Albrecht Berblinger: The Flying Tailor of Ulm

Albrecht Berblinger was an early aviation pioneer who is best known for designing a hang glider, nearly four decades before British inventor George Cayley sent his butler flying 900 feet across a Brompton dale. However, unlike George Cayley and dozens of aviation enthusiasts before and after him, Berblinger wasn’t successful in his demonstration. Instead, he splashed into the Danube river and the failure practically destroyed his career. Albrecht Berblinger was born in 1770 in Ulm, Germany, to a poor family. His father worked in the armory of the Free Imperial City of Ulm, and through him, young Berblinger came into contact with all kinds of mechanical equipment. When he was 13, Berblinger’s father died and he was sent to an orphanage. There, he was forced to start an apprenticeship as a tailor. Berblinger excelled in his craft, becoming a master tailor at the age of 21. But his passion was mechanics. An old postcard depicting Albrecht Berblinger’s failed attempt to fly. Photo: Wikimedia In 1808, when a soldier lost a leg, Berblinger built him a prosthesis with a movable knee joint. The doctors at the city hospital were impressed by this invention, and in 1809 Berblinger asked the Bavarian king for a patent. But his request was rejected. The setback did not discourage Berblinger. Instead, he devoted himself to the boldest of all schemes—to fly in the air. Berblinger began developing a flying machine despite mocking he received from the people, and threats to expel him from the guild of tailors. He ignored these threats and put all of his income into the process, and continued to build his craft, eventually designing a hang glider capable of short flights. He secretly carried out his flight experiments in the vineyards on the Michelsberg in Ulm, using the vineyard walls and cottages as his launch points.