Nikolaus Alois Maria Vinzenz Negrelli, Ritter von Moldelbe (born Luigi Negrelli; 23 January 1799 – 1 October 1858) was a Tyrolean civil engineer and railroad pioneer mostly active in parts of the Austrian Empire, Switzerland, Germany and Italy.
Biography
Alois Negrelli was born Luigi Negrelli as the seventh of ten children to an Italian-speaking father and a German-speaking mother in Fiera di Primiero (German ) in the Dolomites. The village is situated in the Trentino (), once the south of the County of Tyrol (then with the Austrian Empire, today in northern Italy). Being in part of Welschtyrolean heritage (Romance-speaking southern Tyroleans), the father and one of his older sisters actively supported the Tyrolean Rebellion of 1809, led by Andreas Hofer against the occupation of their homeland by French and Bavarian troops. Alois's father was held prisoner for years, finally returning home in 1814. The family, having lost a substantial part of their wealth, struggled at first to enable good education and safe livelihood for Alois and his siblings. This toil was facilitated by governmental authorities in recognition of their commitment. Alois Negrelli received an Austrian scholarship and went to secondary school in Feltre in 1812, together with his brothers. He later studied in Padua and Innsbruck in 1817, the capital of the Crownland of Tyrol.
Civil engineering
After beginning his career in 1818 as assistant to the Department of Construction in Innsbruck, Austria, he also worked in Vorarlberg from 1825 onwards residing in Bregenz. Negrelli constructed the Gschwendtobel-Brücke in Lingenau, a covered wooden bridge still in existence, and earned a reputation for taking part in the channelisation of the Alpenrhein and of the various Austrian and Swiss interests connected therewith. He moved to Switzerland in 1832 and took part in the erection of various constructions in the Canton of St. Gallen. In 1835, Negrelli was called to Zürich, where he continued with similar activity, notably working on the Münsterbrücke (Munster Bridge) crossing the Limmat together with Ferdinand Stadler, who was responsible for the carpentry. Stone bridges were still built over a wooden timber frame at this time. He also created the new Kornhaus (granary) in 1839 which later became the first Tonhalle (concert hall) of Zürich. In 1895 it was replaced by a newly constructed second building for this purpose.
Railway construction
Beginning in 1836 Negrelli started planning a first railway line in this country. The Swiss Northern Railway was built years later in 1846 from Zürich to Baden, Switzerland, under his supervision. At around this time he was also appointed to different governmental commissions, working for other cantons. During a journey to England, France and Belgium he, like many other engineers, studied recent advances in railway construction and subsequently published his ideas of adapting this technology to mountainous regions in papers, receiving wide attention in the industry. In 1837 he advocated the creation of the railway Innsbruck–Kufstein in Tyrol and made preliminary plans for it, upon which the project was later based.