by Glass! Love!! Perpetual Motion!!!-A Paul Scheerbart Reader Josiah McElheny
Glass terraces!
Colored glass terraces!
And these are — colorfully il uminated — by the countless hanging glass
lamps!
A pond below, in the center — but no swans.
The pond, too, has the appearance of glass, and mirrors the heavens
and al the lamps that surround it.
Someone else must describe this.
I cannot.
14 September 1910
I keep thinking I’ve reached the end.
But then there’s more, bet er.
Today there was stained glass.
Al ornamental.
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I was glad that it was only ornamental. It didn’t remind me of Europe.
This ornamentation is different, related to Tiffany glass. Everything is
reminiscent of the kaleidoscope in the entrance hall.
But here the rigidity looks quite delicate.
I was also shown wire-glass houses. The wire in the glass makes the
glass itself invulnerable to fire.
And I saw enamel houses — both opaque and transparent enamel!
Pieces of pure jewelwork!
Someone else must describe this.
15 September 1910
I thought there could be nothing more.
But look: suddenly there are glass crystals as big as a fist, a head.
Every possible shape of crystal.
And the colors!
Real diamonds were displayed next to them. And their colors shone no
stronger or brighter — than the glass crystals.
Indeed — these were mostly lit with electric light.
But the effect is the same.
16 September 1910
Venetian glass today.
I don’t actual y know where these were made. They just remind me of
Venetian pieces, but their size lends them new and different effects.
Soon I wil give up taking notes.
Such things cannot be captured.
17 September 1910
Glass domes today.
More than a hundred.
18 September 1910
Today, since it is an important Chinese holiday, instead of fans, glass crys-
tal rods were set out everywhere. They twinkled. They turned and swayed
in every direction. They are stil doing so — in the moonlight.
Poor Europe!
How poor you seem now in comparison — how poor!
Translated by Anne Posten
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Das Perpetuum Mobile: Die Geschichte einer Erfindung (Perpetual Motion: The
Story of an Invention) by Paul Scheerbart was published in 1910 by Ernst Rowholt
Verlag, Leipzig. The diagrams accompanying the following translation appeared
in the original edition on a single large sheet folded and tipped into the back
cover of the book. The cover of the first edition, reproduced opposite, is by
Ottomar Starke, who also created the cover illustration for the first edition of
Kafka’s Metamorphosis published by Kurt Wolff in 1916.
In this publication of Perpetual Motion, additional illustrations are by Josiah
McElheny, each a unique photogram created using specially blown, ground, and
polished glass parts. For a list of works see page 318.
206
Paul Scheerbart
Perpetual Motion:
The Story of an Invention
“The greater our despair — the closer we are to the gods. The
gods want to compel us to draw ever closer to the grandiose.
And the only means they have to achieve this is — misery.
Only misery can give rise to great hopes and great plans for
the future.”
For a long time I clung to these words as if to a creed. But one day this
creed was shaken to its core.
And here is how it came to pass:
On 27 December 1907 I was thinking about little stories in which
something new — astonishing — grotesque — would play a part. I was
thinking about the future of cannons, which struck me as having great
potential as instruments of transport; goods shot into the air with automat-
ical y opening parachute attachments would, it seemed to me, return quite
comfortably to earth.
Later, I imagined the entire atmosphere of the Earth crisscrossed by
cable cars. Cable cars descending from high mountain peaks struck me as
particularly appealing. I thought about how hot air bal oons might serve
to keep these cable cars aloft when journeying to the North Pole and
then imagined enormous Ferris wheels that, in my judgment, might rol
through al kinds of terrain much faster than the smal wheels that now are
customary.
As I pursued this train of thought, it struck me that it would be perfectly
natural to place the vehicle inside the wheel. This was something new.
I imagined the large double wheel a as spokeless, and suspended the
cab K from the double wheels b and c that were attached to the double rod
f g (Fig. 1). The wheels d and e were there for safety, so that b and c could
not fal off a. When force was exerted on a, the smaller wheels would turn
as wel . Al these wheels might of course also be replaced by cogs.
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If, however, I now suspended from f a weight L that was not much
lighter than K (Fig. 2), al the wheels would move in the direction of the
arrows. Indeed, the entire system would be in motion simply because of the
application of weight — as far as I could see, my perpetual motion machine
was complete.
“Cog Driven by Weights” is the title I gave this story. I said to myself:
the Earth’s steady exertion of gravitational force is a form of perpetual
work, and this perpetual work of attraction can be translated, using a series
of wheels placed one on top of the other, into perpetual motion.
I was quite aware that any physicist would object. But this was one of
the main advantages of my project. I’ve always abhorred physicists. What
was Robert Mayer and his law of conservation of energy to me?
Admittedly I did at first have my doubts as to whether wheel c would
also turn in the direction of the arrow. But I didn’t give the matter any
further thought — surely c would be carried along by the movement of al
the other parts.
Placing a on top of two other fixed wheels v and w (Fig. 3) sufficed
to complete my weight-driven excavating machine. This machine could be
used to construct canals — al you would have to do is to set 100,000 such
wheels in motion — and in three days’ time you’d have completed a canal
linking Berlin to Paris.
This explained the doubling of the canals on Mars: the Martians must
already have discovered perpetual motion.
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I worked out al these thoughts over the course of several hours — and
then my imagination began to run wild. And for the time being I wasn’t
able to check the three drawings more careful y.
I thought: Wel , surely in the end it won’t be quite so simple — but work
it wil .
And although I woke up each morning feeling skeptical, by evening I
would be fil ed with confidence again.
Over the next few days, I drew several hundred wheels — or, if truth be
told, I kept drawing the same ones over and over.
At times I found the whole thing quite amusing.
“Who wo
uld have thought,” I often said, “that I would invent the per-
petual motion machine al over again! This invention wil relieve mankind
of al its labors. The star Earth wil work on our behalf. The misery I’m
always harping on wil come to an end.”
I had a tinsmith fabricate a pair of metal wheels for me, and I purchased
some others as wel . But the model was so smal that the wheels would not
al turn properly. And I didn’t even get as far as attaching weights. I was
al thumbs and just couldn’t manage it.
These first unsuccessful attempts did not, however, prevent me from
dreaming of many further consequences of my great discovery, which, as I
said before, I always doubted in the morning and felt sure of by evening.
Wheel c often struck me as problematic.
A few notes dating from this period should serve to illustrate my frame of
mind:
7 January 1908
Al those squabbling potentates are nothing compared to this wheel busi-
ness. It makes everything possible — especial y electrical lighting at night,
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which wil astound al who behold it. This light business can scarcely be
imagined in al its glory. It makes it possible to be wasteful with electricity
and constantly il uminate everything in many colors — everywhere we go.
8 January 1908
How the airship pilots wil rejoice at these great masses of light! Al the
church towers can be flooded with light from top to bottom. Huge moun-
tains can be il uminated as wel . And then al the luminous vehicles and
roofs of buildings and great lighted streets — and the banks of canals . . . .
Add to this the il umination of the water itself, which can be lit up so
clearly that the fish won’t believe their eyes.
And what wil the inhabitants of other planets say when they see the
night side of the Earth so fabulously il uminated!
There’l be no denying that this is a major event in our solar system!
In the end we won’t even need the sun . . . . . . . . .
9 January 1908
Day and night I have visions of wheels before my eyes — regardless of
whatever else I might be thinking — nothing but wheels — wheels — it’s
quite eerie.
I no longer believe I’m the one doing al of this — someone else inside
me is making it happen. I’m simply preoccupied, against my wil , with the
same old problem. Perhaps this passivity is the best state for al artists and
inventors — it makes it easier for the Other in us to act.
What’s more, I am now constantly preoccupied with the big buildings
that are in store for us.
Giving sections of mountains architectural treatment need no longer
count as utopian — — — if the wheel works.
Funny how this “if” keeps coming up!
In any case, al utopias wil fal by the wayside — if it works.
Besides which, mankind has already made a bit of a fool of itself with
this utopia business — a couple of wheels can stir up more of a revolution
than al of mankind’s greatest intel ects put together.
I wonder if anyone would want to write a utopia that was set a hundred
years after the final discovery of perpetual motion?
Someone might be brash enough to venture it; there’s certainly no
lack of audacious souls who have never once showed the slightest fear of
ridicule . . . . .
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12 January 1908
My model is a failure. But that doesn’t stem the tide of my imagination in
the least. I regret only that my creed regarding the usefulness of misery as
an aid to development has been so thoroughly shaken.
13 January 1908
Building canals in the Sahara could make the whole desert fertile.
And in general, if one could instruct al the rivers on Earth to adopt
advantageous new courses, a tremendous increase in terrestrial fecundity
could be achieved.
In other words: Desert culture on a grand scale.
Compared to this, the Panama Canal is a bagatelle.
It’s scarcely worth mentioning . . . .
How I shal laugh — if it works . . . .
But I may not be laughing.
There’s something dilettantish about always needing to see everything
brought to fruition in reality.
Ludwig II, who insisted on sailing around his artificial lake dressed
in Lohengrin armor to take ful advantage of the Lohengrin ambiance,
always struck me as insufferable.
There’s something pathetic about people who have to have everything.
14 January 1908
Once — in former days — people used to move house.
Now — people can move mountains.
This may no longer be just a metaphor—if the wheel works — which
hasn’t yet been determined.
For the time being, it’s at a standstill.
But once it’s been set in motion, anything wil be possible. Perhaps the
Martians have already used their Perpets to dig up al their mountains.
Perhaps — we shal do the same.
Of course, it wouldn’t be too good if al the mountains on Earth were to
vanish — on the contrary — I’m appal ed at the very thought of it.
But — it just might be doable.
This would make it possible to build dams right down the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean and right through the Pacific.
Then the Baltic and Mediterranean could be exploited.
Al these things are absolutely not impossible if the wheel works . . . .
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15 January 1908
People once thought about carving the lines of the Pythagorean Theorem
into the sands of the Sahara on a colossal scale so as to give the Martians
a sign they could understand — maybe people wil now consider inscribing
the lines of the Perpet in the form of seven-mile-thick bands of light in the
Sahara.
But the funny thing is that these lines have not yet been determined with
any certainty — wheel c is becoming ever more problematic.
And I’d just laugh if nothing at al were to come of al this.
That would prove yet again that our only salvation lies in the imagination.
And my creed based on the development-enhancing properties of mis-
ery would once more gain recognition . . . .
18 January 1908
I spent three days thinking about a large architecture park. It kept getting
bigger and bigger.
Beyond al doubt, architecture must be elevated to greater heights before
it can approach the colossal tasks of the Perpet future.
Right now we are no longer satisfied with just putting up buildings. More
and more novel building materials must be tried out. And then — how can
we go on confining ourselves to simple, rectangular architecture? But even
architecture of this sort would be nicely advanced by the construction of
larger models.
Al of this can be achieved, but only by means of a permanent architec-
ture exhibition.
At first I thought any old tract of land would do.
But in fact it won’t, since the first thing the architect of the future must
tackle is how to handle colossal stretches of terrain. How can this be com-
municated by using tiny models?
At first I thought of the Spree Fore
st outside Berlin, and then I wanted
to buy up the Black Forest for exhibition purposes. But now I think the best
thing would be just to use the Harz mountain range in its entirety. You can
dig up the whole place as much as you like and exhibit large-scale plans in
smaller formats.
This is al rather grandiose. But it only seems that way.
Ordinary, everyday human beings have difficulty adjusting to grand
schemes.
But al of this is going to change — once the wheel is working — which
in al honesty is not yet the case.
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23 January 1908
This story keeps leaving so much out.
It is unfortunately quite certain that to start with everybody wil go trav-
eling — whether using their smaller or larger Perpets.
The affluent man wil also have his vegetable gardens and his pigsties
and cattle stables driving along behind him — after al , the Perpet is quite
affordable — it keeps on moving as long as the wheels hold up. In the early
phases, accordingly, we’l have to reckon with the complete dissolution of
our various fatherlands.
Things wil also take a curious turn where languages are concerned.
But I certainly hope that the cultural y most significant languages can be
preserved.
The German language must be saved in any case, otherwise my books
wil become utterly incomprehensible. And that would drive me stark rav-
ing mad.
But once people have settled down a bit, they wil come to see traveling
as a nuisance and turn their thoughts to more stately pastimes — unless
al of humanity turns imbecilic and can think of nothing beyond bowling
and dealing out rounds of Skat — which unfortunately is far from unlikely.
And there’s the rub. It’s general y the case that when people no longer
have to concern themselves with life’s necessities, their intelligence fails to
improve — rather, they act more and more as if their mental capacities have
deserted them somewhere along the way . . .
25 January 1908
Yesterday once again I spent the whole day wrestling with this model and
wound up with half of the brazing rods broken. I don’t know the first thing
about metalworking, and this attempt at craftsmanship seems absurd on
my part.
In any case, enormous observatories must be built — I’m planning to
invest al the Perpet’s profits in observatories immediately — and they cer-
