Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The attempt to fly by the “Schneider von Ulm” (contemporary illustration).

Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger (known as the tailor of Ulm ; born June 24, 1770 in Ulm ; † January 28, 1829 in Ulm) was a German tailor , inventor and aviation pioneer .

Life

Origin and education

Drawing of Berblinger's "foot machine"

Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger was born as the seventh child of the official Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger the Elder. Ä. and his wife Anna Dorothea Fink was born in modest circumstances. Apparently already as a child he came into contact with all kinds of mechanical equipment through his father, who worked in the armory of the Free Imperial City of Ulm. He was just 13 years old when his father died and he was sent to the orphanage, where he was forced to begin an apprenticeship as a tailor, although he would have preferred to become a watchmaker .

At the age of 21 he became a master tailor, but his real interest was still in mechanics. In addition to his work as a tailor, Berblinger was therefore also an inventor. He developed leg prostheses and a "foot machine" that could be used after foot amputations - the first leg prosthesis with a joint (1808). He inspired Johannes Palm to write his surgical dissertation .

glide

Berblinger's handwritten construction sketch of his aircraft

His most famous invention is a hang glider , which should enable him to glide . For years Albrecht Berblinger built and improved his flying machine and observed the flight of owls. People made fun of him. They threatened to throw him out of the guild and made him pay a heavy fine for his work outside the guild. Nevertheless, he continued to build on his aircraft using all of his income.

He secretly carried out his flight attempts in the vineyards on Michelsberg in Ulm. From today's perspective, the south-facing slope offers very favorable conditions for thermal updrafts . The vineyard walls and vineyard houses located there also offered ideal opportunities as launch pads.

Friedrich I showed interest and donated twenty Louis d'or . In May 1811 the king, his sons and the Bavarian Crown Prince visited Ulm. Now Berblinger should prove the airworthiness of his device.

Flight attempt from the eagle bastion

Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany: Adlerbastei with memorial stone for Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger. The inscription reads: Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger 1770–1829 attempted the first glider flight here in 1811 with self-made wings. Max Eyth immortalized him in his book "Der Schneider von Ulm"

Originally, Berblinger did not want to demonstrate his flying skills until June 4th and suggested a start from the main tower of Ulm Minster , which at that time was still 100 meters high. However, the Ulm councilors rejected Berblinger's proposal. They did not trust his flying skills and therefore demanded the start from the 13 meter high wall of the Eagle Bastion on the Danube. Berblinger finally agreed to this starting place without being aware of the possible disastrous consequences. In order to be able to cross the Danube, Berblinger increased the jump height to 20 meters with a scaffold.

The departure of the king on May 31st meant that Berblinger was supposed to start on May 30th. The king and many Ulmer waited for his first flight demonstration, but Berblinger postponed his start to the next day. The historical accounts suggest that he noticed the completely different wind conditions that day and hoped for a change the next day. From today's perspective, it is clear why he could not feel the “fly power” he called under his wings. The relatively cold water of the Danube creates downward winds that are reinforced by the walls of the bastion.

The following day, May 31, he again attempted a public flight. The king had already left, but his brother, Duke Heinrich, and the princes were watching. However, the wind conditions had not changed within a day. He must have become aware of this, because he delayed the start scheduled for 4 p.m., with the hope that something could still change. Around 5 p.m., the numerous spectators, including Duke Heinrich, became impatient and urged him to finally begin his performance. A nearby police officer finally bumped into Berblinger and the disaster took its course.

Because of this moment of surprise, he was unable to achieve the required initial speed for gliding flight and could not align the wings of his aircraft at a favorable angle of attack. The downwind and the start with a tailwind brought the dream of flying to an abrupt end. Fishermen on standby rescued him from the floods of the Danube after the crash to the cheering of the many spectators.

The crash with his flying machine was also associated with a social crash. He was now referred to as a liar and a cheat, which meant that the customers of his tailoring workshop also stayed away. At age 58, he died in the hospital destitute and without means wasting . Berblinger's flying machine was made of "Indian cane", presumably bamboo, fell under the continental barrier and was burnt on a large stake a little later under official supervision, along with other English goods.

Later reception

Testing in the 20th century

50 Pf - special stamp of the GDR post 1990 on the occasion of the European airmail exhibition: Albrecht-Ludwig Berblinger and his glider

In 1986, on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the first attempt at flight, the city of Ulm held a flight competition which was also intended to find out whether it would have been possible to cross the Danube at this point. A glider is the predominant rivers downdrafts very difficult. An aircraft based on the original fell into the water after a few meters, as it did then. As the only model of 30 that took off, a hang-glider, which was modern at the time and copied from hang-gliders, made the route. In the same year it was proven on a mountain slope in Ulm that Berblinger's aircraft was basically airworthy. A replica of the flying machine can be seen in the stairwell of Ulm City Hall .

Reception in art

Replica of Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger's flying machine in Ulm City Hall

The most famous literary form of the subject today comes from Bertolt Brecht . His poem Der Schneider von Ulm , composed in 1934, is in the second part of the Svendborger Gedichte , a collection of predominantly political poems that Brecht wrote in exile. Brecht, however, postponed the Ulm flight attempt to 1592, had the tailor jump from the "big, big church roof" and die on the church square. His antipode is a bishop who claims: "A person will never fly". The ingenious mechanic, whose carefully and rationally worked out attempt to fly failed due to unfortunate circumstances, became a visionary, but amateurish dreamer who fell completely out of his company.

The engineer and writer Max Eyth wrote his novel Der Schneider von Ulm in 1906 . Story of a born two hundred years premature . The director and author Edgar Reitz filmed the story of Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger in 1978 with Tilo Prückner in the lead role. The lavishly produced film Der Schneider von Ulm , however, was not a success with the public and tore Reitz into a financial crisis.

Barbara Honigmann designed the material as a radio play (1982) and also as a play (1984).

The group Feuerschwanz released the song Albrecht der Bruchpilot in 2011 .

The Swabian songwriter Hubert Endhart released the song “dr Berblinger” on his record “vo mir und uns” in 1978. Each refrain begins with "Des war dr Berblinger, dr Ikarus von Ulm ..."

additional

In 2011 the city of Ulm organized an extensive anniversary program.

Berblinger is the namesake of the annual science award of the German Society for Aerospace Medicine . A tram car in Ulm bears his name. Streets in Ulm , Laupheim and Ditzingen were named after him, as was a primary and comprehensive school in Ulm.

literature

Filmography

Web links

Commons : Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikisource: Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Berblinger biography on epoche-napoleon.net
  2. ↑ Berblinger biography on landeskunde-baden-wuerttemberg.de
  3. ↑ Berblinger 2.0 (Author: Johannes Schweikle)
  4. ↑ Berblinger Prize of the City of Ulm
personal data
SURNAME Berblinger, Albrecht Ludwig
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tailor from Ulm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German tailor and aviation pioneer of muscle power flight
DATE OF BIRTH June 24, 1770
PLACE OF BIRTH Ulm
DATE OF DEATH January 28, 1829
Place of death Ulm