The Legend of Bessler’s Wheel or the Orffyreus Wheel and the verifiable facts.
Very Briefly - In 1715 Johann Bessler announced that he had invented a perpetual motion device. To prove the authenticity of his claim, he arranged a number of tests that his machine underwent in public. These tests were designed to be impossible unless the machine was genuine. The device took the form of a wheel attached to an axle. Each end of the axle had a bearing. Each bearing consisted of a brass or steel shaft which sat in an open cradle, lubricated by animal fats. The whole assembly was supported by a pair of wooden pillars.
Tests included lifting the wheel and axle assembly from one pair of pillars to a second set a few steps away. Other tests included raising a heavy weight (approx. 70 lbs) from ground lever to the top of the castle at Hesse Kassel. (approx. 50 feet) An endurance test was arranged where the wheel was locked and sealed in room for 54 days. The wheel was found to be still spinning when the room was reopened. Another test showed that Bessler’s wheel could drive an Archimedes pump. Later on Bessler introduced his bi-directional wheel, able to turn in either direction. Karl approved all the tests and issued a certificate describing the tests. Each certificate was signed by all those present.
If this was all the proof available, some might dismiss the inventor’s claims by assuming some trickery was involved, but every test was accompanied by many spectators; several official tests were carried out by senior officials, mathematicians and well known scientists, including Christian Wolff, Gottfried Leibniz, s’Gravesand, and Friedrick Hoffman.
From the beginning Bessler sought the patronage of a member of the ruling class, one who could be relied upon to be a man of utter integrity and honesty. That man proved to Karl the Landgrave of Hesse Kassel. Before he would offer his patronage, he insisted on verifying for his own satisfaction that the wheel was genuine, this Bessler reluctantly agreed to, and he swore on oath never to reveal the secret of the wheel before the inventor had sold his machine for a large sum of money. Karl published a certificate confirming Bessler’s wheel was genuine.
Bessler never succeeded in selling his machine, probably because the price was too high and the conditions of the sale too harsh to be accepted.
Bessler left many hints that the information about how his wheel worked was encoded in his books. You can read some of the codes I have deciphered at one of my websites at ……….
I have spent more than 50 years of my 80 years researching the history of this man, and the evidence that he was honest is overwhelming. I have supporters from all around the world trying to find the solution to Bessler’s wheel. There is lot of information to be found within the books I’ve listed below. There are some websites which also post the latest discussions on Bessler’s codes.
I think that the more we speculate the more confusion we add. Speculation can sometimes be taken as fact and if more ideas are added, that can compound the problem. I’m not promoting my books as the ultimate source of information on Bessler because there are so many historical documents which remain unexplored due to their poor condition or because they are lost in numerous private libraries. But for now they provide a quick and easy source of information on Johann Bessler and his perpetual motion machine.
* * * * * * * *
Even though I published my biography of Johann Bessler several years ago, the information in it has not altered, because it is based on old documents written more than 300 years ago. There are new additional facts which need to be added at some point but they are details about his later life and although of interest do not impinge on the history of his perpetual motion machine. There are also Bessler’s own books which he published which cover his life in his own words and provide much information. The only other thing relevant to his story which I didn’t publish are two critiques written by his enemy, Christian Wagner and they are freely available in English at my main website, see below.
In the left panel, click on either of the two buttons which say,
“Wagner’s Critique 1” and “Wagner’s Critique 2”
____________________________________________________________________
What follows is a list of my books, all but my biography were originally produced by Bessler to which I added a full English translation. The books are available in both hard copy and also as a digital PDF file. The digital file allows easy searches for words and names.
I hope that people will continue to use these books as a source of accurate information in their journey of discovery to find the solution to Bessler’s wheel.
* * * * * *
1) “Perpetual Motion: An Ancient Mystery Solved?” View the synopsis for details of the book’s contents at my web site. http://www.free-energy.co.uk/html/synopsis.html. Briefly it is an account taken from of every document relating to Bessler that I could find from files held in museums around the world, researched and translated.
Buy Now
___________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________
3) “Das Triumphans Perpetuum Mobile “- this was Bessler’s most professionally finished book. It was written in both German and Latin and this edition is a faithful reproduction of the actual pages of the original book. It also includes a full English translation at the rear. A number of drawings are included by the original author and these are said to contain a number of clues as to his machine’s workings.
______________________________________________________________________
4) “Gruendlicher Bericht” - this was Bessler’s first publication, ostensibly produced by a friend although I think one can detect Bessler’s handiwork in places. This copy is also in the original German and includes a full English translation at the rear. It also includes the very first drawing which Bessler published and this also contains clues to the way his machine worked.
______________________________________________________________
5) “Maschinen Tractate” - this was found in the Bessler’s possessions after his death, in the form of a number of pages (141) and which contained a message on the front of the volume which stated that he had removed the drawings which depicted how his machine worked but that some one with a penetrating mind could, by studying several drawings, ultimately discover the secret of its construction. I have reproduced the drawings as they were found. I included his handwritten notes with the best translation I could obtain, since the writing is very hard to read.
________________________________________________________________
JC
Copyright © 2026 John Collins.
No comments:
New comments are not allowed.