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[Page
1] |
 Welcome to the guests by the HNF manager Norbert Ryska within a worthy setting |
The
evening of March 25th, 2004 at the Paderborn Heinz
Nixdorf MuseumsForum (HNF) was not only a definite highlight for
chess historians as the world’s largest computer museum presented
for the first time an operative reproduction of the Turk to the astonished
audience. I found it nice that this "reincarnation" was
given a worthy setting - congratulations to the organizer! After an introduction by the HNF manager, Mr. Norbert Ryska the official speaker of the evening, Prof. Ernst Strouhal from the University of Applied Art in Vienna could get more than 400 spectators in the right mood for the historico-cultural background of this "automaton" and his brilliant creator, the Austrian public servant Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734-1804). |
| (This
lecture is mainly given in KARL issue 4/2002 – thanks to the
editorial staff, particularly to our member Johannes Fischer that
this article is now to be found in the Internet – see KARL
online).  |
 Ernst Strouhal giving his lecture on an interesting minor figure of history, the Austrian court counsellor Wolfgang von Kempelen (born in Bratislava) and his creations as well as other "androids" of that time. |
 The Turk ... |
 ... and his architect Wolfgang von Kempelen |
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The famous trio of androids by the mechanic and clockmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-07-28 to 1790-11-28) is a real marvel, it was created about 1774 at La Chaux-de-Fonds and is now in the Musée d’art et d’histoire at Neuchâtel. The organ player (picture on the left) simulated breathing and looked in turns at the notes, her hands and the audience. She is able to play five different pieces especially composed for her. The writer (picture above) is able to write any text of up to 40 characters. The third android, a draughtsman produces four different drawings. Something more detailed is Henner Schneider in Wissenschaftliche Grundlagen: reale und abstrakte Automaten, section Die Androiden der Jaquet-Droz (pdf-file; in German only) (source: Internet) The bilingual website of Philippe Sayous is completely devoted to the androids and automatons of the 18th century: The androids and artificial animals website (in French/English)
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