Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger (24 June 1770 – 28 January 1829), also known as the Tailor of Ulm, was a German inventor and craftsman. He is famous for having constructed a working heavier-than-air flying machine, presumably a

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised, fixed-wing heavier-than-air aircraft called a hang glider. Most modern hang gliders are made of an aluminium alloy or composite frame covered ...

Early life

Berblinger was the seventh child of a poor family. When he was 13, his father died and he was sent to an orphanage. There he was forced to become a tailor; although he wanted to become a watchmaker. He became a

master craftsman Historically, a master craftsman or master tradesman (sometimes called only master or grandmaster) was a member of a guild. The title survives as the highest professional qualification in craft industries. In the European guild#organization, gui ...

at 21, but he still was interested in mechanics. In his spare time in 1808, he invented an

artificial limb In medicine, a prosthesis (: prostheses; from ), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through physical trauma, disease, or a condition present at birth (congenital disorder). Prosthe ...

with a moveable joint for a soldier who had lost a leg.

Flight attempts

One of Berblinger's inventions was considered to be an early

. He worked on it for years, improving it by watching the flight of owls. He was derided by many, and he was threatened with exclusion from the

guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular territory. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradespeople belonging to a professional association. They so ...

. He was ordered to pay a large fine for working outside of the guild, and the project cost him a considerable sum of money. King

Frederick I of Württemberg Frederick I (Frederick William Charles, ; 6 November 1754 – 30 October 1816) was the ruler of Württemberg from 1797 to his death. He was the last Duke of Württemberg from 1797 to 1803, then the first and only Elector of Württemberg from ...

became interested in his work and sponsored him with 20

Louis Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

. On the 30th May 1811, he tried to demonstrate the glider in the presence of the king, his three sons, and the crown prince of Bavaria. The king and a large number of citizens waited for the flight, but Berblinger cancelled it, claiming that a wing was damaged. The next day he made a second attempt from a higher location – the Adlerbastei (''Eagles Bastion''). The King had left, but his brother Duke Heinrich and the princes stayed to watch. Berblinger waited for a long time for a gust of wind. Eventually, a policeman gave him a push, and Berblinger fell into the Donau (''Danube''). Other accounts of this incident omit the policeman and contend that the cold Donau (Danube) and the temperature differential over it prevented the glider from lifting. He survived and was rescued by fishermen, but his reputation was ruined as a result, and his work suffered. He was 58 years old when he died in a hospital. The story of the tailor who tried to fly subsequently resulted in some fleer and allusions in publications of the 19th century.

Wilhelm Busch Heinrich Christian Wilhelm Busch (14 April 1832 – 9 January 1908) was a German humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter. He published wildly innovative illustrated tales that remain influential to this day. Busch drew on the tropes of f ...

drew a man falling into a stream in his picture story "

Max and Moritz ''Max and Moritz: A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks'' (original: ''Max und Moritz – Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen'') is a German language illustrated story in verse. It was written and illustrated by Wilhelm Busch and published in 186 ...

", a reference to Berblinger's failed flight. It was not until the end of the century that

Otto Lilienthal Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (23 May 1848 – 10 August 1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". He was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders, therefore making t ...

proved the feasibility of heavier-than-air flight.

Reception

* A reconstruction of Berblinger's flying device (in the form of a pair of wings) can be seen in the Ulm Rathaus (''City Hall'') suspended above the stairwell near the Standesamt (''Registrary'') where civil weddings are held. There is also another reconstruction of the glider at the ground level of building B in the Fachhochschule (''University of Applied Science'') Ulm. * In 1986 it was proven that Berblinger's glider was capable of sustained flight, but it was almost impossible to cross the Danube, even with most modern gliders. *

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known as Bertolt Brecht and Bert Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a p ...

wrote a ballad about Berblinger in 1934. * A commemorative medal was issued in 1928 depicting the event. * The German Academy of Aviation Medicine (now the European School of Aviation Medicine) named an annual award for young scientists in his honor.

External links

"Adlerbastei (Eagles Bastion)", iTravelnet - Where Berblinger launched from.

Notes

berblinger.ulm.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berblinger, Albrecht 1770 births 1829 deaths German aviation pioneers Aviation inventors Engineers from Ulm German tailors 19th-century German inventors People from Ulm 19th-century tailors