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The man in the ungainly costume was tailor Franz Reichel (sometimes given as Reichelt), an Austrian born resident of Paris who used his tailoring skills to make some of the world's first parachutes. Not being content to design and make them, he became a daredevil who tested them. Things went terribly wrong in 1912 when he tried a new design on the Eiffel Tower and fell to his death. And in case any of you think the early 20th Century press was more genteel than that of today, think again. Still pictures of his corpse appeared in the newspapers, and newsreel film of the fall was shown in many theaters. Paul Richer photographed Mr. Reichel in better times, below.
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I beg to differ. The top photo is Franz Reichelt 1878-1912. Your facts about his inventions and death are correct. The bottom photos are of Frantz Reichel (1871-1932). He was a runner in the 1896 Olympics and was part of the gold medal winning French rugby team in the 1900 Olympics. The similar names are confusing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the correction. I noticed the different spellings, but thought it was an error and not a different person.
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