Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger (24 June 1770 – 28 January 1829), also known as the Tailor of Ulm, is famous for having constructed a working

flying machine Early flying machines include all forms of aircraft studied or constructed before the development of the modern aeroplane by 1910. The story of modern flight begins more than a century before the first successful manned aeroplane, and the earl ...

, presumably a

hang glider Hang gliding is an air sport or recreational activity in which a pilot flies a light, non-motorised foot-launched 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 system, only mas ...

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

artificial limb In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...

with a joint.

Flight attempts

One of Berblinger's inventions was what appears to be a

. He worked on it for years, improving it and watching the flight of owls. People made fun of him 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 area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometimes ...

. He was ordered to pay a large fine for working outside of the guild. Nevertheless, he invested his whole income in his project. King

Frederick I of Württemberg , image = Seele-Friedrich I..jpg , caption = Portrait by Johann Baptist Seele , birth_date = , birth_place = Treptow an der Rega, Prussia (now Trzebiatów, Poland) , death_date = , death_place = Stuttgart, Kingdom of Württem ...

became interested in his work and sponsored him with 20

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

. He tried to demonstrate the glider on the evening of 30 May 1811 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 canceled it, claiming that his glider was damaged. The next day he made a second attempt from a higher location – the Adlerbastei (''Eagles Bastion''). The King had left by this time, but his brother Duke Heinrich and the princes stayed to watch. Berblinger waited so long for a good wind that a policeman finally gave him a push and Berblinger fell into the Donau (''Danube''). Other versions of this account have no mention of the policeman and claim that the difference in temperature over the cold Donau (Danube) limited thermal updrafts and therefore, the glider failed to lift. 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. When

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. This highly inventive, blackly humorous tale, told entirely in rhym ...

", he could count on some awareness of his readers. 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 ...

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 in 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 professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

wrote a ballad about Berblinger in 1934. * A commemorative medal was issued in 1928 depicting the event.

External links

Adlerbastei (Eagles Bastion) - Where Berblinger launched from.

Notes

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