Herrmann Wall Phone

The Herrmann wall phone was created by the Portuguese inventor, Maximiliano Augusto Herrmann, in 1880. Known as "privileged phone," or call phone button, composed of two headphones that are covered in textile fiber and a fixed microphone. At the front is located a fixed microphone round in shape and each of the sides of the phone body are headphones wood conical fixing the phone body side through two long cords coated fiber textile green color. Headphones in the rest position set on metal supports at the bottom of the cabinet. The top of the wooden box has six metal studs for fixing the terminals of telephone wire to the public network connection and the top front that has spiked a metal plate of golden color with the inscription: "HERRMANN TELEPHONE PRIVILEGED".
It is a "special" phone, which had a significant role before the opening of the public lines of Lisbon and Porto, was widely used in private lines, point to point links, before the establishment of public networks in Lisbon and Porto, in 1882.
In 1882, when we opened the public telephone networks of Lisbon and Porto, they were already installed more than 100 Herrmann model phones.
Maximiliano Augusto Herrmann was born in Lisbon on 17 April 1838. He attended the Industrial Institute of Lisbon, 1857-1862, where he was disciple of Francisco Fonseca Benevides, which contributed to his interest in the study of electricity and its applications. Herman performed many works that have been awarded internationally. Four years after the creation of the wall phone, in 1886 he was chosen to run the project that would allow inform the exact time the ships anchored in the Tagus, and electrically connected the "balloon-sign" Port of Lisbon to the Astronomical Observatory.
Herrmann also performed the first private installation of electricity in Lisbon. It also commissioned numerous works on military fortifications. Between 1895 and 1898, along with its great industrial activity, Maximilian Herrmann was a professor at the Industrial School Marquis of Pombal, where he conducted the chair of Physics.