Johann (Hans)
Hautsch

Compass maker, inventor, engraver?, baptized January 4, 1595, Nuremberg – died January 20, buried January 30, 1670, Nuremberg. Son of Anton. Married June 25, 1621, to Magdalena Flexlein; they had seven sons and two daughters. Among his inventions were a mobile chair for gout sufferers and a mechanical carriage whose enclosed canopy concealed four men, whose strength propelled the carriage. To prevent onlookers from obstructing the carriage, he mounted the head of a carved dragon that could spout water. Two angels blowing trumpets announced the vehicle's approach from a distance. One such carriage was sold to the Swedish Crown Prince in 1649, a second to the King of Denmark (illustration in Doppelmayr, Plate IV). In 1664, Hautsch traveled to Denmark with his products, which the king purchased for 1500 florins; these included a mechanical dollhouse with over 100 individual movements of the figures. In 1665, he supplied King Louis XIV of France with a battle scene featuring approximately 462 movable silver soldiers and simulated battle sounds as teaching material for his son. The figures were made by Johann Jacob Wolrab, and the mechanism was installed by Hautsch. The silver army was melted down in 1690. He also invented a fire engine. He advertised his inventions, in which his sons later participated, through leaflets; he appears to have engraved the illustrations himself. He owned several houses, including one on Herrenschießgraben (Grübelstraße) and another in Judengasse. In 1643, he acquired a property in the old Ledergasse (Tucherstraße 53, a courtyard complex with an outbuilding, courtyard, commercial spaces, garden, and a well). Panzer recorded his portrait. Hautschstraße in Nuremberg was named after him. Music: Nuremberg, Germanisches Nationalmuseum (GNM). –, Museum of Nuremberg History (MStN): Engravings. Literature: ADB; Doppelmayr, 1730; C. G. Müller, 1791, p. 160; Hampe, 1924; Ernst Hautsch: The Nuremberg Compass Maker Johann Hautsch and His Inventions, in: MVGN 46, 1955, pp. 533–556; Philippovich, in: MVGN 49, 1959; Abeler, Museum of Nuremberg History (MdU), p. 262; City Lexicon 2000; Kohn, NHb Sebald. Exhibition: 2002/1. (quoted from the Nuremberg Artists' Lexicon, edited by Manfred H. Grieb)Feedback geben