Stephan Farffler (1633 – October 24, 1689), sometimes spelled Stephan Farfler, was a German

watchmaker A watchmaker is an artisan who makes and repairs watches. Since a majority of watches are now factory-made, most modern watchmakers only repair watches. However, originally they were master craftsmen who built watches, including all their part ...

of the seventeenth century whose invention of a manumotive carriage in 1655 is widely considered to have been the first self-propelled

wheelchair A wheelchair is a chair with wheels, used when walking is difficult or impossible due to illness, injury, problems related to old age, or disability. These can include spinal cord injuries ( paraplegia, hemiplegia, and quadriplegia), cerebr ...

. The three-wheeled device is also believed to have been a precursor to the modern-day

tricycle A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle. Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes, ...

and

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

. Farffler, who was either a paraplegic or an

amputee Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indiv ...

, also created a device for turning an hourglass at regular intervals and added chimes to the clocktower of

Altdorf bei Nürnberg Altdorf bei Nürnberg (, ) is a town in south-eastern Germany. It is situated 25 km east of Nuremberg, in the district Nürnberger Land. Its name literally means “Altdorf near Nuremberg”, to distinguish it from other Altdorfs. History A ...

. the German WiKi says: either paraplegic as a result of an accident when aged three years; others describe him as a human with crippled legs Fabian Zilliken: ''Die Evolution des Fahrrads - Von der Laufmaschine zum "Custom(izing)" Artefakt'', 2012
S. 10
/ref> („verkrüppelten“ - which could also mean disfigured or malformed and this might, for onlookers, be an accurate description when, as said, the accident happened at a very young age which would likely impair normal growth of the affected limbs)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farffler, Stephan 17th-century German inventors People with paraplegia German amputees German watchmakers (people) 1633 births 1689 deaths People from Altdorf bei Nürnberg Sustainable transport pioneers

See also

References