Gsellmann’s World Machine

Free entrance

Farmer Franz Gsellmann, inventor of the “Weltmaschine” (World Machine), was born in Styria on 13th May 1910. The world must have seemed a thoroughly puzzling place for him to have specially designed such a complex contraption to fathom it. It all began in 1958 when Gsellmann saw a photo of the Atomium at the World Fair in Brussels. After going to Brussels to inspect it, he returned to his farm in Kaag near Edelsbach/Feldbach and immediately set to work. In 1981, he declared that his life’s was now complete, and forthwith quit this world.

Among early visitors to the mechanical masterpiece were Swiss iron sculptors Jean Tinguely and Bernhard Luginbühl. The comparison with their celebrated works from the world of art highlights the Daedalean uniqueness of Gsellmann’s creation, which combined the spirit of enquiry and religious salvation into a sculptural cosmos of its own.
 

After the talk, the film Die Weltmaschine (1981, 100 min) will be screened. Director: Peter Patzak, Script: Christine Nöstlinger.

Guido Magnaguagno
(b. 1946) was curator and deputy director at the Kunsthaus Zürich from 1980-2000, and director of the Tinguely Museum in Basel from 2001-2009.