Karl Drais

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Karl Drais ca 1820, then still a baron

Karl Drais (April 29, 1785 – December 10, 1851) was a German inventor and invented the Laufmaschine ("running machine"), also later called the velocipede, draisine (English) or "draisienne" (French), or nick-named, dandy horse. This incorporated the two-wheeler principle that is basic to the bicycle and motorcycle and meant the beginning of mechanized personal transport. He also invented an early stenograph machine.

[edit] Biography

Karl Drais was born in Karlsruhe, with the aristocratic title Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Christian Ludwig, Freiherr Drais von Sauerbronn, but as he was a democrat, he did not use his title. His father was the chief judge of Baden, Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig von Drais. His mother was Margarete Ernestine von Kaltenthal. The Margrave of Baden at that time, Carl Friedrich von Baden, was one of Karl's godfathers.

From 1803 to 1805, Drais studied architecture, agriculture and physics at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg.

He joined the civil service as forestry official and in 1810 received the title of a chief forest ranger, but was not yet assigned an adequate position. One year later he was suspended from active service, but continued to receive his salary so that he could devote more time to his inventions.

Drais' most influential invention was the velocipede, the earliest form of a two-wheeler - without pedals. His first reported ride from Mannheim to Rheinau (now a section of Mannheim) took place on June 12, 1817. In the same year, he undertook a second trip from Gernsbach to Baden-Baden.

On January 12, 1818, Drais was awarded a Großherzogliches Privileg, similar to our modern patent (Baden had no patent law at that time). In addition, he was appointed Professor of Mechanics by Grand Duke Karl Friedrich. This was merely an honorary title and not related to any university or other institution. At the same time, he retired from the civil service and continued to receive his salary as a kind of inventor's pension.

From 1822 to 1825, Drais joined a German expedition to Brazil, headed by Georg Heinrich von Langsdorff.

It has been posited that the 1816 Year Without a Summer, with its effects on horses and resulting problems with transportation, may have been one reason for Drais's invention of the velocipede.[1]

He died in his hometown of Karlsruhe in 1851.

[edit] Bibliography

Hans-Erhard Lessing Automobilität – Karl Drais und die unglaublichen Anfänge. Leipzig: Maxime Verlag 2003. (comprehensive, also political re-appraisal of Drais from new sources)
Keizo Kobayashi: Histoire du vélocipède de Drais à Michaux 1817-1870: Mythes et réalités. Tokyo: Bicycle culture center 1993. (Drais chapters dated)
Hermann Ebeling Der Freiherr von Drais: das tragische Leben des "verrückten Barons". Ein Erfinderschicksal im Biedermeier. Karlsruhe: Braun, 1985. (80% disproved by Lessing)
Heinz Schmitt Karl Friedrich Drais von Sauerbronn: 1785-1851 ; ein badischer Erfinder; Ausstellung zu seinem 200. Geburtstag; Stadtgeschichte im Prinz-Max-Palais, Karlsruhe, 9. März-26. Mai 1985; Städt. Reiss-Museum Mannheim, 5. Juli-18. August 1985. Karlsruhe: Stadtarchiv, 1985. (exhibition catalog)
Michael Rauck Karl Freiherr Drais von Sauerbronn: Erfinder und Unternehmer (1785 - 1851). Stuttgart: Steiner 1983. (Drais' personal file completely reprinted; priority hoaxes still believed)