Johann Christian Ruberg was a German inventor and a pioneer in metallurgy.

About 1798, Ruberg devised the first large-scale method for the production of zinc

Zinc

Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...

. This method (so-called "Silesian method"), used horizontal muffle furnaces which permitted for continuous operation, i.e., loading the input and unloading the product without cooling. This greatly improved the energy economy and labour intensity of the process. It subsequently led to the development of large zinc manufacturing industry in Silesia

Silesia

Silesia is a historical region of Central Europe located mostly in Poland, with smaller parts also in the Czech Republic, and Germany.Silesia is rich in mineral and natural resources, and includes several important industrial areas. Silesia's largest city and historical capital is Wrocław...

. Ruberg also authored several inventions and optimizations in glass-making.

Ruberg is buried at the Lutheran

Evangelical-Augsburg Church in Poland

The Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland , the largest Protestant body in Poland, is rooted in the Reformation. The first Lutheran sermons were held in 1518, and in 1523 the first Lutheran dean, Johann Heß, was called to the city of Breslau, whence Lutheranism was spread into the...

 parish church cemetery at the Hołdunów subdivision of Lędziny

Ledziny

Lędziny is a town in Silesia in southern Poland, near Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union - a metropolis with a population of 2 million which is located in the Silesian Highlands....

, where a memorial to him was installed in 1998. In 2000, an elementary school at Lędziny (Szkola Podstawowa No 3) received his name.