Phillip Reis

A comic about the invention of the telephone

Most people believe that the telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell, when in fact it was not. Emil tells the story of how it really went down. The result is part of a series of comics commissioned by the Deutsche Museum Munich for an exhibition on the topic of Anthropocene.

The Comic

As a student at the Universität der Künste in Berlin, Emil was assigned to illustrate the story of the invention of the telephone. As he got the assignment he was surprised by the fact that the German Johann Philipp Reis had invented the telephone and not Alexander G. Bell as many people tend to believe. This discovery was the starting point for Emil’s comic, which addresses the full story of how the telephone was actually invented. The comic was drawn in Pencil

The inventor Phillip reis in front of a papier-maché model of an ear in his workshop outside Frankfurt am Main

The horse eats no cucumber salad - the memoirs of Graham Bell. I was only 11 years old when Philip Reis first transferred sound through electricity

Deutsch: "Das Pferd frisst keinen Gurken Salat - Die Memoíren des Graham Bell. Ich war elf Jahre alt, als Phillip Reis erstmals Töne durch Strom übertrug.

Reis presents his telephone to the other scientists in Frankfurt, by saying

He first presented his invention in Oktober 1861 to the members of the Frankfurter Association of Physicists.

Deutsch: Im Oktober 1861 stellt er sein «Telephon» den Mitgliedern des Physikalischen Vereins in Frankfurt vor.

Graham Bell and his brother in Scotland at home playing with an early version of Reis's telephone.

Four years later I held an example of his invention in my own hands and had vision. There was of course improvements to be done.

Deutsch: Vier Jahre später hielt ich selber solch ein Gerät in den Händen und hatte eine Vision. Natürlich waren noch Verbesserungen nötig.

Antonio Meucci in his workshop working on his own version on the Telephone

But someone else should do it for me. The first one was the Theater technician Antonio Meucci. He too worked successfully on a telephonic device.

Deutsch: Aber das sollten andere für mich erledigen. Der Erste war der Theatermechaniker Antonio Meucci. Auch er arbeitete erfolgreich an einem Fernsprechapparat.

Bell visiting the old workshop of Meucci after he has had to give it up because of bankruptcy

Unfortunately for him, Meucci didn't have enough money to register the Patent. He was bankrupt and taking over his old workshop I took over his plans too.

Deutsch: Aber Meucci hatte nicht genügend Geld, um ein Patent anzumelden. Ich übernahm seine Werstatt und kam so an seine Unterlagen.

Bells competitor holds the door open to a women, unknowingly to him the wife of Bell, who will beat Grey at registering a patent for the Telephone at the US patents office.

Because of my wife's good connections I was able to register my Patent just before my competitor, even though his worked and mine did not.

Deutsch: Dank der guten Verbindungen meiner Frau gelang es mir mein Patent kurz vor meinem Konkurrenten Elisha Grey anzumelden, obwohl seines funktionierte und meines nicht.

Showing a Bell telephone factory, in his expansion into a conglomerate.

I could help my self to details from Grey's files, and thereby greatly improve my own telephon. Nothing could stop me now!

Deutsch: Ich konnte mir technische details aus Greys Akten besorgen und dadurch mein Telefon wesentlich verbessern. Nun war der Weg frei!

Bell stands in his AT & T headquarter overlooking an urban skyline from his own skyscraper.

My telephone network(AT&T) has now a global reach. I WASN'T THE FIRST, BUT I WAS THE BEST!

Deutsch: Mein Telefonnetz umspannt heute die ganze Welt. ICH WAR ZWAR NICHT DER ERSTE, ABER DER BESTE!

The Book

The full title of the book "Anthropocene - 30 milestones on the way to a new era - A comic anthology" (Anthropozän 30 Meilensteine auf dem weg in ein neues Erdzeitalter eine comic-anthologie). It was edited by A. Hamann, R. Leinfelder, H. Trischler, H. Wagenbreth and published by Deutsches Museum in cooperation with H. Wagenbreths illustration class of winter semester 2013/14 at the University of Arts Berlin.
In the form of narrative comic strips, the book Anthropocene tells the stories of the 30 revolutionary milestones invented by man through the past two hundred years.

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