Inspired by British inventions: Joseph von Baader (1763–1835) — a Bavarian engineer fighting a losing battle

Abstract

Bavaria offered little incentives for the new industrial age around 1800. Yet — due to the activities of Joseph von Baader — a touch of the Industrial Revolution reached Bavaria at least marginally. Baader was inspired by extended sojourns in Great Britain where he had visited James Watt’s steam engines, John Wilkinson’s iron works and other industrial sites. Unlike the breeding grounds of the Industrial Revolution in England and Scotland, however, the Bavarian sites and circumstances for implementing new technology were unusual. Baader used the transformation of the baroque Nymphenburg castle park in Munich into the then fashionable English landscape garden as an opportunity to install new pumps for powerful fountain jets. The castle park also served Baader as a proving ground for the demonstration of steam engines, gas light and a new transportation system. However, decades before the advent of the industrial age in Bavaria these technologies remained showcase examples. Baader’s initiatives were all doomed to failure.