Calafati (figure)

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The "Great Chinese"
The ring game around 1873

The Calafati (also Calafatti, Kalafatti) is next to the Ferris wheel and the Watschenmann one of the landmarks of the Wurstelprater in Vienna .

The calafati is a nine-meter-high figure of a Chinese man , also known as the "Great Chinese". Originally, it has been decorating a free-standing mast of the building since a renovation carried out in 1854 of Basilio Calafati's ring game pulled by a small steam locomotive (hence the name). Until 1945 the owners changed several times, and a planned demolition could be prevented by the monument office in 1922.

In 1932 the Ringelspiel and the "Great Chinese" were restored. For this, 80 m of brocade material and 17 kg of horsehair were used for the 11 m long braid . In 1935 the Ringelspiel was placed under monument protection. On April 8, 1945, the Calafati was completely destroyed during the Battle of Vienna .

On August 14, 1967, Ilse Pompe-Niederführ created a replica of the "Great Chinese" made of artificial stone , on which a plaque was unveiled in May 1968.

In 1978 the song "Calafati" by Peter Cornelius appeared on the single , in which he compares himself with the Chinese figure. ( "Like Calafati on the Prater Ringelspü 'I do and I don't know how to do it." - Like Calafati on the Prater carousel, I stand there and I don't know what happens to me. )

Two companies have used the name Basilio Calafatis: Calafatti Marketing- und Betriebs Nfg GmbH & Co KG - was the largest tenant in the Prater, operated a "flight simulator" for 4 years until the beginning of 2013, bankruptcy opened in June 2013. Basileo GmbH - filed for bankruptcy in July 2013 .

literature

Web links

Commons : Calafati (figure)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Calafatti & Fortuna , Wiener Bezirkszeitung, Wien-16 Ottakring, undated , accessed on August 26, 2013
  2. ↑ Soaring claims , Wiener Zeitung of July 22, 2013, accessed on August 26, 2013
  3. ↑ Calafatti bankruptcy in Vienna quakes as far as East Tyrol. Kleine Zeitung , July 20, 2013, archived from the original on November 5, 2013 .;