Mechanical engineer Franz Reuleaux and Reuleaux mechanisms collection

The exhibition is dedicated to the famous German scientist-mechanic, engineer, professor of the Berlin Technical Academy Franz Reuleaux (1829-1905) and his collections of mechanisms. Some of the mechanisms are stored in the Museum of the History of Physics and Mathematics at St Petersburg University.

Franz Reuleaux was an outstanding teacher in the field of mechanical engineering. He is often referred to as the father of kinematics. Presumably, he created a collection of approximately 800 models of mechanisms. More than 300 out of 800 models that he designed were made in Berlin at the factory of Gustav Voigt (end of the 19th century) and were purchased by many universities around the world for pedagogical and scientific purposes. The Museum of the History of Physics and Mathematics of St Petersburg University has 42 models of Reuleaux-Voigt mechanisms.

Izi-Travel