The True Story of Johann Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine.

On 6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had succeeded in designing and building a perpetual motion machine. For more than fourteen years he exhibited his machine and allowed people to thoroughly examine it. Following advice from the famous scientist, Gottfried Leibniz, who was able to examine the device, he devised a number of demonstrations and tests designed to prove the validity of his machine without giving away the secret of its design.

Karl the Landgrave of Hesse permitted Bessler to live, work and exhibit his machine at the prince's castle of Weissenstein. Karl was a man of unimpeachable reputation and he insisted on being allowed to verify the inventor's claims before he allowed Bessler to take up residence. This the inventor reluctantly agreed to and once he had examined the machine to his own satisfaction Karl authorised the publication of his approval of the machine. For several years Bessler was visited by numerous people of varying status, scientists, ministers and royalty. Several official examinations were carried out and each time the examiners concluded that the inventor's claims were genuine.

Over several years Karl aged and it was decided that the inventor should leave the castle and he was granted accommodation in the nearby town of Karlshafen. Despite the strong circumstantial evidence that his machine was genuine, Bessler failed to secure a sale and after more than thirty years he died in poverty. His death came after he fell from a windmill he had been commissioned to build. The windmill was an interesting design using a vertical axle which allowed it to benefit from winds from any directions. 

He had asked for a huge sum of money for the secret of his perpetual motion machine, £20,000 which was an amount only affordable by kings and princes, and although many were interested, none were prepared to agree to the terms of the deal. Bessler required that he be given the money and the buyer take the machine without viewing the internal workings. Those who sought to purchase the wheel, for that was the form the machine took, insisted that they see the secret mechanism before they parted with the money. Bessler feared that once the design was known the buyers could simply walk away knowing how to build his machine and he would get nothing for his trouble.


I became curious about the legend of Bessler’s Wheel, while still in my teens, and have spent most of my life researching the life of Johann Bessler (I’m now 77). I obtained copies of all his books and had them translated into English and self-published them, in the hope that either myself or someone else might solve the secret and present it to the world in this time of pollution, global warming and increasingly limited energy resources.

Not long after I was able to read the English translations of his books, I became convinced that Bessler had embedded a number of clues in his books. These took the form of hints in the text, but also in a number of drawings he published. Subsequently I found suggestions by the author that studying his books would reveal more information about his wheel.


For some ideas about Bessler’s code why not visit my web sites at 

http://www.theorffyreuscode.com/

Take a look at my work on his “Declaration of Faith” at 

http://www.orffyreus.net/

Also please view my video at 

https://youtu.be/5BWVKtpuzn0

It gives a brief account both the legend and some more detail about some of the codes.

The problem of obtaining a fair reward for all his hard work was anticipated by Bessler and he took extraordinary measures to ensure that his secret was safe, but he encoded all the information needed to reconstruct the machine in a small number of books that he published. He implied that he was prepared to die without selling the secret and that he believed that posthumous acknowledgement was preferable to being robbed of his secret while he yet lived.


It has recently become clear that Bessler had a huge knowledge of the history of codes and adopted several completely different ones to disguise information within his publications. I have made considerable advances in deciphering his codes and I am confident that I have the complete design.


Johann Bessler published three books, and digital copies of these with English translations may be obtained from the links to the right of this blog. In addition there is a copy of his unpublished document containing some 141 drawings - and my own account of Bessler’s life is also available from the links. It is called "Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?" 

Bessler's three published books are entitled "Grundlicher Bericht", "Apologia Poetica" and "Das Triumphirende...". I have called Bessler's collection of 141 drawings “Maschinen Tractate”, but it was originally found in the form of a number of loosely collected drawings of perpetual motion designs. Many of these have handwritten notes attached and I have published the best English translation of them that I was able to get. Bessler never published these drawings but clearly intended to use them in his planned school for apprentices.

You can order copies of the books from my website at 

www.free-energy.co.uk

Printed books direct from the printer can be obtained from here

https://www.lulu.com/spotlight/johncollins

Or from the top of the right side panel under the heading ‘Bessler’s Books’.

There are also links lower down on the right side panel.

As I often say, the solution to this device is needed now. Anything that might help cleanse the planet of pollution and help to reduce green house gas emissions, by providing a clean cheap alternative energy source should encouraged in its discovery and development to counter global warming.

JC

More reflections on the Two-Way Wheels

The Merseburg wheel and the Weissenstein or Kassel wheel were two-way ones and could both be turned in either direction with a gentle push in the desired direction.  I have always believed that the way this was achieved was by placing a pair of one-way wheels on the same axle, but with one wheel designed to turn in the opposite direction to its twin.  This would create a balanced wheel, with no restrained impulse to turn it in any direction.  

Giving it a push sufficient for one weight to fall would initiate the impulse to begin to turn in that direction. Once begun, the sequence would be repeated continuously.  When a twinned wheel was to be turned in reverse it had to be designed with one of two options; firstly it could be allowed to move as dictated by the positions the rotation caused it to adopt, with little or no negative effect on the mechanical advantage being generated by it’s paired wheel; or there was a feature or device designed within each mechanism which locked it into whatever position it was in as soon the first weight in the other half of the twinned wheel fell..

Many years ago I tested this theory using models of two Savonius windmills mounted on one axle, but not fixed to the axle.  Each one was designed to turn in the opposite direction to its twin.  Firstly they were allowed to turn independently of each other and when placed in the path of a fan, each began to rotate in opposite directions.  Next I coupled the two windmills together.  Now neither moved when in the path of the wind.  I gave the joined windmills a little nudge in one direction and the assembly began to turn in one direction.  The same thing happened in the other direction of rotation.  I gave a full account of the above experiment in my biography of Bessler, “Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?”

The resultant rotation was about half the speed of the uncoupled windmills.  In this example the concave portion of the Savonius windmill when moving against the wind led to a braking effect, hence the slower speed of rotation.  However in the Kassel wheel the half speed of rotation was a desired effect to reduce wear on the bearings.  In the Merseburg wheel I think Bessler found a way to lock and block negative action in the wheel which was forced to reverse.

If the reversing mirror-imaged wheel generated some resistance to the forward motion of its twin, Bessler must have found a way to wipe out all of it in the Merseburg wheel, because it was able to rotate at about the same speed as the other one-way wheels.  Or it might have been possible to stop all mechanical action in the reversing wheel, because without any weight movement there,  the wheel would not be out of balance at anytime. Unless the mechanisms stopped in one position which would have led  to an imbalance at one point in rotation.  It might have been this that Bessler said, gave him a headache trying to set it correctly - stopping the weights from moving at all in the reversing wheel was one task but how to achieve that neutral point of balance at any point in rotation, automatically?

JC

Reflections on Johann Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machines

When Johann Bessler’s largest wheel, the two-way version, was demonstrated at Kassel, it was recorded that the sound of eight weights were heard to land softly on the side towards which it turned.  I have often suggested that there might have been ten weights, but two of them, one in each half of the wheel, given a thick layer of felt to deaden the sound of their impact, giving the impression that there were only eight weights. However if that was the case, the rhythmic thumping noise heard from the wheel, turning at 26 rpm means each turn took 2.3 seconds.  Counting 8 thumps every 2.3 seconds it’s no wonder von Erlach said “about” 8 thumps per turn. Even so, if there were two silent weights operating, their silence would have introduced two gaps in the rhythmic thumping.  Surely this would have been mentioned?

The description of each weight landing “softly” suggests they were all felted.  The official reports specifically mention the great evenness of the wheel’s rotation which I think, obviates my suggestion of one or more silenced weights.  So perhaps there were two sets of eight weights each set driving the Kassel wheel in a particular direction.  The reason why I introduced the idea that there could have been two inaudible weights was because I could not understand why some researchers said that they were trying to make a two-way wheel which according to Bessler was very difficult; while others were using the eight weight description which applied to the two-way Kassel wheel to make a one-way wheel.  We have no knowledge of the sounds emanating from the one-way wheels other than that they were very noisy.

The Kassel wheel was designed to turn more slowly than its predecessors each of which were able to turn at about double the speed.  The Kassel wheel was built to withstand the wear and tear it expected to undergo during the endurance test of 30 days which, in the end, ran for 54 days before it was stopped. It’s speed of rotation was slowed by a half to preserve the integrity of its bearings and I assume this was achieved by reducing the distances of the movements within the mechanism.  This design might have reduced the mechanical leverage obtained in the previous wheels, but increasing the mass of the weights might retrieve the lost lifting power.  This may explain the increase in the thickness, or depth of the Kassel wheel, compared to its predecessor, the Merseburg wheel. In support of this suggestion Bessler said that he could make wheels turn very slowly and lift greater weights or turn very quickly, of small size or of great size.

All this tells us that we have documented evidence of one wheel using eight weights, turning at 26 rpm and nothing about the others except they each rotated at around 50 rpm yet were all of different dimensions.  That sounds to me like 50 rpm was the best speed available with Bessler’s design, regardless of size and the 26 rpm version was the modified design.  If the mechanisms inside the Kassel wheel moved through a limited range compared to the others, then perhaps there were more of them inside than in the others - 8 or more?  Fine if you are committed to building the two-way wheel, even though you don’t know how the one-way wheel worked, but I think the one-way one is the way to go!

Above courtesy of  

http://www.orffyre.com/Wheel-Evolution-Large.gif

JC

Update February 2022 Draw, Describe, Simulate, Build, Publish.

It seems as though our move to our next house is looking at least three months away, so I’ve decided to change my plans.  I’m going to complete a drawing of how I believe Bessler’s wheel worked,  I’m also trying to complete the book detailing all the information Bessler gave us about how how his wheel worked and I will explain the simple concept which made it work.   I will also get a sim made according to my design

The book will be available in both printed and digital format - possibly through my new web site or on Amazon. By the time it’s ready for publication there will be a sim demonstrating how it works, and the sim will be real without any camouflage or deliberate or accidental failure or bugs which prevent anyone viewing it or making their own version.  The design is simple to understand although it may take me a while build it, which is why I’m taking the time before we move to try and prepare everything I might need.

I will just point out that over the last twelve years that this blog has been running I have posted details about information I have deciphered from Bessler’s clues and they have generally all been dismissed or ignored.  I haven’t minded, but I am kind of surprised that the same errors of misunderstanding or misinterpretation have continued to proliferate and become embedded in the surrounding trivia, so that it become difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff.

It was always my intention to offer information based purely on documentary evidence, ignoring from the beginning the assumption that Bessler’s wheel must be a scam because such a machine was said to be impossible.  I studied the evidence in those documents and knew that that assumption was wrong.

Some of the translations were mildly inaccurate, but not so much that they misled people. Thanks to the work of several people those inaccuracies were corrected. Thus we have this corpus of texts which should be our starting point.  Speculation is useful but it must be recognised as such and not embedded in the rest of the real evidence where it can mislead or slant opinions without foundation.

People are welcome to research this material as they like, but I would urge them to keep it simple and not, for instance try to invent the two-way turning wheel, such as the Merseburg and the Weissenstein wheels. Bessler himself mentions how difficult they were to complete successfully.  In which case using the reports by Fischer von Erlach which described the sound of eight weights landing on the side towards which the wheel turned is of no use if you are trying to make a own-way wheel, and why would you want to start with the hardest one to replicate, surely the simplest one, the one-way wheel is the one to start with?

So I believe that once people can see my work on deciphering Bessler’s clues and the solution, the sound of headdesking will be like a worldwide rolling roar of thunder - an example of a physical expression of extreme frustration, aggravation and annoyance or resignation that you didn’t see it yourself!

JC

The True Story of Johann Bessler’s Perpetual Motion Machine.

The Legend of Johann Bessler's wheel.

On 6th June, 1712, in Germany, Johann Bessler (also known by his pseudonym, Orffyreus) announced that after many years of failure, he had succeeded in designing and building a perpetual motion machine. For more than fourteen years he exhibited his machine and allowed people to thoroughly examine it. Following advice from the famous scientist, Gottfried Leibniz, who was able to examine the device, he devised a number of demonstrations and tests designed to prove the validity of his machine without giving away the secret of its design.

Karl the Landgrave of Hesse permitted Bessler to live, work and exhibit his machine at the prince's castle of Weissenstein. Karl was a man of unimpeachable reputation and he insisted on being allowed to verify the inventor's claims before he allowed Bessler to take up residence. This the inventor reluctantly agreed to and once he had examined the machine to his own satisfaction Karl authorised the publication of his approval of the machine. For several years Bessler was visited by numerous people of varying status, scientists, ministers and royalty. Several official examinations were carried out and each time the examiners concluded that the inventor's claims were genuine.

Over several years Karl aged and it was decided that the inventor should leave the castle and he was granted accommodation in the nearby town of Karlshafen. Despite the strong circumstantial evidence that his machine was genuine, Bessler failed to secure a sale and after more than thirty years he died in poverty. His death came after he fell from a windmill he had been commissioned to build. The windmill was an interesting design using a vertical axle which allowed it to benefit from winds from any directions. 

He had asked for a huge sum of money for the secret of his perpetual motion machine, £20,000 which was an amount only affordable by kings and princes, and although many were interested, none were prepared to agree to the terms of the deal. Bessler required that he be given the money and the buyer take the machine without viewing the internal workings. Those who sought to purchase the wheel, for that was the form the machine took, insisted that they see the secret mechanism before they parted with the money. Bessler feared that once the design was known the buyers could simply walk away knowing how to build his machine and he would get nothing for his trouble.


I became curious about the legend of Bessler’s Wheel, while still in my teens, and have spent most of my life researching the life of Johann Bessler (I’m now 77). I obtained copies of all his books and had them translated into English and self-published them, in the hope that either myself or someone else might solve the secret and present it to the world in this time of pollution, global warming and increasingly limited energy resources.

Not long after I was able to read the English translations of his books, I became convinced that Bessler had embedded a number of clues in his books. These took the form of hints in the text, but also in a number of drawings he published. Subsequently I found suggestions by the author that studying his books would reveal more information about his wheel.


For some ideas about Bessler’s code why not visit my web sites at http://www.theorffyreuscode.com/

Take a look at my work on his “Declaration of Faith” at http://www.orffyreus.net/

Also please view my video at https://youtu.be/5BWVKtpuzn0

It gives a brief account both the legend and some more detail about some of the codes.

The problem of obtaining a fair reward for all his hard work was anticipated by Bessler and he took extraordinary measures to ensure that his secret was safe, but he encoded all the information needed to reconstruct the machine in a small number of books that he published. He implied that he was prepared to die without selling the secret and that he believed that posthumous acknowledgement was preferable to being robbed of his secret while he yet lived.


It has recently become clear that Bessler had a huge knowledge of the history of codes and adopted several completely different ones to disguise information within his publications. I have made considerable advances in deciphering his codes and I am confident that I have the complete design.


Johann Bessler published three books, and digital copies of these with English translations may be obtained from the links to the right of this blog. In addition there is a copy of his unpublished document containing some 141 drawings - and my own account of Bessler’s life is also available from the links. It is called "Perpetual Motion; An Ancient Mystery Solved?" 

Bessler's three published books are entitled "Grundlicher Bericht", "Apologia Poetica" and "Das Triumphirende...". I have called Bessler's collection of 141 drawings “Maschinen Tractate”, but it was originally found in the form of a number of loosely collected drawings of perpetual motion designs. Many of these have handwritten notes attached and I have published the best English translation of them that I was able to get. Bessler never published these drawings but clearly intended to use them in his planned school for apprentices.

You can order copies of the books from my website at www.free-energy.co.uk

Or from the top of the right side panel under the heading ‘Bessler’s Books’.

There are also links lower down on the right side panel.

As I often say, the solution to this device is needed now. Anything that might help cleanse the planet of pollution and help to reduce green house gas emissions, by providing a clean cheap alternative energy source should encouraged in its discovery and development to counter global warming.

JC

Suppose You Succeed! What’s Next?

What will you do if you succeed in building a device which is based on the same concept as Bessler’s wheel, or appears to be similar?  I know that I have different thoughts about the best way forward, and I change my mind from time to time.

I guess it depends on what you hope to get out of it, or even if you don’t want anything material, you just want it out there.  Most of us, in my opinion, want security for the future for themselves and their families, which means some kind of financial reward.  Others would like recognition as the rescuer of the lost Bessler technology; some would like acknowledgement of their part in its resurrection without the attendant fame.

Those who did not want anything other than seeing the machine recognised as a unique source of free and clean energy, would willingly share it with one or more people as long as their anonymity was maintained.

I understand and sympathise with all of these scenarios, as I have considered each and every one of them at length over many years. But in the end I came to the conclusion that family gets to put their point of view above all the others and security for your loved ones whether, old, middle-aged, youthful, child or baby; or friends, neighbours or people you admire or want to help - they all have a stake in your decisions and will likely affect what course you take.

So financial reward looks the most likely deciding factor in my opinion -  you might disagree, probably will - so how would you deal with success?

Many of us have expressed the opinion that patenting is the right way to go.  I have always believed that it would be a mistake for reasons I have explained many times here and I don’t want to go into it in detail again.  Others think that licensing a patent is one way do it, but licensing a product without a patent can be done if you know how to do it correctly. One approach is to get a provisional patent, where you'll pay a specific fee and complete a form. When you show it to possible buyers, you'll put the words "patent pending" on the item. You won't have to go through a complicated process of getting a patent this way and are still able to protect the invention from potential competitors who might steal your idea.

Another way to sell a product without needing to get a patent is to work with an invention submission company. There are many companies out there that offer help to inventors for a fee. A variety of services are offered, and some help you just get a patent  while others will help you with possible sales. 

Courtesy of https://www.upcounsel.com/licensing-a-product-without-a-patent

There are so many other ways to earn yourself what ever financial reward you believe you deserve. Interviews for  books and magazines both digital and printed; TV, radio; forums, social media.  Of course there may be documentaries and films. The possibilities are endless.

I mentioned films and one popular discussion point  over the years has been the important but difficult decision as to who would be the best actor to play Bessler. I have my ideas but I’ll wait and see if there are any suggestions.  😁

JC

Johann Bessler’s Legacies.

Bessler’s wheel is one obvious legacy and although there are some who believe that it’s potential power output is too limited to be of practical use, I disagree.  You only have to look at the enormous windmills which are spreading like a rash across the green hills of this country to see that it’s a matter of scale. As Bessler suggested, you could have several wheels in series mounted on the same axle to multiply the output.  The other legacy is buried within Bessler’s publications.

I’ve always felt I was destined to find the solution to Bessler’s wheel. Ever since I read the story of  ‘The Wheel of Orffyreus’, as written by Rupert T. Gould, in his book, ‘Oddities’, I knew in my heart that here was a story I could tell and a mystery I could try to solve.  Although that was more than 50 years ago, and despite all the years during which I researched the life and times of Johann Bessler, I never doubted that I would discover the secret of Bessler’s Perpetual Motion machine.  But between knowing you have the answer and proving it lies a significant gap!

I’m sure that everyone else who is working in this field feels the same, but over the years gradually, bit by bit, I’ve discovered and understood many of Bessler’s clues, hints, inferences and apparently non-sensical text. There is one thing to take away from what I’ve learned about Johann Bessler - well actually several things - but in his publications there are no mistakes, everything in them is deliberate even if it looks wrong.  There are no errors and therefore anything that might seem crazy is actually a clue to be identified, interpreted and understood.  It is also true that many of these apparent mistakes or odd phrasings that are actually clues, also contain two or even three ways of getting the same answer. This is how he confirmed if you were on the right track.

Having said that, I’m still learning, discovering new nuances of each clue which can sometimes lead you on to a new discovery. In my opinion, once the solution is revealed and the amazing mind that found it originally, and then hid it in plain sight, with very few overt indications, all those who sneered and jeered and dismissed his claims as fanciful nonsense, will be astounded and amazed at the beauty, intricacy yet simplicity of his work.  His geometrical connections and inferences will become a subject of study in years to come as more and more clues and codes are identified and deciphered.

One other thing I’d like to comment on; the apparent paradox of being so extremely secretive about his machine and how it worked, that he dare not even utter a single word which might give away his secret - and yet placing literally hundreds of clues which if solved could reveal the secret of his perpetual motion machine. Why?  In my opinion, he was confident that no one would ever decipher his clues, so the point must have been either to have given public lectures demonstrating his clever use of the codes and the general obfuscation which hid the clues - or he hoped to sell a book detailing all his clues and how to understand them - or he intended to use the clues and codes in his apprentices school. Why else?

JC

Johann Bessler and His Wonderful Machine

Some people believe that Johann Bessler built a machine that could turn continuously enabled purely by the effect of gravity on several weights.  

These weights were configured in such a way that the wheel was permanently out of balance.  This feature of the wheel is supported by several witnesses at different times to the fact that the wheel had to be tied down, or locked, once it was brought to a stop. Once released it would immediately begin to turn again, quickly reaching its top speed when not under load, of around 50 rpm. Among numerous tests he also allowed one wheel to turn for 54 days.  I am one of those who believe Bessler’s, so-called Perpetual Motion machine, was genuine.

Of course I’m familiar with the immediate response of all those (everyone else!) who’ve been taught that such machines are impossible but there is so much more to this story than meets the eye.  Right from the beginning, aged about 15 years old, I was convinced that Bessler’s machine was genuine. But at such a young age it might be suspected that I was naive, ignorant or easily misled etc, but no, the facts documented in the legend are not open to dispute, and therefore they should be examined by teams of funded researchers. A quick and fair study of the facts will convince anyone of the truth.

Fortunately there is an amazing group of people from all around the world who share a common belief that Bessler’s claims were genuine and that the machine needs to reappear now, just at the time it is most needed - to provide clean, free energy. They (you) are striving to find the secret of Bessler’s wheel.

The vast number of people have no idea that Bessler’s wheel even existed, let alone that it worked.  The struggle to get official recognition that his machine was genuine is proving to be a momentous task, and it is widely acknowledged by his supporters that there is really only one way to get that recognition and that requires a working model to be revealed in all the media that abounds in our world.

When I first began to publish my books about and by Johann Bessler, I imagined the world would be fascinated by my work.  I was convinced that within a very short span of time Bessler wheels would have been invented; there’d be thousands of them in every country generating electricity; the combustion engine would rapidly becoming obsolete; windmills redundant; climate change halted; pollution reduced. I was wrong; I was too impatient, but we will get there……eventually.

JC

HAPPY NEW YEAR To All.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, we certainly did, and the New Year 2022, looks like being the best ever, when the secret of Bessler’s wheel is revealed. 

It is easy to forget why we are all still believers in Bessler’s claim to have invented a perpetual motion machine.  Yes, we are all familiar with Bessler’s words and the witness statements, but what evidence is there against his perpetual motion machine?  One - they are said to be impossible, but that only applies to isolated systems with no external source of energy.  The second piece of evidence is that of Bessler’s maid.

 I have copied and pasted a paragraph from my book about Bessler, published in 1996!

‘In a document dated 28th November 1727, Orffyreus' maid makes the following statement, as recorded by Strieder:

"The posts had been hollowed out and contained a long thin piece of iron with a barb at the bottom which was attached to the shaft journal. Turning was carried out from Orffyreus' bedroom which was close to the machine, on a shelf behind the bed."

The first area of concern was the statement that the maid made concerning the secret mechanism. It was frankly, impossible. Whatever mechanism moved that wheel, there is absolutely no way that it could be driven by the means described. Twelve feet across or 3.6 metres - eighteen inches thick or 45.7 centimetres and weighing an estimated 700 lbs or 318 Kilograms, and the whole construction turned on a pair of bearings measuring just three-quarters of an inch! And what is more, accelerated from a very slow speed to one of between twenty-five and twenty-six revolutions per minute, in just three revolutions. The maid says that the posts were hollowed out and a barbed piece of iron inserted and connected to the shaft journal. Anyone giving reasonable consideration to this account of the maid's, will see that the power and strength required to keep a machine of this size turning, by applying its force through the bearings, would be enormous - and besides where would one find a metal of sufficient strength to withstand the tremendous load placed on it. Not only that - it had to be kept turning for almost eight weeks - and was expected do work; raise a box of bricks weighing seventy pounds and turn an Archimedean screw. Forget the problem of actually devising a mechanism which would operate inside a wooden post connected to a bearing at one end and a small wheel at the other!

Bessler’s wife had died in 1726 and only a few months later on the 28th November 1727,  the maid accused Bessler of fraud, this was shortly after Karl retired and although removing his patronage he gave Bessler the use of a house and garden in Karlshafen.  He also dismissed the maid’s accusations. He advanced Bessler five years salary to enable him to continue to develop and sell his wheel.  This marked the end of Karl’s protection against the slanderous publications of his enemies, Gärtner, Wagner and Borlach.  They grabbed the opportunity to lambast Bessler and his wheels with enthusiasm, driven by either jealousy or indignation.

The maid, Anne Rosine, from Mauersberg, a town less than 5 miles from Bessler’s father-in-law had been brought to Hesse Kassel, by Bessler and his new wife, as agreed between Bessler and his future father-in-law.  She had been a constant thorn in the side of the mayor and chief physician of Annaberg-Bucholz, Dr Christian Schumann. He had had her imprisoned twice for spreading malicious gossip about him and his family.

Christian Schumann agreed to the marriage as long as Bessler took the troublesome maid with him to Gera, some one hundred miles away in those days, plus of course a dowry.

The maid was often seen about the Landgrave’s court as witnessed by one of the female courtiers and it is possible that she met with Christian Wagner and/or Gärtner. Although Gärtner died in February of that same year 1727, he may have been the guiding force trying to out Bessler as a fraud.

As soon as he moved out of the castle and took up residence at Karlshafen, Bessler’s wife’s mother, now a widow with no money, suddenly arrived with her two other daughters and son-in-laws.  They joined forces with Bessler’s erstwhile maid and began to try to extort money and favours from him.  Suddenly out of Karl’s protection and being harassed by a small family of criminals, Bessler soon lost all of his money to their controlling and coercive behaviour.

So two pieces of evidence against Bessler and both deeply flawed.

JC