Austrian/German. Ing. !!!

[dave1948]

Hi Guys,

I have a funeral announcement that refers to  'Herr  Ing. Rudolf Gutmann'.  What does 'Ing.' mean before his name?  It is not a baptismed christian name, which was Rudolf Robert Gutmann.

Thanks all,  Dave

[Christine53]

I believe it's his professional title and is short for Ingenieur, which means engineer. It's a polite way of addressing someone , as in Herr Doktor or Herr Professor , followed by the surname.

[dave1948]

Hi Christine,

Thanks for that description. From other documents he seemed to be the repairer of anything that mechanically broke, dabbling in allsorts, so even if he wasnt 'qualified', he had the engineering brain.

Regards,  Dave.

[GrahamSimons]

As I understand it, Engineer is a protected title in Germany these days and it can only be used by someone who is professionally qualified.

[dave1948]

Thank you Graham. 

Sounds like he probably was qualified. As Christine said above, ... but in the UK, a Doctor, Professor has 'Dr' or 'Prof.' before their name, an engineer just has letters of qualifications after their name. Interesting how different countries vary.

The answer to my question has been resolved, ... and being part of the extended family I may not pursue it further.

Thanks again,  Dave.

[Karen McDonald]

Hi Dave,

I see you have Austrian/German in the title, but just to clarify this: Was he Austrian or German?

It would be rather unusual for a German to put the "Ing." in front of his name, and "Ing." alone would also be be quite unusual here in Germany. At least these days.

The Germans are very sensitive when it comes to titles. 
Just to provide you with boring information which you don't really need: 

The professional title "Ingenieur" has been protected in the Federal Republic of Germany since the early 1970s by the engineering laws of the federal states and may only be used by graduates of degree courses whose main content is of an engineering or technical nature. In addition to the classical engineering courses (such as mechanical engineering), this can also include computer science, for example. Previously, persons without an engineering education but with many years of relevant professional experience were (and still are) allowed to use the professional title "Ingenieur".

I suspect the man in your clipping may have been too young to have been able to do that in Germany, though.

The degree of Diplom-Ingenieur (Dipl.-Ing.) is obtained by studying at a technical university (formerly Technische Hochschule) or university, usually for five years. A four-year course of study at a university of applied sciences leads to the degree of Diplom-Ingenieur (FH).

Graduates of the earlier engineering schools may, according to state law, use the formerly awarded state designation "Ingenieur" or "Ingenieur (grad.)" (graduated engineer) and, within the framework of post-graduation and under certain conditions, the state designation "Dipl.-Ing. (FH)". The state non-academic degree title acquired at Berufsakademien (vocational academies) is given the bracketed addition (BA): "Diplom-Ingenieur (BA)".

Studies at technical universities (formerly technical colleges) are traditionally always awarded the academic degree "Dipl.-Ing." - in more recent times with the bracket addition (TU), (TH) - or as "Dipl.-Ing. Univ." (awarded by the Technical University of Munich, among others) to distinguish it from the Dipl.-Ing. (FH).

After obtaining a doctorate in engineering sciences at a university, the academic degree of "Doktor der Ingenieurwissenschaften" (Doctor of Engineering Sciences) ("Doktor-Ingenieur", "Dr.-Ing.") is awarded.

As far as Austria goes, I found a website which stated that the Ing. title is still awarded there. The prerequisite: HTL Abitur (type of technical secondary school) + 3 years of practical experience.
Apparently it is not an academic title (similar to the title of technician).

I've been in Germany for so long that I've forgotten how a lot of things are in Blighty, but as far as I know, a person is either a Professor or a Doctor. Here in Germany, they list all their qualifications, so it is absolutely possible for someone to be e.g. Prof. Dr. Dr. Schmidt.
(Often the sort of person you want to avoid...  )

As if anyone really wanted to know all this... 
I'm off to bed. Night-night.

Best regards,
Karen

[GrahamSimons]

Memories of tweaking our school database to allow the title Dr Dr when a German parent was very unhappy about being addressed as Dr.

[Karen McDonald]

Memories of tweaking our school database to allow the title Dr Dr when a German parent was very unhappy about being addressed as Dr.

 

I pity their kids...

[GrahamSimons]

 Unless of course they accumulate more titles themselves.......