Andreas Friedrich Bauer
Andreas Friedrich Bauer
Bauer took the keenest interest in König’s (sic!) plans; the work, already underway, was greatly aided when he was taken on the staff. It is in no small part down to his assistance, backed up by his practical and theoretical knowledge, that the realisation of König’s invention was effected with such aplomb and technical mastery, which is rare in the history of inventions.
Karl Karmasch, Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 1875
The son of a craftsman, Andreas Friedrich Bauer had been to grammar school in Stuttgart and university in Tübingen. He finished his apprenticeship as a Doctor of Philosophy at the instrument manufacturer Baumann. He subsequently went to England in 1805 out of technological interest and got to know the German book printer and mechanical engineer Friedrich Koenig in London. Together they designed and built the first jobbing presses and cylinder printing presses.
In 1817, nine months after Koenig, Bauer also moved to Oberzell near Wurzburg, where together they founded an machine factory. After Friedrich Koenig’s death in 1833, Bauer continued to run the business with great success until his business partner’s two sons could take over the company.