Have a look at “Tradinno”, an impressive fire breathing mechanical monster that was just listed Listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest walking robot. This 11-ton animatronic dragon is 51 feet long, has a 40-foot wingspan and was built to be the star attraction in a German folk play called Drachenstich.
Drachenstich (“Slaying of the Dragon”) is a German folk play that has been performed in the Bavarian town of Fürth im Wald for over five hundred years. Fürth is known in Germany as “Drachenstadt” (City of dragons) and every August its town square is turned in to a large open-air arena from the Middle Ages so that the Dragon slaying can be reenacted during the Germnay’s oldest ongoing folk festival.
Here’s a promotional trailer for Drachenstich from 2010:
Tradinno – the name is a portmanteau of “tradition” and “innovation” – was built by a team of engineers at Germany’s Zollner Elektronik AG. Originally commissioned in 2001, the animatronic dragon is the result of almost a decade of research and development. It’s the culmination of an ongoing evolution that Drachenstich’s giant Dragon puppet has been undergoing for centuries (a fascinating history of the Dragon with photos of its various iterations dating back to the 19th century can be found here).
Tradino can be seen annually in Fürth im Wald every August during Further Drachenstich. During the rest of the year he can be seen in his “Dragon’s Den” near the festival site. Visit www.further-drache.de for more information.
Via NBC News.
