Diebold & Fahlmer, Strasbourg.

Almanach d'Alsace pour l'année 1783 [Google Books]
Almanach d'Alsace pour l'année 1783 [Google Books]
Almanach du département du Bas-Rhin pour l'année bissextile 1792, p.59. [Google Books]
Almanach du département du Bas-Rhin pour l'année bissextile 1792, p.59. [Google Books]
When Jean Diebold the younger died in 1839, his pupil Schneegans assumed control of the workshop. [Affiches, annonces et avis divers de la ville de Strasbourg, 4 septembre 1839, Gallica].
When Jean Diebold the younger died in 1839, his pupil Schneegans assumed control of the workshop. [Affiches, annonces et avis divers de la ville de Strasbourg, 4 septembre 1839, Gallica].
Trade card of C. Schneegans, who succeeded Diebold in 1839 [8]. Schneegans handed over his business to Emile Schmidt (1821-1865) in 1851 [9].
Trade card of C. Schneegans, who succeeded Diebold in 1839 [8]. Schneegans handed over his business to Emile Schmidt (1821-1865) in 1851 [9].
Le Courrier du Bas-Rhin, 3 October 1852. [Numistral BNU Strasbourg]
Le Courrier du Bas-Rhin, 3 October 1852. [Numistral BNU Strasbourg]

Towards the end of the 18th century there was a small concentration of scientific instrument makers in Strasbourg. In the Strasbourg Almanach of 1781, the Italian optician and physician Adorne [13] is listed as a dealer in scientific instruments, most of which he obtained from Paris and England [1]. By 1783 there were no less than 6 scientific instrument makers in Strasbourg. Indeed, on 28 March 1798, the Danish legation councilor C.U.D. von Eggers wrote from Rastatt to Prof. Münter in Copenhagen that in Strasbourg "a famous manufacture for surgical, mathematical and physical instruments" had been established [11]. In the 1783 Almanach, Diebold and Fahlmer are listed separately but in 1792 they are listed together as a company. Their rather extensive range of instruments suggests that by this time they had also become dealers in scientific instruments [3].

Johann Jacob Christian Fahlmer, Instrumentenmacher, was born 27 February 1749 in Mannheim Baden, Germany. Fahlmer settled in Strasbourg around 1770, and there married Anna Catharina Burg (1736-1808) on 17 July 1774, with whom he had 3 children. He died on 8 July 1793 in Strasbourg.

Jean Dieboldingénieur-mécanicien, was born in 1742 and died on 31 March 1831 in Strasbourg. On 29 November 1779 he married Dorothée Elisabeth Goering (1754-1830), with whom he had 5 children. His son of the same name, who followed in his footsteps and whose activities are described as ingénieur-mécanicien de l'académie et de l'école d'artillerie de Strasbourg, was born in Strasbourg in 1783 and died there on 24 August 1839. There is no record that he was ever married. After his death in 1839, the workshop was continued by his pupil Charles Schneegans (1816-1909), see newspaper clipping and trade card in the margin on the left.

A brass katoptrische Zirkel (reflecting dividers) signed Fahlmer à Strasbourg. Late 18th century. 18cm in length. The katoptrische Zirkel was invented by Christoph Caspar Höschel (1744-1820), son-in-law of G. F. Brander in Augsburg. [Höschel; Nachricht von dem katoptrischen Zirkel, 1783, E-rara]. In the mid 1800s Stanley constructed a similar device, "Stanleys Optical Compasses" [Mechanics Magazine, 8 March, 1867, p.146-147]. Less well known is the Dutch Spiegelpasser (reflecting dividers) invented by Antoine Lipkens, first described by Gisius Nanning [Handleiding tot de Werkdadige Meetkunst, Vol. 2, 1829, p. 200-204].

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REFERENCES

[1] Almanach de Strasbourg pour l'année 1781, p.104. [GoogleBooks]; François Xavier Adorne (1744-1830).

[2] Teutsches Künstlerlexikon Vol. 2, 1789, p.412 [MDZ]

[3] Allgemeine Anzeiger der Deutschen 1791: p.270-271, 287, 302-303. [Google Books]

[4] Johann Jacob Christian Fahlmer, von Mannheim, Instrumentenmacher. [Gustav C. Knod; Die alten Matrikeln der Universität Strassburg 1621 bis 1793, p.226. Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf].

Genealogical records have a Johann Jacob Christian Falmer christened in Mannheim, Baden, Germany 27-02-1749, married Anna Catharina Burg 11-07-1774 in Strasbourg, died 1793 in Strasbourg [FamilySearch].

[5] Notice sur les collections dont se compose le Musée de l'artillerie, Bachelier, Paris 1845, p.233, 236, 237 [Google Books] 

[6] Jean Frédéric Hermann; Notices historiques, statistiques et littéraires, sur la ville de Strasbourg, Levrault Strasbourg 1819, Tomb Second, p. 359-360 [Google Books].

[7] Nouvelle description de Strasbourg: Lagier Strasbourg 1844, p.30 [Google Books] 

[8] Magasin place Gutenberg 56, Ateliers C. Schneegans,... ingénieur-mécanicien, opticien de l'Académie de Strasbourg [Numistral BNU Strasbourg] 

[9] Le Courrier du Bas Rhin 20-05-1851 [Gallica]

[10] The Esser listed here and in the Almanach of 1783 is almost certainly Philipp Esser, the older brother of Louis Esser, whom in the early 1800s would become the father of the drawing instrument industry in Aarau, Switzerland. 

[11] Der erste Instrumentenmacher von Aarau, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Number 1197, 29 July 1942 Edition 02 [e-newspaperarchives.ch]. The main manufacturer of surgical instruments in Strasbourg was Lichtenberger, whose record of deliveries to hospitals is over 600 instruments. [Opinion de Jean-François Ehrmann, 1798; Google Books]. Engels, Lang, Fahlmer, Artaria, Renard, Esser, and Diebold are listed as makers of mathematical instrument; Bogner and Lichtenberger as makers of surgical instruments [6].

[12] Diebold (Jean), ingénieur-mécanicien de l’académie, instrumens de mathématique, de physique et d’optique etc., rue des petites boucheries. Manuel du commerce, de l'industrie, des sciences, des arts et des métiers de la ville de Strasbourg, 1824. [Gallica]

[13] François Xavier Adorne (14 January 1744, Filetto, Italy; 23 September 1830, Dijon), Italian name Francesco Adorno? He took to the air in a Montgolfière-style hot air balloon in Strasbourg in 1784, crashed 4 minutes later and lived to tell the tale. In 1793 Adorne acquired the Château de Turquestein from Charles Juste de Beauvau, 2nd Prince of Craon [Hagenauer Zeitung 01.11.1879]. There is a further mention of Adorne as a retailer of scientific instruments in an advertisement he placed in the Le Courrier du Bas-Rhin of 24 March 1807 [Numistral BNU Strasbourg].