Thank you KarlThe running machine invented by Karl Drais 200 years ago is considered the original bicycle and the Draisine marked the beginning of individual mobility. Since 1817, the bicycle has developed step by step from a quirky hobby for the rich to the most widespread means of transport in the world - affordable for many people and a catalyst for social progress worldwide.
Because the history of the bicycle is usually told with a view to its technical development, Hans-Erhard Lessing takes a look behind the scenes in his latest book "Das Fahrrad. A Cultural History", Hans-Erhard Lessing takes a look behind the scenes. In addition to the social background that led to certain technical developments, he also describes social upheavals that only really took off thanks to the bicycle.
Lessing, a physicist and historian of technology, has been recognised as one of the world's leading bicycle experts since his work "Das Fahrradbuch" (The Bicycle Book) was published in 1978. So even the reader who is well versed in the history of bicycles will learn something new in this book in addition to the familiar. That the eruption of the Tambora volcano east of Bali in 1815 is said to have led to Drais' invention. Or that people's fear of balancing was the reason why the draisine had no pedals.
Of driving bans, women and other disputes
It is astonishing how quickly the two-wheeled concept spread - without the internet - through joyful copying, even beyond the borders of Germany. However, the rowdy behaviour of the so-called dandies, who rode recklessly on pavements, provoked the downright ostracism of the velocipede just three years after its invention in 1820, which led to worldwide driving bans and the early demise of the running machine. It is astonishing that today - after 200 years of cycling history - we are reliving the past with the enforced or trail bans for mountain bikers.
The fact that courageous British, French and American women on two wheels laid the foundations for the emancipation of women and later cycling fashion is extremely enlightening. The fact that the cyclists influenced the gastronomy of the urban hinterland with their excursions is extremely entertaining. Arguments about who invented what first and when, the competitions between cyclists and riders and the scuffles at the big cycling events are amusing. Against the backdrop of serious crises and even wars, however, the political instrumentalisation of the bicycle also causes distress.
A downer literally comes at the end: Lessing devotes just over ten of the 249 pages to the last 60 years of bicycle development. We learn in fast motion why bicycles in America had to look like motorbikes, how the iconic Bonanza and BMX bikes came about and then, finally, on two and a half pages: the invention of the mountain bike! And this despite the fact that, according to Lessing, the phenomenal success of the mountain bike has created a new global trend in cycling enthusiasm. We would have liked to have learnt more about this.
Conclusion: Compact, entertaining and full of details but ends too soon
Lessing describes the 200-year history of the bicycle and its interactions with politics, business and society in a compact jacket pocket format. Numerous quotes from historical newspapers emphasise his theses and make for interesting reading. However, so much detailed historical knowledge would have benefited from an even clearer structure and more illustrations.
Lessing's meticulous and extensive descriptions of how the bicycle and its technology developed - delayed by early driving bans - from a wheel to a prestige object for the rich and then to pure sports equipment, sometimes require a high degree of concentration and a sound technical understanding. Leaps in time make it difficult to maintain an overview at all times.
Although the bicycle became less important as rail and car traffic progressed, the bicycle boom that flared up again from the 1970s/1980s onwards deserved more space. The focus on current developments in the bicycle sector and the new (old) conflicts is too short.
Nevertheless, the book is a very entertaining read for all bicycle enthusiasts, full of interesting details and contemporary sources from the various eras of bicycle history.
Hans-Erhard Lessing: The bicycle. A cultural history.
Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2017
255 pages, , size 12.5 x 19.6 cm, hardcover, clothbound, with numerous illustrations
ISBN: 978-3-608-91342-2
Price: 20 Euro
Suitable for this: Tip from the DK book publisher
The fascination of the bicycle. History - Technology - Development.
With numerous impressive photos and a unique aesthetic realisation, the book "Fascination Bicycle" also documents the history of the development of the bicycle in the context of the respective social environment. With this work, the internationally renowned bicycle historian Pryor Dodge presents a comprehensive appreciation of the bicycle as the nucleus of modern individual transport - with a foreword by Hans-Erhard Lessing. The most beautiful book on bicycle history - based on the latest historical research!
Pryor Dodge: The fascination of the bicycle. History - Technology - Development.
1st edition
224 pages, size 23.9 x 28.4 cm, hardcover with dust jacket
€ 39.90 (D) / € 41.10 (A)
ISBN 978-3-7688-5316-3
Delius Klasing Publishing House, Bielefeld
Sebastian Brust
Editor
