JOHAN WILHELM OTTO
1853 - 1855
Krystalgade 60, Copenhagen
Although it is a bit
incorrect to regard
Johan Wilhelm
Otto as match
stick manufacturer, we have
nonetheless decided
to include him
in the list as he invented
a so-called chemical
friction tinder barrel, a kind of
predecessor of
today's lighters.
Otto was
a goldsmith and lived
in a small house in
Krystalgade, where
Daells Department
store was built
later. In 1853
Otto got a 5-year
exclusive right to
his invention, but he
never paid
the fee for grant and
as bailiffs
could not find him
when he constantly
had new addresses,
his appropriation
discarded in 1855.
Johan Wilhelm Ottos drawing of his patent
