Franz Reichelt

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Franz Reichelt with his questionable “parachute” construction

Franz Reichelt (* 1879 in Wegstädtl ; † February 4, 1912 in Paris ) was an Austro - French tailor and parachute designer .

Live and act

Reichelt settled in 1898 in Paris Opera district down and worked as a dressmaker , where he had mostly former compatriots as customers. In 1909 he received French citizenship and took the first name François . Reichelt remained unmarried.

In the course of the emergence of aviation in the 1910s and increasing aircraft stunts, the number of accidents also increased. Reichelt was deeply moved by the crash of the death-defying heroes and from July 1910 designed parachute suits as a tailor. However, the design principles of the parachute ran counter to all physical knowledge.

He first tested his parachute suit on dolls that he threw out of the window. Although the results were not convincing, he applied for a patent for his invention and tried the suit on himself by jumping onto a heap of straw from a height of six meters in a cushioned manner. In February 1912 he traveled to Paris to test his model. He announced his jump from the first platform of the Eiffel Tower to the press. Therefore there are also film recordings of his test jump. Reichelt received the declaration of consent from the police prefecture only on the condition that he did not carry out the experiment himself but with a doll. Nevertheless, he made it a point to test his idea personally and disregarded the police guidelines.

Film contribution to Franz Reichelt's jump from the Eiffel Tower (shortened)

On February 4, 1912 at 7 a.m. when the temperature was below zero, reporters and onlookers gathered at the Eiffel Tower to examine Reichelt's invention. The objection of the reporters present that his "bat suit" had not yet shown satisfactory results did not dissuade him from his plan. At 8:22 a.m. he jumped from a height of 57 m, fell to the ground largely unchecked and hit the ground in front of the camera after a fall of four seconds. Reichelt died immediately after the impact. Resuscitation attempts remained in vain.

Franz Reichelt gained notoriety posthumously because his jump was recorded for the News of Pathé -Cinéma.

literature

  • Frédéric Chef, u. a .: Tschö with Ö. Stupid deaths from history , Bastei Entertainment, Cologne 2015, ISBN 978-3-8387-5339-3 , II. The flying tailor.

Web links

Commons : Franz Reichelt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sebastian Leber : Inventions resulting in death. In: Der Tagesspiegel. January 25, 2015, accessed August 28, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Reichelt, Franz
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian tailor and parachute designer
DATE OF BIRTH 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Wegstädtl
DATE OF DEATH February 4, 1912
Place of death Paris