Sabor: the Swiss robot that earned global fame

"Do you need a light?" Zeughaus Teufen

One of the world’s first remote-controlled robots, called Sabor, hails from Switzerland. Built in 1923, it is now back on display at its birthplace in Teufen in canton Appenzell Outer Rhodes.

In 1961, Sabor was taken on a tour of the United States and was set to share the stage one evening with the singer Frank Sinatra. But the jazz club event had to be cancelled – Sabor was too tall to go down the stairs to the club.

The robot designed by inventor August Huber from Teufen, canton Appenzell Outer Rhodes, is 2.37 metres tall. It was not the first robot to be built, but it was certainly one of the largest. It is notable that Sabor was developed by a private individual rather than a company.

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The Swiss robot, known as Sabor, presents flowers to Queen Juliana of the Netherlands in 1955. Zeughaus Teufen

Sabor appeared in television programmes such as Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff’s TV quiz in 1953. Zeughaus Teufen

Sabor at a performance in Basel, photographed by Hans Bertolf. Zeughaus Teufen

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Huber began building Sabor when he was only 12 year old. It’s unclear where the son of a textile family got his inspiration – perhaps from Appenzell’s textile industry and its weaving and embroidery machines.

“The mechanical skills needed were certainly a foundation for his experimentation and tinkering,” says Lilia Glanzmann, co-director of the Zeughaus Teufen, where Sabor is currently on display.

Science fiction in the 1920s

Sabor emerged at a time when the world was captivated by science fiction and new electrical and radio technologies. The term “robot” had just been coined in Czech author Karel Čapek’s 1921 play, and in 1927, Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis featured a machine-woman. These early imaginings of artificial life may have influenced Huber, who balanced his career in the family textile business with his passion for robotics.

Sabor’s first version, made of wood and fabric, could already be controlled remotely. It later acquired an aluminium shell and a copper head crafted by a German artist. Sabor could roll slowly on wheels, wave, turn its head, blink, move its mouth and even speak. Inside, a complex system of remote-controlled switches and 500 metres of wiring powered its movements.

The first Sabor robot, created in 1923, was made of wood but was already radio-controlled. Inventor August Huber was 12 years old. Zeughaus Teufen

Debut at the Swiss National Exhibition

In 1939, Sabor made its public debut at the Swiss National Exhibition in Zurich, embodying the possibilities of new technology. As a presenter interacted with the audience, a hidden operator controlled Sabor via a telephone dial, lending the robot a voice and fielding questions using an encyclopaedia for quick reference. Sabor even had a trick – it could light a cigarette, which at the time made it seem even more human.

Amazement and disbelief

After a quiet period during the Second World War, Sabor toured the world in the 1950s, captivating audiences from Europe to Israel. In the Netherlands, the Swiss robot presented flowers to the Queen; in Denmark, it met a prince. Audiences would gather, marvelling at Sabor’s lifelike movements while often questioning whether a human was hidden inside.

Journey overseas

In 1961, Sabor travelled to the US, where it appeared on the famous Ed Sullivan Show but missed the chance to perform alongside Frank Sinatra. By then, Huber had sold Sabor to electrical engineer Peter Steuer, who continued to showcase it internationally. In 1967, curator Harald Szeemann featured Sabor in a “Science Fiction” exhibit at the Kunsthalle Bern. But by the mid-1970s, Sabor faded from public view as the personal computer age began, resting in Steuer’s garage until it was later displayed at the EBM Museum in Münchenstein, near Basel, now called “Primeo Energie Kosmos.”

Return to its roots

Now, nearly 100 years since its creation, Sabor can once again be viewed in Teufen. With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), Glanzmann sees echoes of Sabor’s era: “There’s still that magical moment of not fully understanding how something works, and that wonder is certainly relevant again with AI today.”

Translated from German using DeepL/amva