The Maid's Lie

In the autumn of 1727, there were severe disagreements between Bessler and his maid, Anne Rosine Mauersberger. Ms. Mauersberger was most angry that Bessler did not want to marry her after the death of his wife despite a longer sexual relationship, but gave preference to another lady instead. Violent quarrels and disputes eventually led to an instant termination of the employment relationship that had been in existence for 16 years. Immediately after her dismissal, the maid filed a criminal complaint against Bessler and accused him that the long-term test at Weissenstein Castle in Cassel was a fraud from the beginning to the end. She claimed that the wheel had been driven by muscle strength via a hidden shaft laid in the ground by means of a remote treadmill. The details can be found in the biography.

As detailed below, this criminal charge lacks any credibility in retrospect. Although the motif of revenge is obvious, it does not play a role in the analytical examination of the circumstances she gave to record. The facts speak against her statements. For example, the test in Cassel was preceded by a thorough examination, which was similar to that in Merseburg. A large number of experts had inspected everything and in particular examined the wheel's bearings and the neighbouring rooms. (Explicitly, also the rooms that were below and above.) The claim, which was repeatedly collaborated by critics, that a second drive wheel would have been in an immediately adjacent room, is therefore simple nonsense.

Bessler's wheel rested only on a wooden rack with its axle. Since it floated above the ground in this way, it could be viewed all around, and that is exactly what the people present did. Of course, their attention was focused on whether there was any power transmission from outside the wheel. However, despite intensive search, nothing was found. After inspection, the witnesses agreed that there was no link to the outside environment except for the two plain bearings. These bearings consisted of iron axle cones, which spun in open bushings. The former were firmly connected to the wooden axis of the wheel and had a diameter of approx. 3/4 inches. The bushings, which are also made of iron, rested on the rack and allowed everyone to look at the rotating cones. At the end of the review, there was agreement among the witnesses present that there were no indications of any deception. When critics or scoffers today claim that Bessler used gears, straps, ropes or the like to transfer forces from outside to the wheel (and that the witnesses must have overlooked this), this may be unabashedly described as insolent in view of the facts handed down. Ignorance and arrogance are combined here. The scientists and engineers present at the time are thus assumed to be incapable blunderers without exception.

Because at Schloss Weissenstein, despite the visual unobtrusiveness, they also wanted to do justice to those sceptics who did not rule out that Bessler had made use of magnetism or another kind of invisible power transmission, the wheel was brought to another place after a successful course under the supervision of all the witnesses present and put into operation again there. Each hand-movement of Bessler was closely observed. A drive via a hidden wave was therefore completely ruled out. Only after the experts present were sure that everything was in good order, the room was sealed and the wheel left to its own devices for 54 days.

If one hypothetically assumes that Bessler had found a way to realize the hidden drive as claimed by the maid, the other facts do not fit in. It is extremely implausible how, during the public review, the exchange of information between Bessler and the lady, who is allegedly on the treadmill in another room, is supposed to have happened. The wheel was stopped repeatedly, restarted, ran to the left and then to the right, etc. The maid claims to have known what she should do in each case by Bessler's throat clearing and coughing. Since the neighbouring rooms had been examined by the Commission, the the treadmill would have to have been far away. Bessler would have been forced to cough loudly every time, because in November windows and doors are usually not open. There should have been at least three different types of cough. So for example, once for starting left, twice for start right and three times for stop. This routine would certainly have made the witnesses present suspicious, because they were explicitly present for the purpose of uncovering possible manipulations. At the slightest misunderstanding the matter would have been busted. For example, if one of the present gentlemen had coughed.

The shaft would have been suitably long at such a distance. So that it would not have twisted, it would not only have to have been hardened, but also had to have a considerable diameter. Length and thickness would have had an enormous impact on the weight of the shaft, because iron is quite heavy. In order to avoid bending, it would have to have been resting in several bearings. Since there were only plain bearings at this time, large friction losses would have occurred, which make things seem very questionable for this reason.

Mass inertia would also have made itself unpleasantly noticeable with a heavy shaft. The wheel could not have been abruptly accelerated or slowed down. However, the witnesses spoke of the fact that the wheel was visibly accelerated after the first weight fell down. If it was so, it could have been easily brought into a causal connection by an attentive observer. Precise temporal coordination would not have been possible by coughing even if the maid was actually in the neighbouring room and the inertia of the wave had not played a role. An observer can very well see whether a wheel is accelerated exactly at the moment when the impact is taking place, or whether this happens at another time. Even deviations of only a few milliseconds can already be noticed visually. So how could the maid have performed such precision with such time-accuracy? In a treadmill, the person who drives it with the weight of his body must make a greater change of position every time to start or stop, which not only costs time, but also causes uncontrolled wobble movements.

Finally, it should be noted that the wheel in Cassel had been set in motion not only by Bessler himself, but also by individual Commissioners. Anyone who wanted to could lay hands on it themselves, start the wheel in one direction or another at will and stop it again at any time. Imagine the dilettantism it would have meant if Bessler had tried to steer all this under the critical gaze of the experts with coughs and harrumphs, without attracting attention. An absolutely ridiculous performance.

The police officers who took on the complaint did not make any of these considerations. They confined themselves to the interrogation of the maid and believed her descriptions. It is certainly possible to criticise this, but a comparison with our current law enforcement authorities would not be appropriate. In Bessler's time there was still so-called bailiff, who mainly had the function of a community servant. As a rule, they were active in the police. In larger places, an assistant was placed alongside the bailiff, but both came from the common people and were intellectually unable to investigate such facts or even evaluate scientifically. Their shown zeal at the arrest of Bessler will therefore be allowed to be described as somewhat “simple” in retrospect. In order to save their honor, one could bring into consideration that the long-term test in question was already 10 years ago at the time of the complaint and there was therefore no evidence to be had. It is worthy of criticism, however, that the police did not bother to find the witnesses of this test run and to ask about the alleged facts. It would have quickly became clear that the maid had lied. Although she had proven ingenuity when making her charges, it would not have convinced technically expert people who had checked things in the location themselves. She was simply not smart enough.

In any case, it is an adventurous story that Ms Mauersberger gave to protocol. Nevertheless, historians repeatedly gladly present it, because it is basically their only justification for Bessler's assessment of the charlatan that they have made him. They like to leave unmentioned that the maid had a dubious reputation for her involvement in a infanticide and her subsequent prison stay. It is not mentioned that she had been involved in contradictions during her police interrogation. And there is another crucial point. While at the beginning there was talk of a complete deception, one can read in a later passage of her statement that Bessler had asked her for help, so that the wheel would not wear out too much and would survive the long periodic testing without harm. From this it is inevitably derived that his invention very well did run alone. And only this is of interest to posterity. The interpretation of German historians stands therefore on clay feet and is in contradiction to the findings made by a long list of eyewitnesses. Among them university professors, scientists, mathematicians, engineers etc. You can find more details in the article “Contemporary Witnesses” and in the “Certificate of Gera”. 

It is time that things are revised in the history books.