Atlas Obscura: Amazing Automata

Editor’s Note: What, you’ve never heard of the Atlas Obscura? The founders – Dylan Thuras and Joshua Foer – have created a compendium of the world’s wonders, curiosities and esoterica, which they’ve agreed to share with Viator blog readers. Click here to read previous Atlas Obscura posts.

From the Greek Pygmalion to the Golem to the robots of today, human beings have long been fascinated with bringing inanimate objects to life. Perhaps was this idea no more romantically achieved then during the age of automata. Long before the lightbulb, the telegraph, or the automobile, there were mechanical figures, moving and performing complex tasks.

Below we present you with three travel destinations where you can get up close and personal with some amazing automata.

Schloss Hellbrunn, Salzburg, Austria

Built in 1619, Schloss Hellbrunn was the summer playhouse of Markus Sittikus, the archbishop of Salzburg. The entire grounds were built with tricks and small water powered automata, such as a deer head which shot water from the tips of its antlers. A playful archbishop, he would trick his guests into walking in front of such devices before suddenly turning the water on.

The Mechanical Theater at Scholss Hellbrunn

But the crown jewel of Schloss Hellbrunn has to be the Mechanical Theater, added in 1750, a little more than 100 years after Markus Sittikus’ death. Powered by water, the incredible theater displays a bustling baroque town with 200 moving figures, repeating their clockwork motions to the water-powered organ music. Learn more about Schloss Hellbrunn at AtlasObscura.com, or browse Salzburg tours and Salzburg sightseeing tours on the Viator website.

Tipu’s Tiger, London

Sultan Tipu was infamous. Known as ‘The Tiger of Mysore’, he was a legendary enemy of the East India Company and, in the late 1700s, waged years of battles that became known as the Mysore Wars. He also had a real thing for tigers.

Tipu's man-eating tiger

Discovered by the British East India Company amongst the Sultan’s belongings was an automaton tiger depicted mauling a flailing British soldier. The tiger also contained an organ which emits the sounds of a man in his death throws when the bellows are activated, while the doomed figure repeatedly raising his arm in useless self defense.

Now on display at the Victoria & Albert Museum, the mechanical tiger is too fragile to be played regularly, but it is brought out for special occasions at the V&A. Learn more about Tipu’s Tiger at AtlasObscura.com, or browse London tours and things to do in London on the Viator website.

Mechanical Dragon Clock, Pays de la Loire, France

Here in Pays de la Loire, France’s old automata meets the new. Every hour on the hour the unassuming facade of a villa across from the imposing Chateau de Blois transforms into an enormous mechanical clock. Six golden dragon heads emerge out of windows, snapping their jaws, two giant clawed hands crush balcony railings, and a serpentine tail twirls from the attic window.

It must be 3 o'clock.

This piece of modern automata was created in 1998 by French artists Michell and Jean-Pierre Hartmann, as an homage to the legendary automatist, magician and illusionist Jean Robert-Houdin. Inside the, dragon infested building are Robert-Houdin’s automata creations are on display, both original contraptions and recreations, along with other tributes to illusionist magic.

-Atlas Obscura Team