Friedrich von Knauss

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Friedrich von Knauss (born February 7 or April 7, 1724 in Aldingen or Stuttgart , † August 14, 1789 in Vienna , also: Knauss , (von) Knaus and (von) Knauß ) was a German watchmaker, automaton maker and inventor .

Life

His father Ludwig Knaus was also a watchmaker. At the time of the birth of Friedrich von Knaus in Aldingen near Stuttgart, he worked as a schoolmaster, organist and court clerk for the gentlemen of Kaltenthal . Ludwig Johann Knaus, the older brother of Friedrich von Knauss, was born on September 29, 1715 in Hößlinsülz near Heilbronn . Friedrich von Knauss followed his brother into the service of Ludwig VIII of Hessen-Darmstadt . From 1739 to the 1750s he worked at the court in Darmstadt and in 1749 he became court mechanic.

He is later found in the service of Charles of Lorraine , whom he followed from Brussels to Vienna in 1757, where he was appointed high mechanic by Emperor Franz I. In Vienna he set up the physical court cabinet on behalf of Maria Theresa from 1767, of which he later also became director. After falling out of favor with Franz I, Friedrich von Knauss had to leave Vienna. He was only able to return to Vienna after the emperor's death in 1765, where he finally lived and worked until his death.

He was married to Catharina Reutter von Reiterswinkel. With her he had a daughter whom he named after Maria Thersia. He had acquired the title of nobility from himself. At the time of his death he held the title of kk director of the physical and mathematical cabinet at the Hofburg and golden knight, also holy papal and lateranese court palatine count .

plant

Friedrich von Knauss built automats that could play musical instruments, write a few short lines or perform other tasks. Among other things, in 1750 he and his brother designed and built a machine clock in honor of the 10th anniversary of Maria Theresa's enthronement, the so-called Imperial introduction clock .

In 1757 he completed his work on a mechanical music automaton that could play a flageolet . Three years later he created the all or self- writing wonder machine , which was presented to Emperor Franz I on October 4, 1760. This could automatically write 68 Latin characters and wrote a letter in French when it was first performed.

His best-known, albeit ultimately unsuccessful, automaton are the four speaking heads . In 1779 a competition of the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg had the construction of speaking heads that had to be able to pronounce five vowels as the theme. The jury confirmed that the Knauss machine was not working properly.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Peter Wirth: Knaus, Friedrich. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie 12 (1979), pp. 162-163. Retrieved May 1, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b c Constantin von Wurzbach: Knaus, also Knauß, Friedrich von. Biographical lexicon of the Austrian Empire. 12th part. Imperial-Royal Court and State Printing Office, Vienna 1864. P. 139 f. , accessed on May 1, 2020 .
  3. ↑ Peter Wirth: Knaus, Ludwig. In: Neue Deutsche Biographie 12 (1979), p. 163. Retrieved on May 1, 2020 .
  4. ↑ a b Knauss, Friedrich von. In: Hessian biography (as of 7.4.2020). Retrieved May 1, 2020 .
  5. ^ Paul Metzner: Crescendo of the Virtuoso: Spectacle, Skill, and Self-Promotion in Paris during the Age of Revolution . University of California Press, Berkeley 1998. §1.5.1, paragraph 19, and footnotes.
personal data
SURNAME Knauss, Friedrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Knauss, Friedrich von; Knaus Friedrich von; Knauß Friedrich von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German machine builder and inventor
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1724 or April 7, 1724
PLACE OF BIRTH Aldingen or Stuttgart
DATE OF DEATH August 14, 1789
Place of death Vienna