His pioneering scientific work, the development of experimental methods and repeatable demonstrations on the physics of the vacuum , atmospheric pressure , electrostatic repulsion, his advocacy for the reality of " action at a distance " and of "absolute space " were noteworthy contributions for the advancement of the Scientific Revolution.
Von Guericke was a very pious man in the Dionysian tradition [ clarification needed ] and attributed the vacuum of space to the creations and designs of an infinite divinity. Von Guericke described this duality "as something that 'contains all things' and is 'more precious than gold, without beginning and end, more joyous than the perception of bountiful light' and 'comparable to the heavens'.
Otto von Guericke was born to a patrician family of Magdeburg. He briefly returned home before continuing his studies at the Academia Julia in Helmstedt and the universities of Jena and Leiden. He concluded his academic education with a nine-month Grand Tour to France and England. Upon his return to Magdeburg in he married Margarethe Alemann, with whom he had three children Anna Catherine, Hans Otto, and Jacob Christopher before her untimely death in Von Guericke was the offspring of one of Magdeburg's leading patrician families, that were well educated and well connected.
His father and grandfather had been life-long members of the city council and at various occasions during their careers been appointed to serve as mayor of the city. In , Otto von Guericke started his career as political representative of Magdeburg and accepted an official appointment to join the city council. However, in , the Thirty Years' War had broken out. This exceptionally long, tragic and destructive conflict would soon also descend upon Magdeburg. Only a few years later, he had luckily fled from the city before an army of the imperial Catholic League , led by the Count of Tilly had completely surrounded and cut off Magdeburg.
The attack culminated in the single most devastating event of the entire war, namely the Sack of Magdeburg. In May , the imperial troops had crushed the city walls and indiscriminately plundered the riches. Around eighty percent of its more than 25, inhabitants perished.
