Ken Spiro

Seven Surprising Jewish Inventions of the 19^th Century

By Ken Spiro

The Jewish drive to innovate is as old as the Jewish people itself.  It started with Abraham, 3,700 years ago, when he introduced humanity to arguably the most transformative idea in history-one God and it continues until today.  We see it in Jewish Noble Prize winners who account for 22% of the total since 1901 despite being only .2% of the world’s population and we see it in the “Start-Up Nation” – Israel, the most innovative country per capita in the world.  It has always been there, but for many centuries it was much more difficult to see. Exile, persecution, and discrimination suppressed the innovative spirit of the Jewish people for centuries, but it never disappeared.

The emancipation of Jews in Europe began in the late 18th century with the passage of laws granting Jews civil rights and legal equality with other citizens. These laws granted Jews the right to practice their religion, to work in most professions, and to own property. The process of emancipation was gradual, and in some countries, such as Germany where emancipation began after the Napoleonic wars in 1812, it was not completed until the late 19th century.  Jews were finally allowed to enter professions, study in universities and engage in trades that had previously been closed to them. This newfound freedom unleashed a wave of creative energy and entrepreneurial spirit among Western European Jews, leading many of them to pursue ambitious projects and inventions.

The 19th century saw a surge in innovation and invention, with many world-changing ideas and technologies being created. Germany was particularly well-represented in this field, producing some of the era’s most influential inventors. While Germany is known for its many great inventors, what is less well-known is the significant number of German-Jewish inventors who made important contributions to the world. Here are seven that you have probably never heard of.

One of the most influential German-Jewish inventors of the 19th century was Heinrich Rudolf Hertz (1856-1894), the scientist who first proved the existence of electromagnetic waves. His work laid the groundwork for the development of wireless communication, and he is widely regarded as the father of modern radio. Hertz-the unit of frequency for sound waves derives its name from him.

Karl Wilhelm Otto Lilienthal (1848 –1896) was a German pioneer of aviation who became known as the "flying man". Lilienthal began experimenting with gliders in 1891 and was the first person to make well-documented, repeated, successful flights with gliders.  He was also the first person to control the flight path of a glider by changing the angle of the wings, using a hip cradle and a tail rudder. He set a world record with a flight of 225 feet in 1896. Lilienthal's legacy is still seen today in modern aviation. He designed and built many different types of gliders, all of which were used in the development of modern aircraft.

Siegfried Marcus was another influential German-Jewish inventor and is credited with inventing the first automobile powered by an internal combustion engine. His designs and prototypes were developed between 1864 and 1888. He was the first to use a carburetor and the electric spark plug, and he developed a four-stroke engine. He also patented several improvements to the internal combustion engine, making it more efficient and reliable. His inventions had a great influence on the development of the modern automobile.

Emile Berliner (1851 –1929) was a German-born American-Jewish engineer and inventor who developed the first flat disc record, the gramophone record. He is also credited as the inventor of the microphone. Berliner also developed a system of sound-on-film recording that was the basis for the modern movie sound system. He was awarded over 50 patents in his lifetime including the rotary engine and a prototype helicopter.

Arthur Eichengrün (1867-1949) was a German-Jewish chemist and the inventor of aspirin, the world’s most commonly used drug.  He discovered the pain-relieving properties of acetylsalicylic acid in 1897. He also created a process for synthesizing the compound, which was later used in 1899 by the Bayer Company to commercially mass-produce aspirin.

David Schwartz (1817–1892) was a Hungarian-born German-Jewish engineer and inventor. He is most famous for his invention of the steerable, rigid airship (dirigible) and the use of a rigid metallic frame. His invention was an important step toward the development of modern airships, and he is credited with being the first to construct and fly an airship with a rigid frame.

Finally, there was Heinrich Gustav Magnus (1802–1870), a German-Jewish  chemist and physicist who made important contributions to the field of magnetism. He is credited with discovering the law of magnetism, and his work was instrumental in the development of the electric motor and generator. His research had a major influence on the development of electrical engineering.

There are many more than just these five, but the question is, why are they so unknown? There are multiple reasons. Despite emancipation, many German-Jewish scientists faced significant restrictions in 19th-century Germany. They were denied membership in professional associations, barred from teaching positions at universities and excluded from government laboratories.  Several of them suffered from poor health and died young before they could further develop, patent, or monetize their inventions. With the Nazi rise to power in 1933, many were simply erased from history.

Heinrich Hertz died at age 36 from a surgical complication and was unable to benefit commercially from his discovery.  The man who did that with the radio was Guglielmo Marconi.

Otto Lilienthal was killed in a glider crash at the age of 48, but the Wright brothers, who made the first controlled flight of a powered aircraft in 1903 cited Lilienthal as a major source of inspiration.

The Nazis removed Siegfried Marcus from German encyclopedias as the inventor of the modern car and replaced with the names of Gottlieb Daimler and Carl Benz who also played major roles in the development of the automobile.

Emile Berliner immigrated to the US at age 19. Although he lost a patent battle over telephone technology to Thomas Edison, he had a successful career as a researcher and entrepreneur.

The Nazis also made it impossible for Arthur Eichengrün to contest the claim of Felix Hoffman, another chemist who worked for Bayer, that he had invented aspirin,  Eichengrün  first wrote about being robbed of the credit for his discovery in a letter he sent from the Theresienstadt concentration camp in 1944. 

Today when we think of airships, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin comes to mind, but the idea originated with David Schwartz who dropped dead of a heart attack at 44.

These five German-Jewish inventors are classic examples of the Jewish innovative spirit. They made important contributions to the world in the 19th century. Their inventions changed the way people communicated, traveled, and generated electricity, and their influence can still be felt today. 

# posted by The View from Jerusalem @ 7/13/2023