page_title: List of German inventions and discoveries
section_title: Transportation
hierarchical_section_title: List of German inventions and discoveries / Transportation
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Daimler Reitwagen aus dem Jahr 1885 im Mercedes Benz Museum in Stuttgart Français&#160;: UnDaimler Reitwagen de 1885 photographié dans le Mercedes Benz Museum à Stuttgart. Selon la définition choisie, on peut considérer qu'il s'agit de la première motocyclette.
context_page_description: German inventions and discoveries are ideas, objects, processes or techniques invented, innovated or discovered, partially or entirely, in Germany or abroad by a person from Germany. Often, things discovered for the first time are also called inventions and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two.
  Germany has been the home of many famous inventors, discoverers and engineers, including Carl von Linde, who developed the modern refrigerator; Paul Nipkow, who laid the foundation of the television with his Nipkow disk; Hans Geiger, the creator of the Geiger counter; and Konrad Zuse, who built the first fully automatic digital computer and the first commercial digital computer. Such German inventors, engineers and industrialists as Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Otto Lilienthal, Gottlieb Daimler, Rudolf Diesel, Hugo Junkers and Karl Benz helped shape modern automotive and air transportation technology. Aerospace engineer Wernher von Braun developed the first space rocket at Peenemünde and later on was a prominent member of NASA and developed the Saturn V Moon rocket.
context_section_description: 1655: First self-propelled wheelchair by Stephan Farffler
  1817: The first bicycle (dandy horse, or Laufmaschine in German) by Baron Karl von Drais
  1817: Tachometer by Diedrich Uhlhorn
  1834: First practical rotary electric motor by Moritz von Jacobi
  1838: First electric boat by Moritz von Jacobi
  1876: Otto engine, the first modern internal combustion engine, by Nicolaus Otto
  1879–1881: First electric locomotive and electric tramway (Gross-Lichterfelde Tramway) by Siemens & Halske
  1882: Trolleybus (Electromote) by Werner von Siemens
  1885: First automobile (Benz Patent-Motorwagen) by Karl Benz in Mannheim
  1885, 1894: First motorcycle (Daimler Reitwagen) by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. The motorcycle of Hildebrand & Wolfmüller from 1894 (created by Heinrich and Wilhelm Hildebrand, and Alois Wolfmüller) was the first machine to be called a "motorcycle" and the world's first production motorcycle.
  1886: First automobile on four wheels, by Gottlieb Daimler
  1886: Motorboat by Lürssen, in commission of Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach, in Bremen
  1888: Driver's license by Karl Benz
  1888: The world's first filling station was the city pharmacy in Wiesloch
  1888: Flocken Elektrowagen, regarded by some as the first real electric car, by Andreas Flocken in Coburg
  1889: V engine by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach
  1891: Taximeter by Friedrich Wilhelm Gustav Bruhn
  1893: Diesel engine, diesel fuel and biodiesel by Rudolf Diesel in Augsburg
  1893: Lilienthal Normalsegelapparat, the first aeroplane to be serially produced, by Otto Lilienthal
  1893: Zeppelin, the first rigid airship, by Ferdinand von Zeppelin
  1895: Internal combustion engine bus by Daimler
  1896: Modern truck (Daimler Motor-Lastwagen) by Gottlieb Daimler
  1897: Flat engine by Karl Benz
  1897: Internal combustion engine taxicab by Gottlieb Daimler
  1901: Mercedes 35 hp, regarded by some as the first real modern automobile, by Paul Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. The car also had the world's first drum brakes.
  1902, 1934: Concept of maglev by Alfred Zehden (1902) and Hermann Kemper (1934).
  1902: First high voltage spark plug by Gottlob Honold
  1902: First practical speedometer by Otto Schultze
  1906: Gyrocompass by Hermann Anschütz-Kaempfe
  1909, 1912: The world's first passenger airline; DELAG in Frankfurt (1909). The company also employed the first flight attendant, Heinrich Kubis (1912).
  1912: The world's first diesel locomotive by Gesellschaft für Thermo-Lokomotiven Diesel-Klose-Sulzer GmbH from Munich and Borsig from Berlin
  1915: The world's first all-metal aircraft (Junkers J 1) by Junkers & Co
  1916: Gasoline direct injection (GDI) by Junkers & Co
  1928: First rocket-powered aircraft (Lippisch Ente) by Alexander Lippisch
  1935: Swept wing by Adolf Busemann
  1936: The first operational and practical helicopter (Focke-Wulf Fw 61), by Focke-Achgelis
  1939: First aircraft with a turbojet (Heinkel He 178), and the first practical jet aircraft, by Hans von Ohain
  1943: Krueger flap by Werner Krüger
  1951: Airbag by Walter Linderer
  1957: Wankel engine by Felix Wankel
  1960s: Defogger by Heinz Kunert
  Late 1960s: Oxygen sensor by Robert Bosch GmbH
  1973: Spoiler on road cars by Porsche
  1995: Electronic stability control (ESC) by Robert Bosch GmbH and Mercedes-Benz
caption: A Reitwagen replica at the Mercedes-Benz Museum
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