Hermann Lattemann, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Hermann Lattemann

German engineer

Date of Birth: 14-Sep-1852

Place of Birth: Gebhardshagen, Lower Saxony, Germany

Date of Death: 14-Sep-1894

Profession: engineer, balloonist, acrobat

Nationality: Germany

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Hermann Lattemann (September 14, 1852, Gebhardshagen near Braunschweig – June 17, 1894, Krefeld) was a German balloon pilot and inventor who experimented with an early prototype of a parachute. Together with his wife Käthe Paulus, Lattemann designed a parachute prototype in an attempt to make balloon flights safer.
The main invention was to have parachutes folded and packed in bags. Lattemann died during a test.
At age 42, his parachute failed to open, although his wife's parachute did open, when they both jumped out of a balloon named "Fin de Siècle", and she watched his fall in horror.
Little or no money was made from this invention following his death, but during World War I improvements made by his wife and sold as Paula's parachute, made her a fortune, lost later on due to inflation.