Friedrich von Knauss

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Friedrich von Knaus(s) (February 7, 1724, Aldingen, or April 7, Ludwigsburg^[1] - August 14, 1789 Vienna) was a German watchmaker and inventor who built clockwork mechanisms which could, in a simple way, play musical instruments, write short phrases, or conduct other individual, specialized tasks. His father, Ludwig Knaus, was also a watchmaker. Friedrich had a brother, Ludwig Johann, whose year of birth is said to have been 1715 or 1716.

From 1739 into the 1750's, von Knauss was busy with the Darmstadt great duke's court, and in 1749 he became "Hofmechaniker", Imperal and Royial Court Mechanician. Together with his brother he produced the famous Kaiserliche Vorstellungsuhr (the Imperial Representation Watch) in 1750, commemorating the tenth anniversary of Maria Theresia's rise to the throne^[2]. In 1757, he completed work on a mechanical musician that played the flageolet, a kind of recorder.^[3] Some of his most famous constructs were four mechanical speaking heads in 1770; however, they were not very successful. A contest for mechanicians and organ manufacturers held in 1779 in Russia attests to their lack of success, in that the contest, held by the Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg, used the production of a speaking head as the theme, and specified that the machine be capable of speaking the five vowels.

In 1778, Knauss was requested as a captain to the artillery of Vienna.^[1]

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Entry about Johann von Knauss at German watchmaker website.
2. ^ Entry about Friedrich's brother, Ludwig Johann, at German watchmaker website.
3. ^ Metzner, Paul. Crescendo of the Virtuoso: Spectacle, Skill, and Self-Promotion in Paris during the Age of Revolution. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1998 1998. §1.5.1, paragraph 19, as well as footnotes. Available online here.