Christian Josef Tschuggmall

Christian Josef Tschuggmall, "Mechanikus from Tyrol", first Tyrolean "cyberneticist"

Christian Josef Tschuggmall (born January 19, 1785 in Wenns in the Tyrolean Pitztal ; † November 28, 1845 in Michelstadt in the Odenwald (Hesse)) was an Austrian mechanic, inventor and showman .

Growing up in poor conditions, it was not possible for him to do an apprenticeship. He acquired some knowledge as a carpenter and became a foreman in the cotton mill in Imst . He took part in the Tyrolean struggle for freedom against the Napoleonic and Bavarian troops. Later he tried to start a business as a carpenter in the Lower Inn Valley (Schwaz), but was driven out by the local carpenters. He came to South Tyrol , settled in Vahrn near Brixen and tried his hand at making soap and cribs there.

Encouraged by the success of a passing showman and also encouraged and commissioned by Prince-Bishop Karl Franz von Lodron , he began to build a figure cabinet. By 1828 he was able to complete a large automat theater and present it to the public. After the death of his sponsor Lodron, he moved through Central European countries and presented his automat theater in the cultural metropolises of that time such as Prague and Dresden . In Saint Petersburg he made guest appearances with Tsar Nicholas I and his family. It is rumored that every member of the Romanov family has seen at least one performance.

In 1845 he died on a trip after a stroke .

Tschuggmall's daughter and her husband continued to run the business for a long time. In 1886 the automat theater came into the hands of "Papaschichtl" in Munich, in 1955 the Munich City Museum acquired the figures, where they have been exhibited ever since.

Tschuggmall's special achievement becomes clear when one looks at his life path. He did not learn to read and write until he was 20 years old and was entirely self-taught, but constructed machines at a considerable technical level for the conditions at the time.

Tschuggmall School in Brixen

Today the state vocational school in Brixen Ch. J. Tschuggmall, South Tyrol , which chose him as the namesake, reminds of the old inventor.

literature

• Constantin von Wurzbach : Tschuggmall, Christian . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich . 48th part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1883, pp. 64–69 ( digitized version ).
• Inga Hosp : Tschuggmall or life through machines . Haymon-Verlag, Innsbruck 1995, ISBN 3-85218-204-2 (biographical novel)
• Stefan Poser: Showmen, machine characters and understanding of technology in the 19th century. The machine builders Mathias Tendler and Christian Tschuggmall . In: Technikgeschichte, Vol. 59 (1992), H. 3, pp. 217-240.

Web links

• Munich City Museum
• Christian Josef Tschuggmall State Vocational School Bressanone for trade, craft and industry