Johann Michael Ekling
Johann Michael Ekling (8 August 1795 – 30 March 1876) was an Austrian mechanic and inventor of scientific instruments. He was born in Vienna, in the Wieden area, as the posthumous son of army surgeon Joseph Ekling; his mother was Anna Maria Euphrosina Spitzbarth. At 32 he married Theresia Schwarz and they had five sons and a daughter. He worked closely with professors Andreas von Baumgartner and Andreas von Ettingshausen at the University of Vienna. He made artificial magnets for Baumgartner and one of Austria’s first photographic devices in 1839, following Ettingshausen’s guidance, who had worked with Daguerre. By 1844 he was described as a “university mechanic.”
Ekling produced many instruments: mathematical and physical devices, air pumps with glass barrels, travel barometers, goniometers, and chemical and mineralogical apparatuses. His multiplicator was used to analyze mineral waters and was praised for its sensitivity. He received patents for induction machines, cameras, and improvements to the Bain telegraph, which were later taken over by the Austrian railway. His last invention was a Galvanic Induction Machine for Medical Purposes. The Austrian Law Gazette in 1850 praised him as “the most recommendable mechanic in Vienna” for both general work and sophisticated optical equipment. He taught and mentored young mechanics, including Rudolph Dolberg, Adolph Petri, and Johann Leopolder, who later started his own Telegraph and Telephone Company.
In 1860 Ekling sold his workshop at 25 Erdbergstraße to Rudolf Ditmar, who ran a growing kerosene lamp factory. Ekling died in Vienna in 1876 as a man of independent means. Today his instruments are in Austrian physics collections, including Innsbruck and Kremsmünster Observatory.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:34 (CET).