Karl Drais was born in 1785. He was a member of an influential family and his godfather was Grand Duke Karl-Friedrich of Baden. Actually he had a job in forest administration, but in 1811 he went off duty from active service to concentrate on inventions while still continuing to collect his salary. The most famous invention of Drais is the Laufmaschine or Draisine, the earliest form of the bicycle. His first reported ride took place in Mannheim on 12th June 1817. Although being of noble birth he was a fervent liberal and supported a revolution in Baden. During the Baden Revolution in 1848 he even gave up his title of Baron. After the revolution collapsed, he was in a very bad position and his pension was confiscated. Karl Drais died penniless in 1851 in Karlsruhe.
To commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Laufmaschine in 2017 special stamps were issued in Bosnia-Herzegovina (Croatian Post), Germany and Switzerland.
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