The new exhibition in Hydropolis will be available to visitors for the next two months. It contains 15 panels presenting inventions relating to water rescue services. The main attraction is a classic exhibit in the form of a copy of a suit for underwater use.
Da Vinci from Wroclaw
The first concept of a diving suit was created by Leonardo da Vinci, but his idea never materialised. Karl Heinrich Klingert from Silesia was the first person who designed and made a fully usable diving suit. Unsurprisingly, he used to be called ‘La Vinci from Wroclaw’. ‘He is a forgotten figure in the history of our city, but we want to bring him back the popularity that he deserves,’ says Rafał Zagrobelny, the spokesman for Hydropolis.
At the turn of the 19th century, this gifted designer constructed accessories for carrying out experiments in physics, created astronomical devices for a university observatory and devised many inventions useful in various spheres of life, such as a firefighter’s ladder with a basket, a hand prosthesis, a physiotherapy chair, a wheelchair or air-filled bed linen.
His achievements include also water-related inventions, including a submarine. However, the item that brought Klinger the biggest fame was the suit that is currently regarded as the first semi-atmospheric suit in the world. Klingert proved the usability of his suit by organising a diving show in the Oder on 24th June 1797. In the presence of the crowd, a diver hired and trained by him stayed under the water for 13 minutes.
From the sledge-boat to the Newfoundlands
The suit was regarded as a useful device in water rescue. At that time, life expectancy in Europe was 37 years, so designers tried to outperform one another in proposing devices aimed at rescuing people from drowning. ‘At the temporary exhibition being prepared by the Museum of Diving in Warsaw, we will present the most interesting ideas and patents from those times. Some of them are still worth admiration, and others can only cause amusement or consternation today,’ says Rafał Zagrobelny.
This will be an opportunity to see, for example, a sledge-boat for transporting persons rescued from water, a life-saving hat equipped with an air-filled container or a life vest that consisted mainly of shredded cork material. A separate panel is dedicated to a dog race bred specially for water rescue purposes. Thanks to their usefulness in this field, the Newfoundlands were respected so much that they were recognised as ‘necessary rescue measures’ along the entire coast of England at the beginning of the 19th century.
