On the Trail of Johann Conrad Fischer in England

Johann Conrad Fischer (1773-1854), pioneer during the Industrial Revolution and founder of GF, travelled far and wide. He covered over 30,000 kilometres from his journeyman's hike at the age of 19 to his last trip to the World Exhibition in London 60 years later. In seven diaries, he reported on his experiences, technological discoveries and social contacts.

To mark Fischer's 250th birthday, we travelled to England via Paris in June 2023 and visited important stops and highlights from Fischer's travel journals to look for traces of his time and report on what has changed since then. Here you can watch the daily video reports made along the way.

Teaser: On the Trail of Johann Conrad Fischer in England

Teaser film for the anniversary trip project, shown for the first time at the vernissage of the Iron Library's Online Edition of Fischer's travel journals

Episode 1: Fischer and Bonaparte

On the first leg of the jubilee journey to England, Nicolau Lutz stops along the way to visit a place that made a strong impression on Fischer and which is recorded in his travel journal from 1814.

Episode 2: The Schaffhausen-London Connection

What brought Johann Conrad Fischer to London in 1794? What was the connection to Schaffhausen? On the second day we look at how Fischer came to England and what sort of city he found when he arrived.

Episode 3: The First Modern City

What made London the first modern city? In the video of the third day, we visit some of the marvels of early nineteenth-century construction engineering that impressed Fischer.

Episode 4: Fischer's Networking and Faraday

Fischer was a networker on a grand and international scale. On the fourth day, we looked at one of his most important contacts from the world of science: Michael Faraday.

Episode 5: Fischer the Metalurgist

If there was one occupation that really defined Fischer's life, it was metallurgy. On the fifth day we travelled to Sheffield, the birthplace of modern steelmaking, and looked at Fischer's visits there.

Episode 6: The Sights and Sounds of Modern Industry

On the sixth day we visited Leeds to follow in Fischer's footsteps and visit a place where the spectacle of modern factory production first took place.

Episode 7: Fischer's English food and Drink

On the seventh day, we looked at Fischer's fondness for English food and drink, in particular his praise for an unexpected 19th century culinary invention.

Episode 8: Powering the Industrial Revolution

Steam powered the industrial revolution. On the eighth day, we visited the oldest working steam engine in the world in Birmingham and saw Fischer's living legacy in Coventry.

Episode 9: Fischer and The Great Exhibition

Day nine was dedicated to Fischer's last trip to England in 1851, where he visited the first World's Fair in Hyde Park.

Episode 10: Fischer and the World Beyond

How did Fischer experience the world beyond his immediate destination, and how did it influence him? On the tenth day, we visited Chinatown and the British Museum to find out.

Episode 11: Fischer and the World to Come

On the last day, we set out to explore Fischer's view of the future and the technologies it might bring.

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