Albrecht Berblinger
Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger ( also known as the Tailor of Ulm; * June 24, 1770 in Ulm, † January 28, 1829 ) was a German tailor, inventor and aviation pioneer.
- 2.1 Testing in the 20th century
- 2.2 Reception in art
- 2.3 More
Life
Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger was born as the seventh child of modest means. He was just 13 when his father died and he came to the orphanage. There, he was forced to start a tailor although he wanted to be a watchmaker.
At age 21, he was a master tailor, but his real interest was still the mechanics. Besides his work as a tailor Berblinger was therefore also an inventor. He developed prosthetic legs and a " pedal " that could be used by foot amputations - the first prosthetic leg with joint ( 1808). He inspired John palm to his surgical dissertation.
Gliding
His most famous invention is a hang glider, which should enable him to glide. For years, built and improved Albrecht Berblinger his flying machine and watched the flight of owls. People scoffed at him. They threatened to throw him out of the guild and left him a high penalty to pay for his works outside of the guild. Nevertheless, he built, using its total revenue, continued on his aircraft.
His flight tests he conducted secretly by the vineyards on Michel mountain of Ulm. From today's perspective, the south-facing slope of the offers very favorable conditions for thermal updrafts. Also located there vineyard walls and vineyard cottages provided ideal opportunities as launch pads.
Frederick I (Württemberg, king) showed interest and donated 20 Louis d'or. In May 1811, King, his sons, and the Bavarian Crown Prince visited Ulm. Now Berblinger should prove the airworthiness of his device.
Originally Berblinger wanted to show off his flying skills until 4 June and suggested to start it from the main tower of the Ulm Minster before, the amount of which was still at that time at 100 meters. However, the Ulmer councilors refused Berblinger proposal. They did not trust his flying skills and therefore demanded the start of the 13-meter- high wall of Adlerbastei on the Danube. Berblinger agreed with this number to finally, without being aware of the disastrous consequences. In order to cross the Danube, Berblinger increased jump height by a scaffold to 20 meters.
The departure of the king on 31 May led probably to the fact that Berblinger should start already on 30 May. The king and many Ulmer waiting for its first flight demonstration, but Berblinger postponed his start on the next day. The historical accounts suggest that he noticed the very different wind conditions that day, hoping to change the next day. From today's perspective it is clear why he could not feel the person designated by him "Fly Power " under his wings. Due to the relatively cold waters of the Danube arise katabatic winds, which are exacerbated by the walls of the bastion.
The following day, 31 May, he appeared again at a public flight test. The king had already left, but his brother, Duke Henry and the prince watched. However, the wind conditions had not changed within a day. That must be him become aware of this because he delayed the planned start for 16 clock, with the hope it could still make a difference. Against 17 clock the numerous spectators and Duke Heinrich became impatient and urged him to finally begin his presentation. A bystander policeman finally bumped into Berblinger and fate took its course.
For this element of surprise out he could not reach the required initial speed for the glide and not align the wings of his aircraft at a favorable angle of attack. The fall winds and the start with a tailwind bestowed the dream of flying to an abrupt end. Standing by fishermen rescued him after the crash under the jeers of the many spectators from the waters of the Danube.
The crash with his flying machine was connected to a social crash. Now You called him a liar and a cheat, which meant that even the customer of his tailor shop failed to materialize. At age 58 he died in the hospital completely impoverished and destitute from wasting. According to oral tradition, he had kept his flying machine until his death in the attic.
Later reception
Testing in the 20th century
In 1986 on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the first flight test held an advertised by the city of Ulm flight competition in which should be found even if a crossing of the Danube at this point would have been possible. A glider is made very difficult by the prevailing winds along rivers case. A reinvented the original aircraft crashed, as even then, after a few meters into the water. The only model 30 started at that time created a modern, kite flyers abgeschauter hang glider track. In the same year demonstrated on a mountainside Ulmer that Berblinger aircraft was basically airworthy. A replica of the flying machine can be seen in the stairwell of Ulm's town hall.
Reception in the Art
Today's best-known literary shaping of the material comes from Bertolt Brecht. His 1934 poem The Tailor of Ulm arisen is in the second part of the Svendborg Poems, a collection of mostly political poems that Brecht wrote in exile. Brecht moved the Ulmer flight test, however, the year 1592 had the tailor from the "big [n ], large [n ] church roof " jump and come to the church square to death. Its antipode is a bishop who claims: "It will never fly a man." From the ingenious mechanic, whose carefully and rationally elaborated flight attempt failed due to unfortunate circumstances, it was a completely out of falling from his company visionary, but amateurish dreamer.
The engineer and writer Max Eyth wrote in 1906 his novel The Tailor of Ulm. History of two hundred years, born too early. The writer and director Edgar Reitz filmed in 1978 the story of Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger with Tilo Prückner in the lead role. However, the lavishly produced film was not a success with the public and also tore Reitz itself into the financial abyss. Barbara Honigmann designed the fabric as a radio play (1982) and also as a play (1984).
The group Feuerschwanz published in 2011 the song Albrecht of Bruchpilot.
More
2011, the city of Ulm has organized an elaborate anniversary program.
Berblinger is the namesake of the annual science prize awarded by the German Society for Aviation and Space Medicine.