Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach
| Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach | |
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By Friedrich Hohe after Joseph Karl Stieler (c. 1825)
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| Born | 24 August 1771 Durlach, Baden, Germany |
| Died | 21 May 1826 (aged 54) Munich, Germany |
| Occupation | Scientific instrument maker |
Georg Friedrich von Reichenbach (24 August 1771 – 21 May 1826), German scientific instrument maker, was born at Durlach in Baden on 24 August 1771.
Reichenbach's father was a master mechanic, and a master cannon-borer, who moved to Mannheim when Reichenbach was two, and became manager of the cannon-boring works there. At 14 Georg was admitted to the Military School at Mannheim where he got to know the astronomer at the Mannheim Observatory. He received a knowledge of mathematical instruments and was inspired to try to construct similar instruments in his father's workshop. The Director of the Observatory sent a sextant made by Reichenbach to Count Rumford.
When he was 19, Reichenbach received a grant of 500 gulden for a journey to London, and introductions to the engineers James Watt and Matthew Boulton. Reichenbach's first visit to England lasted from 1 June 1791 to January 1792, when he returned home for a short time before returning to England. He made drawings of Watt's steam engine despite Watt's attempts to keep it secret from him and also worked as an engineer in English ironworks and studied English instrument making.
He returned home in May 1793 and attempted improvements in the military workshops in Mannheim and Munich, with the help of his father.
In 1796 he moved to Munich where he began making his famous scientific instruments, including a dividing engine, in between carrying out military work, which included the invention of a breech-loading rifle which however did not prove popular.
In 1804, with Joseph Liebherr and Joseph Utzschneider, he founded an instrument making business in Munich and from 1807 onwards he was occupied more and more with the technical problems involved in making scientific instruments, in 1809 establishing with Joseph Fraunhofer and Utzschneider, optical works at Benediktbeuern, which were later moved to Munich in 1823.
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