Leonhard
Danner

* 1497 or 1507 Nuremberg? – † 1585 Nuremberg,

Grave No. 806 in the Rochus Cemetery, epitaph dated 1585, still extant. 

Brother of Hans. ∞ I) Sabina († March 1555; II) July 23, 1555, Dorothea Bernhart. Nothing is known about his apprenticeship and journeyman years. In 1540, he applied for Nuremberg citizenship and was initially self-employed. In 1554, he entered the service of the city; in the same year, he served as an advisor and fortification engineer to Elector August I of Saxony and Ottheinrich of the Palatinate. In 1550, he invented the breaching screw, which could be used to breach fortress walls up to 4 meters thick and was successfully tested on a Nuremberg tower wall in 1558. In 1555, he was permitted to supply a crowbar to Emperor Charles V in Antwerp. He manufactured large lifting devices, built a steel balance (1562), and a wire-drawing lathe for the Elector of Saxony (1557-60). He also designed a brass spindle for printing presses that required only half the force, as well as a device for stamping wooden game pieces. In 1582, he received an imperial privilege for a wood-saving device he had invented. He was probably also active as an engraver and plaque maker. A series of plaques depicting the parable of the prodigal son, based on a woodcut series by Sebald Beham, monogrammed "LD," is attributed to him. In 1555, Danner lived in Breite Gasse. A medal was struck in 1561 showing him at the age of 54. Panzer recorded his portrait.

MuS: ÉCOUEN, Musée de la Renaissance: Wire drawing bench, breaker screw (ill. in cat. 2002/1).

Lit.: NDB; AKL; Doppelmayr, 1730; Imhoff II, 1782, p. 704; C. G. Müller, 1791, p. 162; Roth, 1802, p. 97; GNM A, 1896, p. 100; Habich, Schaumünzen; MVGN 43, 1952, p. 66; Burger, 1972 no. 5274; Abeler, MdU, p. 124; KDM Nuremberg, 1977; Maué, 1987, pp. 236–239; Rochuskirchhof, 1989, pp. 72–73. Zahn, DI-N, II No. 1691.

Exhibition: 2002/1, p. 136, note 29. 

(quoted from the Nuremberg Artists' Lexicon, edited by Manfred H. Grieb)