Salomon Idler (11 February 1610 in

Cannstatt Bad Cannstatt, also called Cannstatt (until July 23, 1933) or Kannstadt (until 1900), is one of the outer stadtbezirke, or city boroughs, of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Bad Cannstatt is the oldest and most populous of Stuttgart's b ...

– probably 1669 in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the '' ...

) was a German shoemaker, who is best known for his attempt to become an

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot ...

pioneer.

Biography

Idler was a shoemaker in Augsburg, who also had several other interests. He was also known as a poet and actor. He was married two times. Idler dreamed of flying, and constructed a set of wings that he would ride while hanging suspended from his arms. He made one attempt at flying, originally planning on launching himself from the

Perlachturm The 70-metre-tall Perlachturm is a belltower in front of the church of St. Peter am Perlach in the central district of Augsburg, Germany. It originated as a watchtower in the 10th century. The existing Renaissance structure was built in the 1610 ...

, a 70-meter tower in the center of Augsburg, but the clergyman was able to convince him to start at a lower level. In the attempt he was unable to control his descent, and fell onto a bridge. He survived, but four chickens under the bridge were killed when it collapsed. After his abortive attempt, Idler became known as "der fliegende Schuster" (the flying Shoemaker). A street near the

University of Augsburg The University of Augsburg (german: Universität Augsburg) is a university located in the Universitätsviertel section of Augsburg, Germany. It was founded in 1970 and is organized in 8 Faculties. The University of Augsburg is a relatively you ...

is named after him.
booked.net website Idler's attempt is fictionalized in the novel ''Der Teufelsvogel des Solomon Idler'' (Solomon Idler's Satanic Bird) by Peter Dempf (, 2000).

References

17th-century German inventors 1610 births 1669 deaths {{Germany-engineer-stub