Albrecht Berblinger

Albrecht Ludwig Berblinger (24 June 1770 – 28 January 1829), also known as the Tailor of Ulm, was a German inventor and craftsman. He is famous for having constructed a working heavier-than-air flying machine, presumably a hang glider.

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 at 21, but he still was interested in mechanics. In his spare time in 1808, he invented an artificial limb with a moveable joint for a soldier who had lost a leg.

Flight attempts

One of Berblinger's inventions was considered to be an early hang glider. He worked on it for years, improving it by watching the flight of owls. He was derided by many, and he was threatened with exclusion from the guild. He was ordered to pay a large fine for working outside of the guild, and the project cost him a considerable sum of money. The King had left, but his brother Duke Heinrich and the princes stayed to watch. Berblinger waited for a long time for a gust of wind. Eventually, a policeman gave him a push, and Berblinger fell into the Donau (Danube). Other accounts of this incident omit the policeman and contend that the cold Donau (Danube) and the temperature differential over it prevented the glider from lifting. 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 German Academy of Aviation Medicine (now the European School of Aviation Medicine) named an annual award for young scientists in his honor.