The movie is based on the biography "Diesel: Der Mensch, Das Werk, Das Schicksal" (Diesel: The Human, The Work, The Destiny) from 1937, written by Eugen Diesel, the youngest son of Rudolf Diesel.
The character Prof. Lüders is based on Otto Köhler, professor from the University in Cologne who is known for being one of the biggest critics of Diesel's work and he supported the Deutz factory Essen in one of the patent cases against Diesel.
Ingenieur Scheuermann is partly based on Emil Captaine, a German engineer who was suing Rudolf Diesel for plagiarism regarding the invention of the Diesel motor. Like in the movie he lost the case.