Heinrich Göbel

Heinrich Göbel

Heinrich Göbel, or later: Henry Goebel (April 20, 1818 - December 4, 1893), born in Germany, was a precision mechanic and inventor, an early pioneer who independently developed designs for an incandescent light bulb. He married Sophie Lübke in 1844 and, at the age of 31 (in 1849), they emigrated to New York City, living there until his death.

Göbel made a claim for the invention of the first practical bulb which he designed in 1854, a quarter of a century before Edison's patent. When Edison was finalizing other law suits against his incandescent lamp in 1893 - preparing to enjoy the benefits of his patent for the first time - Goebel brought a new legal suit to the U.S. Patent office (called "interference"). Previously, Göbel made an offer to sell his invention to Edison in 1882 for a few thousand dollars, but Edison did not see enough merit in the invention to accept the offer. Lewis Latimer demonstrated that the bulbs Göbel had purportedly built in the 1850's had in fact been built much later, and actually found the glassblower who had constructed the fradulent exhibits for Göbel.After a very full review of the facts in the case, and a fair consideration of the defendants' affidavits, Judge Colt in his opinion goes on to say:

It is extremely improbable that Henry Goebel constructed a practical incandescent lamp in 1854. This is manifest from the history of the art for the past fifty years, the electrical laws which since that time have been discovered as applicable to the incandescent lamp, the imperfect means which then existed for obtaining a vacuum, the high degree of skill necessary in the construction of all its parts, and the crude instruments with which Goebel worked.

A few months after a court decision established the Edison's priority, Göbel died of pneumonia. He was buried in the Green-wood Cemetery in Brooklyn. New York.

References

• The Edison view of the Litigation