Celebrated for his transatlantic promotion of innovative industrial products in the early twentieth century, he is best known for having represented the Wright Brothers’ aviation interests in Europe.
[1] His father was a garment manufacturer and his mother was a sister of Alfred, William and George Ostheimer, principals of an extensive import-export business with offices in Paris, Vienna, Berlin and London.
[3] In the late 1880s he several times sailed between France and the United States, declaring he was of “no occupation”, but by 1891 he described himself as “merchant”, was based in New York, and visited Egypt and India.
[7] Despite state-of-the-art manufacturing capabilities by the end of 1895 FN was in poor financial shape due to lack of orders on their M1889 rifles and a lost legal battle with Mauser over the rights to produce improved M1893s.
The engagement resulted in licences being granted to French, German and Belgian fabricators, and Berg himself became Director-General for Europe of Pope’s associate, Electric Vehicle Company, briefly America’s largest maker of automobiles.
[16] During 1902 he alternated between France and America, establishing Berg Automobile Company at Cleveland, Ohio, to produce a European-styled car (copied from a contemporary Panhard model) for the American market.
It was assembled at the Cleveland Machine Screw Factory (“separated by a passage” from the Electric Vehicle Company’s premises) with parts sourced from other manufacturers, and was first shown at the New York Auto Show in 1903.
Their business initially consisted of munitions supply to Russia during the Russo-Japan War, and in 1904-6 Berg’s office base alternated between St Petersburg and Berlin.
[24] It was while Berg was working in Russia that Flint became aware of the Wright Brothers’ progress in the field of powered flight and initiated discussions to obtain an exclusive agency to sell their “flyer” outside America.
[26][note 5] Quickly convinced of Wright’s engineering brilliance and the reliability of his narrative, Berg introduced him to Henri Deutsch de la Meurthe and other influential figures in Paris.
Wilbur reciprocated Berg’s esteem, describing him to his brother Orville as “a pretty slick hand... very practical... about as enthusiastic as a man could be and he really has a remarkable facility for reaching people”.
Berg’s old friend Léon Bollée allowed Wilbur free factory space for engineering work and showed them possible trial grounds near Le Mans.
On arrival at Le Mans, parts for Wrights’ Model A, in storage since shipment to France in the previous year, were found to have been damaged in transit due to poor packing.
Wilbur became an overnight celebrity and, as thousands flocked to watch his manoeuvres, Berg proved “indispensable in the dual role of press agent and bodyguard”.
[34][note 7] Berg’s role in the conduct of affairs at Le Mans was perceived as so comprehensive that he was described as “Mr Wright’s guide, philosopher, friend and financier”.
[37][note 8] Three days later the ascent took place that finally satisfied the requirements of the Wright Brothers’ contract with the Weiller syndicate, and by the end of the month Berg could report “our whole endeavours are now centred in trying to get an order from the French Government.
In travelling to Pau, Orville Wright, his sister Katharine and Mrs Berg narrowly escaped injury when their train collided with another and was wrecked at Dax.
[43] During these royal encounters Wilbur explained his plane’s mechanism to the visitors in English but, when fluency in a foreign tongue was required, Berg provided the explanation - as when the machine was shown to President Fallières of France and to the German Crown Prince Wilhelm and his family later in the year.
[note 10] Berg did not miss the opportunity to promote his aviation interests, telling the press that in warfare silent gunfire would make the airplane essential to locating an enemy whose position was no longer betrayed by sound.
[51] To address the issue Berg, who had from the outset been concerned about the adequacy of the Wrights’ patent protection,[52] prompted a comprehensive programme of intellectual property registration both in Europe and beyond.
The accidents were widely attributed to the double-propeller design of the Wright model, and by November 1910 the French, German and Spanish governments had all indicated they would not place an order for twin-screw aircraft.
In 1911 he arranged exhibitions of the system in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and St Louis but, although the monorail attracted considerable interest, it failed to secure financial backing.
Hall and Henry Vail Dunham in developing fuel oil technologies, including the production of liquid paraffin and the processes for cracking hydrocarbons,[68] and he promoted the mining of high oil-bearing shale and coal in the Var.
[71] Political events had by then resulted in Berg ceasing to have a business presence in Berlin and St Petersburg, but he continued to maintain offices in Paris, London and New York.
At the outbreak of the Second World War he left Paris, where he had occupied an apartment on the Champs Elysées for more than thirty years, and took up residence at the Engineers' Club in Manhattan, becoming an unofficial consultant to the United States Ordnance Department.
It was Foy who in October 1909 conducted the first prosecution for “furious driving in the air”, which followed the crash of a Blériot monoplane into a crowd of spectators, several of whom were injured, during a display at Port-Aviation in Viry-Chatillon.
[80] The majesty of Wilbur Wright’s flying display at Le Mans in August 1908 fuelled his competitors’ appetite for further effort and experiment, probably advancing the progress of aviation by a significant measure.
Hart Berg’s business skills, practical support and presentational management provided the occasion for, and contributed to the technical and commercial success of, that display.