Philipp Sarlay, also named Filipp Sarlay was an Austrian principal of telegraph office of Austrian-Hungarian origin and a pioneer in technological and scientific accomplishments. He was a follower of naturopathy, abstainer and vegetarian. Furthermore, he was occupied by studying mathematical phenomena
Family
His parents were Anton Sarlay, in Klattau and Leonarda née Edle von Santa. His father was from the Hungarian nobility. His siblings were Joseph, Marie, Emerich, Karl and Anton. In his first marriage Philipp Sarlay was married to Marie Aicher. During one year all four children died. One year later Marie died because of scarlatina. Sarlay married Aloisia Josefa Aicher. With Aloisia he had three sons, Anton, Ferdinand, Emerich und Leo. Emerich and Ferdinand were passionate alpinists and the first ones to reach the peaks of Gamezkogel, Steinkogel and Zuragkogel in the Oetz Valley Alps.
Philipp Sarlay studied at the high school in Klattau and at the Technical School of Prague. As an enthusiastic student he lived the eventful year of 1848. In 1849 the first experiments on telegraphy started in Austria and in 1849 the Emperor decided to erect a telegraph network covering the whole monarchy. In 1850 Sarlay joined civil service as a telegrapher and served in Oderberg, Gloggnitz and Vienna. In 1856 he was sent to Innsbruck as a telegraph commissar by the Emperor's request. In 1870 he took over the position as inspector in Reichenberg and in 1872 the position as principal in Czernowitz. Among the constructions led by him there are the telegraph lines Lugos to Hermannstadt, Oderberg to Dembica, Dziedzice to Bielitz and Schönbrunn to Troppau. Between 1880 and 1890 Philipp Sarlay managed the agency Fohnsdorfer Kohle. He lived up to the motto: "Fresh, docile, happy, free" The magazine "Tiroler Technik" by the Tiroler Heimatblätter newspaper publisher named Philipp Sarlay as the first biker of Tyrol when he used his bike on April 24, 1869. One day later he drove the road to Wattens where the vehicle was admired. In 1885 he was portrayed in the paper of the Dutch Union of Velocipedists as the oldest biker of Austria. In 1877 member of the Scientific-Medical Club in Innsbruck. Sarlay also appears under the pseudonym of Yalras, F. .
Zeitschrift des Ferdinandeums fur Tirol und Vorarlberg: III. issue 56, page 440
Schulze, H.: Chronik sämtlicher bekannten Ritter-Orden und Ehrenzeichen welche von Souverainen und Regierungen verliehen werden nebst Abbildungen der Decorationen. - Chronique de tous les ordres et marques d'honneur de chevalerie accordés par des souverains et de régences avec les dessins des décorations. Berlin 1853, page 736
