Johann Andreas Klindworth (11 November 1742, in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the capital of the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, the population was 118,911. General information The ori ...

– 1813) was an eighteenth-century

mechanic A mechanic is an artisan, skilled tradesperson, or technician who uses tools to build, maintain, or repair machinery, especially cars. Duties Most mechanics specialize in a particular field, such as auto body mechanics, air conditioning an ...

and maker of

astronomical instruments Astronomical instruments include: *Alidade *Armillary sphere * Astrarium *Astrolabe *Astronomical clock *the Antikythera mechanism, an astronomical clock *Blink comparator * Bolometer *the Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant *Celatone *Celestial sphere ...

. He was also the ancestor of a well known and much respected family whose reputation comes up to our present day. He is credited as being the inventor of the month-going regulator of the Seeberg Observatory in

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the Gotha (district), district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine House of Wet ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, made about 1786.

Biography

Despite the poor living conditions of his parents, the young Johann Andreas was able to achieve an extraordinary level of education. Being an extremely talented man, very clever and really useful for anything, he joined the watchmaking industry as an apprentice to his father after he left school. In 1785 he married Friederica Eleonora Diedrich and had three sons, Karl Friedrich Felix Klindworth, who continued his work as a clockmaker, Carl August Klindworth, builder of mathematical, physical and optical instruments, Georg Klindworth, one of the most influential secret diplomats of his time, and daughter Johanna Dorothea Caroline Klindworth. He attended

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1 July 1742 – 24 February 1799) was a German physicist, satirist, and Anglophile. As a scientist, he was the first to hold a professorship explicitly dedicated to experimental physics in Germany. He is remembered for ...

's lectures on physics and on his persuasion, moved on from the watchmaking mechanics to the large electrophorus, which was evidently Klindworth's work by judging from Lichtenberg's letters.In contemporary literature they are always mentioned - Lichtenberg, the inventor, Klindworth, the builder. They almost merge into each other. Klindworth, titular mechanic of the Duke of Gotha, who had been working for Lichtenberg since 1776. He then became his assistant at his experimental lectures until 1791 when he was substituted by Johann Hermann Seyde. He received many orders from abroad, including, among other things, the title of court mechanic from the Duke

Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (Gotha, 30 January 1745 – Gotha, 20 April 1804) was the reigning Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg from 1772 to 1804. He was the third but second surviving son of Frederick III, Duke of Saxe-Gotha-Altenbur ...

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References

1742 births 1813 deaths Scientists from Göttingen German clockmakers 18th-century German inventors {{Germany-engineer-stub

Biography

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