INVENTORS from Austria

Top 5

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Austrian Inventors of all time. This list of famous Austrian Inventors is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

1. Gaston Glock (1929 - 2023)

With an HPI of 60.90, Gaston Glock is the most famous Austrian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages on wikipedia.

Gaston Glock (German: [ˈɡastɔn ˈɡlɔk]; 19 July 1929 – 27 December 2023) was an Austrian engineer and businessman. He founded the company Glock. When he decided, in 1980, to enter the competition for a new Austrian service pistol, he hired two engineers who had worked on the development HK's first two polymer-frame pistols, the VP70 and P9 models. The first Glock pistol, chambered in 9x19mm and named the Glock 17 because it was Glock's 17th patent, entered Austrian military and police service in 1982. It became one of the most influential and popular handguns of the 20th century, leading to a succession of other models in a variety of sizes and chamberings as well as an industry-wide trend toward polymer-frame, striker-fired pistols.

2. Robert Adler (1913 - 2007)

With an HPI of 59.45, Robert Adler is the 2nd most famous Austrian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 36 different languages.

Robert Adler (December 4, 1913 – February 15, 2007) was an Austrian-American inventor who held numerous patents. He worked for Zenith Electronics, retiring as the company's Vice President and Director of Research. His work included developing early sound-based remote controls for televisions, which were the standard for 25 years until replaced by infrared (IR) remotes that could transmit more complex commands.

3. Georg Luger (1849 - 1923)

With an HPI of 58.24, Georg Luger is the 3rd most famous Austrian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 23 different languages.

Georg Johann Luger (6 March 1849 – 22 December 1923) was an Austrian designer of the famous Luger pistol and the 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge.

4. Viktor Schauberger (1885 - 1958)

With an HPI of 57.54, Viktor Schauberger is the 4th most famous Austrian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Viktor Schauberger (30 June 1885 – 25 September 1958) was an Austrian forest caretaker, naturalist, philosopher, inventor and pseudoscientist.

5. Štefan Banič (1870 - 1941)

With an HPI of 49.86, Štefan Banič is the 5th most famous Austrian Inventor.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Štefan Banič (Slovak pronunciation: [ˈʂcefam ˈbaɲitʂ]; 23 November 1870 – 2 January 1941) was a Slovak inventor who patented an early parachute design. Born in Jánostelek (Slovak: Neštich, Smolenická Nová Ves), Austria-Hungary (now Smolenická Nová Ves, a part of Smolenice, Slovakia), Banič immigrated to the United States and worked as a coal miner in Greenville, Pennsylvania. After witnessing a plane crash in 1912, Banič constructed a prototype of a parachute, and on August 25, 1914 was granted US patent, No. 1,108,484. The design which was radically different from others – it was a type of umbrella attached to the body, but it is claimed that he successfully tested it in Washington, D.C. jumping first from a 15-story building and subsequently from an airplane in 1914. He sold his patent to the U.S. Army, although there is no evidence that it was ever used. After World War I Banič returned to Czechoslovakia where he helped to explore the Driny karst cave in the foothills of the Little Carpathian Mountains, close to his hometown of Smolenice.