Elephant disaster
Elephant catastrophe refers to an incident that occurred on July 31, 1888 during a centenary celebration in Munich , in which two to four people were killed and 42 were injured when a frightened elephant triggered a mass panic .
Background and process
From July 29 to 31, 1888, Munich celebrated a magnificent centenary celebration in honor of Ludwig I's 100th birthday , the climax of which was a pageant. The group of "merchants and traders" presented themselves with a car that included eight Indian elephants , on loan from Carl Hagenbeck's circus.
A street locomotive decorated as a dragon crossed the train in front of the Siegestor . When she let off steam, the elephants shied away. The behavior of the elephants made the audience panic, and triggered by this unrest, the elephants tore themselves away and ran wildly trumpeting through Ludwigstrasse .
The escape of the animals led via Max-Joseph-Platz to the Hofgraben. Three elephants broke through the main gate of the Royal Mint and entered the building. The elephants ran across the old courtyard and the Viktualienmarkt to Gärtnerplatz . In the Auenstrasse, the animals were finally caught again by the fire brigade and a cavalry division . At least one elephant was shot.
Not because of the elephants themselves, but because of the mass panic of the audience, this incident cost two lives, and according to another source four, and caused 42 injuries.
On August 1, 1888, Carl Hagenbeck, who took part in the parade, commented on this incident in the Magdeburgische Zeitung :
"Applications submitted from circus Hagenbeck to parade elephants were restless during the long train, going out just after the parade in front of the Prince Regent in Ludwigstraße. The drivers got hooked immediately. Only the wild elephants, which were driven back by Chevaulegers with bare sabers, trotted down a side street, broke through the human walls in Brienner Strasse and on Odeonsplatz and caused a terrible panic. Everyone fled screaming in a mad hurry. Horses ran away, even the gendarmerie and the military could no longer hold out. (…) The elephants were chained by the front legs, but seemed to have broken the chains. Four elephants were then brought home with the help of cavalry. (...) On Marienplatz there was a general escape with terrible excitement. The unprecedented panic was caused by the premature steaming of the street locomotive used as a dragon in the pageant when the eight elephants were passing. In no time hundreds of spectators were on the ground; The other fugitives fell over these. The elephants raced apart in two groups and spread new panic in the adjacent streets. Numerous broken legs have occurred. The passers-by, driven to the wall at Residenzplatz, beat the elephants desperately with umbrellas, thereby increasing their ferocity. (...) "
On August 2, 1888, Hagenbeck spoke again in the Münchner Allgemeine Zeitung. He reiterated his view that it was primarily the disproportionate hysteria of the people that caused the situation. He himself had several times succeeded in calming the elephants down and bringing them to a standstill, but people pouring in afterwards spurred them on again and again by shouting and hitting them with sticks and umbrellas. He also referred to the eyewitness and reporter Dr. Friedrich Trefz, who broke a lance for the "innocent elephants".
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Wolfgang Till and Thomas Weidner: Typisch München . 1st edition. Münchner Stadtmuseum / Edition Minerva, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-938832-34-9 , p. 150 .
- ^ A b Wolfgang Till and Thomas Weidner: Typisch München . 1st edition. Münchner Stadtmuseum / Edition Minerva, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-938832-34-9 , p. 151 .
- ^ Rüdiger Liedtke: 111 places in Munich that tell a story . 2nd Edition. Emons Verlag , 2015, ISBN 978-3-95451-221-8 , pp. 136 .
- ↑ a b About elephants and the Munich dragon panic. In: zeno.org. Retrieved August 20, 2017 .
- ↑ Axel Hacke: The elephant for the office. In: Der Spiegel . January 1, 1997, accessed August 20, 2017 .