The Carolo-Certificate

Bessler, who had moved to Cassel (today Kassel) in 1716 and had built a new wheel there at Landgrave Karl's request, was still confronted with the hostility of his critics. In particular, Andreas Gärtner from Dresden, who was a respected personality there at the court, did not give up on publicly discrediting Bessler as a fraudster. His smear campaigns led to the wheel being subjected to a 54-day long-term test at Weissenstein Castle, which it successfully completed. (In the contributions “ Biography” and “The Maid's Lie” more is reported in detail.) 

In August 1717, Karl himself had convinced himself by inspecting the internal mechanism that Bessler’s “Perpetuum Mobile” everything was in good order. As a result, he had certainty that the wheel actually worked as it had always been propagated by its inventor. The principle of how the weights moved inside immediately made sense to him and was now a lasting motivation to assist Bessler in defending against the verbal attacks. As he was campaigning for Bessler's cause, Karl felt gradually hurt in his honour by the critics' constant pronouncements. Due to the incessant accusations, his own statements were now publicly questioned. So he felt compelled, on the 27. May 1718 to issue his own certificate which made things clear once again unequivocally. It was put on paper by Henrich Harmes, Princely-Hessian Court book printer, as a “Carolo Attestat”. The print can be viewed in the original at the Saxon State Library in Dresden.