Karl Drais

Karl Drais (29 April 1785 – 10 December 1851) was a German inventor, who invented the Laufmaschine ("running machine"), also later called the velocipede, draisine (English) or draisienne (French), also nicknamed the dandy horse. This incorporated the two-wheeler principle that is basic to the bicycle and motorcycle and was the beginning of mechanized personal transport. Drais also invented the earliest typewriter with a keyboard in 1821, later developed into an early stenograph machine, a meat grinder, and a wood-saving cooker using a hay chest.

Karl Drais, baptized Karl Friedrich Christian Ludwig Freiherr (German for Baron) Drais von Sauerbronn, was born on April 29, 1785 to Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig Baron von Drais and Ernestine Christine Margaretha (born Baroness von Kaltenthal) in Karlsruhe, capital of Baden, Germany. While the family was not rich, it was highly influential, Karl's godfather being Karl-Friedrich, the Grand Duke of Baden. He went to school in Karlsruhe, finalized his Lyceum (a secondary school) in 1800 and moved to Pforzheim, joining a private school of forest administration owned by his Uncle Friedrich Heinrich Georg von Drais where he was also a teacher. However, jobs for young forestry officers were rare so he enrolled at The University of Heidelberg where he studied Mathematics, Physics and Architecture until 1805. Eventually he would get his job in forest administration and was named Chief Forester in 1810 but was not yet assigned a commensurate position. He remained until 1811. In 1810, his Father had become the Prime Judge of Baden. In 1811, the younger Drais went "off duty" from active service while still continuing to collect his salary and he went to Mannheim in order to concentrate on inventions. Europe suffered from poor harvests during 1812-1815 and then in 1815, Mount Tambora in Indonesia erupted. The eruption in Indonesia affected the entire world and Europe saw snow all summer long. This drove Drais to focus on a replacement for the horse used for transportation, due to a lack of food, and his subsequent invention in 1817 of the Laufmaschine/Velocipede (running machine).

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