California Bicycle Museum

The first vehicle in the evolution toward bicycles was invented by the German Baron Karl von Drais in 1817 and became known as the Draisienne. Von Drais offered his invention as a practical vehicle for stewarding forest lands—a task that involved traveling quickly over varied terrain—noting that the machine was efficient and, for some tasks, more suited than the horse. While the Draisienne pointed the way for bicycle development, the next step did not occur successfully until the 1860s—more than 40 years later. By the mid-1820s the initial success of the Draisienne had faded, and the hobby horse was relegated to novelty use.

Named for its inventor, Karl von Drais of Germany, the draisine was one of the earliest widely used two-wheeled, self-propelled machines. Lacking pedals or other mechanical drive, these “swift-walkers”, as they were also known, were simply pushed along by the rider’s feet. As simple as this was, draisines became the rage in Europe and America.

Manufacturer: Thomas Firth and Sons

Location: England

Museum Collection

University of California