Johann Bessler Perpetual Motion Machine Bessler Rad

Johann Ernst Elias Bessler, or Orffyreus as he preferred to be called, created a series of wheels he claimed were driven by the position, arrangement and motion of their own hidden internal weights. Bessler’s first public demonstration of what he called “true perpetual motion“ was on 6th June 1712 at his home in Gera, Germany. This machine was a hollow wooden wheel a little over 4.5 feet diameter and 4 inches thick with a horizontal axle supported at each end by vertical posts. The wheel self-rotated at a constant 60 RPM when unrestrained and Bessler said it would continue turning at this speed for as long as desired or until it was stopped and held.