[The architectural rods by Nikolaus Goldmanns (1611-1665)]

By the end of the 19th century the Philosophical Faculty of Würzburg University had compiled a notable collection of mathematical and scientific instruments as teaching aids. Early items are attributed to KASPAR SCHOTT (1608-1666), who was professor of mathematics in Würzburg from 1655 until 1666. Most of these "old-fashioned" instruments were sold to the Bayerisches Nationalmuseum München in 1877. One of the items is a set of six brass rods in a leather-covered case of unknown meaning and of uncertain origin. This paper identifies the instrument as "Architectural rods" designed by NIKOLAUS GOLDMANN (1611-1665), a German mathematician and architect who lived in Leiden. He described the rods in his 'Tractatus de stylometris', Leiden 1662. The University library of Würzburg owns a copy of this book that belonged to the Philosophical Faculty in 1754. On the basis of this treatise the following paper analyses the use and importance of these rods for the construction of the five classical orders of columns.