Heinrich Göbel

Heinrich Göbel, later Henry Goebel (April 20, 1818 – December 4, 1893), born in Springe, Germany, was a precision mechanic and inventor. In 1848 he emigrated to New York City, where he resided until his death. He received American citizenship in 1865.

In 1893, magazines and newspapers reported 25 years earlier, Göbel had developed incandescent light bulbs comparable to those invented in 1879 by Thomas Alva Edison. Göbel did not apply for a patent.

In 1893, the Edison Electric Light Company sued three manufacturers of incandescent lamps for infringing Edison´s patent. The defense of these companies claimed the Edison patent was void because of the same invention by Göbel 25 years earlier, which came to be known as the "Göbel defense".

Judges of four courts raised doubts; there was no clear and convincing proof for the claimed invention. A research work published in 2007 concluded that the Goebel-Defense was fraudulent.

After Göbel's death, in some countries, the legend arose he was the true inventor of the practical incandescent light bulb.

On April 20, 1818, Heinrich Göbel was born in Springe near Hanover in Germany. His father, Heinrich Christian Göbel, was a gardener and later a door-to-door salesman for chocolate. The name of his mother was Marie Eleonore née Hüper. At that time Springe was a small village in the Kingdom of Hanover with less than 2.000 inhabitants. Most of them worked in agriculture.

Heinrich Göbel finished school in 1832 with poor maarks. One teacher commented, "He seems to have an inventive mind. The reasons of the poor marks appear to be in his lengthy illness."

In 1834, master locksmith Gerhard Linde of Springe took on Göbel as an apprentice for three years. It is not known whether Göbel finished this apprenticeship.

Göbel he started to work as a repair mechanic in 1837. Later in New York, he gave 1837 as the foundation date of his business.

In 1844, Göbel married Sophie Lübke née Rodewig. In the documents, he gave watchmaker as his profession at that time. There are no sources to confirm a training as watchmaker. Probably Göbel learned by doing and did work comparable to a precision mechanic. He operated a one-person business repairing clocks. His son Johann Carl was born 1846, and his daughter Marie Sophie in 1848.

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