Ulm — Unravel the Tailor's Flight

The Ulmer Münster rises 161.53 meters since 1890, crowning a Gothic construction begun in 1377 after the fire of the 9th-century basilica. It was from this tower, the world's tallest church, that Josef Ludwig Berblinger attempted his flight on May 31, 1811, before a crowd of onlookers. The 4,000 sculptures on the west facade, including 200 from the 14th century on the main portals, testify to the ambition of master tailors who partially financed the building. Berblinger, himself a tailor, saw in this monument the ideal springboard for his aeronautical dream.

The Weinhof leads you into the former vintners' quarter, where 16th-century half-timbered houses on Weinhofgasse housed vaulted cellars from 1550. Berblinger frequented these narrow cobbled streets restored in 1980, typical of Swabian Renaissance architecture. Here he perfected his calculations, observing bird flight from windows facing the Blau, seeking to understand the secrets of lift in Baden-Württemberg's Swabian air.

The Schiefes Haus, built around 1320 and leaning 2.07 meters over 7.8 meters of height, has defied physics laws for seven centuries. This half-timbered house on Münsterplatz, restored in 1962 to stabilize its inclination, is considered Germany's most leaning after the Tower of Pisa. Berblinger perhaps saw in it a challenge to gravity, inspiration for his own attempts to break free from terrestrial laws in his quest for human flight.

The Metzgerturm, a 14th-century fortified tower 27 meters high, served as a watchtower for butchers on Marktplatz. Built around 1340 with its belfry added in the 16th century, it was a prison until the 19th century and southern gateway to the Altstadt. Berblinger passed this stone sentinel during his wanderings, perhaps measuring its height to calibrate his experiments with falling and flight around Ulm.

Your investigation concludes in the Fischerviertel, the historic fishermen's quarter along the Blau where 16th-18th century half-timbered houses and 17th-century watermill remains survive. These narrow cobbled streets dating from the Middle Ages, restored in the 1970s, witnessed Berblinger's fall into the Danube waters. You leave with the story of a misunderstood visionary, precursor of modern aviation in a city that would see Albert Einstein born in 1879, continuing Ulm's legacy of dreamers.