Clockwork Game: The Illustrious Career of a Chess-Playing Automaton

Karl has redecorated his father’s study to fit his Neoclassic taste. As dedicated a court politician as Wolf was, he probably wouldn’t have owned much artwork that sympathized so heavily with the French Revolution, but by 1806, Napoleon had defeated the Austrians at Ulm and occupied Vienna, and the Holy Roman Empire was only three months away from dissolution, so Karl’s choice of decor reflects more than just the changes of his home life — it’s probably a political move as well.

One bit of trivia in regards to the house itself — the von Kempelens actually had at least two other residences in addition to the house in Pressburg. They rented a set of apartments in Vienna, which is where Wolf actually died; they also inherited a farm in Gomba-Hubice from Wolf’s family, where Wolf spent most of his retirement. Rather than depict all three residences and ask readers to keep them straight, I squashed them all together and used the Pressburg house, with Wolf’s primary workshop and study, to represent them all.

I’m also squashing history as well– Maelzel didn’t actually become Court Mechanician until 1808 or 1809, but the effect’s the same.