Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel

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Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel (* 1777 in Lippstadt ; † September 28, 1826 in Amsterdam ) was a German-Dutch inventor . Among other things, he invented a forerunner of the metronome and the componentium , an automaton modeled on the panharmonic . What was new about it was that this automat could make variations on the stored music.

Life

Winkel settled in Amsterdam shortly after 1800. He found that pendulums with weights on both sides were better suited for slow intervals. The Royal Institute for Science and the Arts in Amsterdam received the first of these 'cronometers'. He officially registered his chronometer on August 14, 1815. Johann Nepomuk Mälzel added a scale to the instrument and had it patented under the name metronome . After a legal dispute, Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel was awarded the invention.

Contemporary newspaper reports

German text from 1845:

"In Germany, Bürja in Berlin, Weisske in Meissen and mainly Stockei in Burg earned merit for this invention in 1801. The last invention was improved by the famous mechanic Mälzel in Vienna, whose fame, however, Winkel in Amsterdam contested by advocating for the inventor Instruments, from now on called Mälzel's metronome. This metronome consists of a metal pendulum on which there is a sliding lead weight, the regulator, which is provided with a screw for fixing. This pendulum is now both freely suspended and through driven by a clockwork, in which latter case it goes without saying that it is considerably more expensive, and does not serve the purpose better than the simple one. The pendulum itself is divided into degrees, the numbers from 50-160 "

Another report from 1870 takes the position that Mälzel's idea was copied. A very detailed treatise can be found in the Allgemeine Musikischen Zeitung of 1818.

Quote from: The Harmonicon. Volume 4, Part 1, William Ayrton, 1826:

"AMSTERDAM. On the 28th September died in this city, M. Winkel, well known for his skill in mechanical science, particularly as applied to music. As a proof of his talents, we need only mention the Componium, or Musical Improvisatore *, which excited great interest amongst connoisseurs, particularly at Paris. Several other specimens of musical mechanism do honor to his talents; but in private life he was modest, and others often obtained credit for inventions which M. Winkel might justly have claimed. The Metronome, usually called Maelzel's, ought to bear the name of Winkel, for the original idea was his; although it is true that Maelzel brought to perfection the instrument which was invented by the Dutch mechanic. —Revue Encyclopidique. "

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Journal for Germany's music associations and amateurs. With the participation of art scholars, artists and amateurs, volumes 4–5, Ferdinand Simon Gassner, 1845, p. 98 (online)
  2. ↑ General music and harmony. Godfr. Löhe, 1870: "It was invented by the mechanic Winkel in Amsterdam, by the court machinist Mälzel zu Vienna, born in Regensburg, who illegally claimed the honor of the invention, made it and put it into circulation." (on-line)
  3. ^ General musical newspaper. Volume 20, 1818, (online)
  4. ^ The Harmonicon. Volume 4, Part 1, William Ayrton - 1826, p. 250 (online)
personal data
SURNAME Winkel, Dietrich Nikolaus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Dutch inventor
DATE OF BIRTH 1777
PLACE OF BIRTH Lippstadt
DATE OF DEATH September 28, 1826
Place of death Amsterdam