Nikolaus von Kaaden

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Nikolaus von Kaaden , in Czech Mikuláš z Kadaně (* around 1350 in Kadaň , † around 1420 probably in Prague ) was a Bohemian watchmaker and mechanic.

life and work

Memorial plaque for Nikolaus von Kaaden at the town hall in Kaaden

Nikolaus von Kaaden was first mentioned by the imperial watchmaker Martin from Prague, who gave a guarantee in 1376 for “someone” who came to Prague from Kaaden (Czech: Kadaň). Nikolaus von Kaaden is mentioned as the royal clockmaker of Wenceslaus IV as early as 1408 . He was in charge of the then, not yet astronomical , clock from 1402 at the Prague City Hall .

He is considered to be the builder of the new mechanical clockwork of the Prague City Hall Clock and the Astronomical Dial according to the plans of Jan Šindel . At that time he must have been around 60 years old.

According to a document dated October 9, 1410, he was rewarded for his work. The Prague Mayor and City Councilor praised Master Nikolaus von Kaaden for the excellent work. The result of the work is very well documented in writing. The clock is described as an astronomical clock with an astrolabe . As a reward, he received a house at Havelská brána , which stood on the lower part of today's Wenceslas Square . He also received a one-off amount of 3,000 Prague groschen and an additional annual salary of 600 Prague groschen. At the time, this was an extraordinarily high reward. For example: 3,000 Prague groschen were worth 95 cows or 17,500 liters of beer.

His exact life dates are unknown; it is believed that he was born around 1350 and died around 1420, most likely in Prague.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Stanislav Macháček: Nález zprávy o vytvoření Orloje Starého Města r. 1410. in Zprávy Komise pro dějiny přírodních, lékařských a technických věd Československé akademie věd, No. 10, 1962, pp. 21f.
  2. ^ Zdeněk Horský , Emanuel Procházka: Pražský orloj. Acta historiae rerum naturalium nec non technicarum IX, Československá akademie věd, Praha 1964, pp. 84f.
  3. ↑ Petr Král: orloj Pražský. History (czech)
personal data
SURNAME Kaaden, Nikolaus von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Kadaně, Mikuláš z
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian watchmaker and mechanic
DATE OF BIRTH around 1350
PLACE OF BIRTH Kadaň
DATE OF DEATH around 1420
Place of death unsure: Prague