• Cameras were attached to pigeons using a harness and breastplate armour
• Pigeons were trained to carry weight of cameras using wooden models

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 09:38 EST, 15 January 2013 | UPDATED: 12:14 EST, 15 January 2013

Long before satellites beamed aerial imagery back to Earth and Google Street View let us explore the world from the comfort of our living rooms, a German doctor came up with a slightly lower tech way to take aerial pictures - with a mini camera strapped to a pigeon.

In 1908, Dr Julius Neubronner patented the 'pigeon-cam', which could be activated by a timing mechanism.

The invention brought Dr Neubronner worldwide fame after he presented it at international expositions in Dresden, Frankfurt and Paris in 1909 and 1911.

Pigeons were fitted with mini Ticka watch cameras in 1908 by Dr Julius Neubronner to take aerial photos

This aerial shot was taken as one of Dr Neubronner's pigeons flew over the Schlosshotel Kronberg, in the Taunus mountain range of Hesse, Germany

As the pigeons flew over Germany, the camera used a pneumatic system that controlled the time delay before each shot was taken

Spectators in Dresden could watch the arrival of the camera-equipped carrier pigeons, and the photos were developed and turned into postcards which could be purchased.

In 1903, Dr Neubronner, an apothecary from the  town of Kronberg near Frankfurt, started receiving prescriptions from a sanatorium in nearby Falkenstein using pigeon post.

The pigeon post was discontinued after three years when the sanatorium was closed.

He delivered urgent medications up to 75g (2.6oz) by the same method, and positioned some of his pigeons with his wholesaler in Frankfurt to profit from faster deliveries himself.

When one of his pigeons lost its orientation in fog and mysteriously arrived, well-fed, four weeks late, Dr Neubronner was inspired with the playful idea of equipping his pigeons with automatic cameras to trace their paths.

This thought led him to merge his two hobbies into a new 'double sport' combining carrier pigeon fancying with amateur photography.

He later learned that his pigeon had been in the custody of a restaurant chef in Wiesbaden.

Neubronner's mini cameras weighed around 75g and were fitted to pigeons using a harness and a metal breastplate

Dr Neubronner originally used carrier pigeons to ship medication across Germany. He later realised that if the birds could carry drugs, they could carry the weight of a mini camera

Neubronner used a Ticka watch camera to take his aerial photos. He tested the camera on a train and while riding a sled before fitting it to his pigeons

After successfully testing a Ticka watch camera on a train and while riding a sled, Dr Neubronner began the development of a light miniature camera that could be fitted to a pigeon's breast by means of a harness and an aluminum cuirass - a single plate of metal armor designed to protect the wearer's chest. 

Using wooden camera models weighing 30 to 75g (1.1 to 2.6oz), the pigeons were carefully trained for their load. 

According to the doctor, there were a dozen different models of his camera. 

In 1907 he had sufficient success to apply for a patent. 

Initially his invention 'Method of and Means for Taking Photographs of Landscapes from Above' was rejected by the German patent office as impossible but after presentation of authenticated photographs the patent was granted in December 1908.

The rejection was based on a misconception about the carrying capacity of domestic pigeons.

The technology became widely known through his participation in the 1909 International Photographic Exhibition in Dresden, and the 1909 International Aviation Exhibition in Frankfurt. 

Dr Neubronner's photographs won prizes in Dresden as well as at the 1910 and 1911 Paris Air Shows.