamics of Life Phenomena (1924).

Learn more about Meyerhof, Otto with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born May 14, 1885, Breslau, Ger.—died July 6, 1973, Zürich, Switz.) German conductor. After studying composition with Hans Pfitzner (1869–1949), in 1905 he met Gustav Mahler, who recommended him for several positions, including chief conductor at the Hamburg Opera (1910). At the short-lived Kroll Opera (1927–31) he conducted the Berlin premieres of many important works by contemporary composers. In 1933 he fled Germany for the U.S., conducting in Los Angeles (1933–39) and studying with Arnold Schoenberg. A brain tumour in 1939 left him partly paralyzed. From the 1950s, though seated on the podium, he created a much-admired recorded legacy with London's Philharmonia Orchestra.

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(born March 8, 1879, Frankfurt am Main, Ger.—died July 28, 1968, Göttingen, W.Ger.) German physical chemist. He worked at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry (1912–44), serving as director from 1928. With Lise Meitner he discovered several radioelements. In 1938, with Meitner and Fritz Strassmann (1902–80), he found the first chemical evidence of nuclear-fission products, created when they bombarded uranium with neutrons. For his discovery of nuclear fission, Hahn was awarded a 1944 Nobel Prize. He became president of the Max Planck Society; a respected public figure, he spoke out strongly against further development of nuclear weapons. In 1966 he shared the Enrico Fermi Award with Meitner and Strassmann.

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(born Dec. 2, 1891, Untermhaus, Thuringia, Ger.—died July 25, 1969, Singen, Baden-Württemberg, W.Ger.) German painter and printmaker. He studied at the academies of Düsseldorf and Dresden and experimented with Impressionism and Dada before arriving at Expressionism with a nightmarish personal vision of contemporary social reality, depicting the horrors of war and the depravities of a decadent society with great emotional effect. He was appointed professor at the Dresden Academy in 1926 and elected to the Prussian Academy in 1931. His antimilitary works aroused the wrath of the Nazi regime and he was dismissed from his academic posts in 1933. His later work was marked by religious mysticism. Seealso Neue Sachlichkeit.

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Otto is a town in Cattaraugus County, New York, United States. The population was 831 at the 2000 census. The name comes from Jacob S. Otto, an agent of the Holland Land Company.

The Town of Otto lies on the northern border of the county.

History

The town was first settled around 1816. The Town of Otto was formed in 1823 from part of the Town of Perrysburg. In 1854, the town was divided to form the Town of East Otto. Otto lost more territory to Perrysburg in 1823, and a to Ashford in 1835.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 32.3 square miles (83.6 km²), of which, 32.2 square miles (83.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.34%) is water.

The north town lins is formed by Cattaraugus Creek and is the border of Erie County, New York, and the west town line is formed by South Branch (of Cattaraugus Creek).

Part of the Zoar Valley is located by the north town line.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 831 people, 310 households, and 243 families residing in the town. The population density was 25.8 people per square mile (10.0/km²). There were 412 housing units at an average density of 12.8/sq mi (4.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.92% White, 0.72% Native American, and 0.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.36% of the population.

There were 310 households out of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.8% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 16.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.68 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the town the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 27.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $37,625, and the median income for a family was $43,942. Males had a median income of $31,063 versus $24,375 for females. The per capita income for the town was $16,748. About 6.3% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 4.7% of those age 65 or over.

Communities and locations in Otto

• Otto (formerly "Waverly') -- The hamlet of Otto is near the south town line at the junction of County Roads 11 and 12. It is the only significant settlement in the town.
• North Otto -- The sparsely populated and heavily agricultural area located along County Road 11 between the hamlet of Otto and Zoar Valley. Its residents are occasionally stereotyped as hillbillies in local lore.
• Zoar Valley Multiple Use Area -- A conservation area in the northern part of the town.

References

External links

• Brief early history of Otto
• Zoar Valley area
• Little Valley Area Chamber of Commerce