History of the fire brigade in old Austria
In order to better understand the structure of today's fire brigade in Austria , it is necessary to take a look at the prehistoric times of the fire brigade in today's national territory, as well as the fire brigade in old Austria as a whole. The fire service in the Hungarian part of the monarchy, in Transleithanien, developed more independently of this .
Fire extinguishing from antiquity to modern times
The fire extinguishing system can be proven in the area of the Austrian Empire long before the existence of organized fire brigades in its present form. A stone from 150 AD was found in Carnuntum , the inscription of which proves the presence of an extinguishing force. Something similar, if somewhat younger, was found in Flavia Solva and Vindobona . While one can speak of a form of organization here, the institutions are lost again and in the Middle Ages there was only unorganized neighborhood help. The first fire extinguishing regulations were not issued until the later Middle Ages. The oldest from Vienna are known from 1221, from Enns from 1222. With the beginning of modern times, fire-fighting tasks in the cities were assigned to the guilds . It was regulated by the cities or the manor. So were watchman used to early detection and alerting perform. Landlords were obliged to keep fire extinguishers available.
The four fire servants of the city of Vienna , which were introduced in 1685, shortly after the second Turkish siege , can be described as the first permanent fire guard duty . In 1688, Emperor Leopold I issued a Renewed Leopoldine Fire Regulations for Vienna , in which he prescribed a quarterly inspection and fire inspection of the buildings.
In 1722, Emperor Charles VI. the deletion regulations for the Duchy of Styria and the inner Austrian regions . While the Theresian Fire Regulations again mainly related to Vienna, in 1782 her son Joseph II published the Josephin Fire Regulations for the rural towns and for the open countryside in Lower Austria , which later also applied to all Crown Lands .
But the extinguishing system was still an obligation of the citizens and craftsmen who had neither training nor special motivation to fight fires.
It was not until the 19th century, first after the French Wars and later through various political and social developments in the second half of the century, that organized fire brigades developed on a larger scale.
The fire brigade was founded in the 19th century
In the 1840s, the first fire brigades were organized in Germany, among other things on the French model. One of the pioneers was Carl Metz , who himself manufactures fire extinguishers. A milestone was the year 1847, when the fire brigade got its name, which is still in use today. ( see: History of the fire brigade ). In Cisleithanien , the establishment of the fire brigade in Reichstadt in what is now the Czech Republic was the starting signal for a development that has formed the backbone of fire fighting in today's Austria.
First volunteer fire brigade in Reichstadt
The retired Imperial and Royal Rittmeister Ferdinand Leitenberger wanted to organize a trained unit of volunteers based on his experiences with various fires. He also studied various Pompiers corps abroad, as well as various specialist journals. When Archduke Ferdinand , who lived at his summer residence in Imperial City since his abdication, he was hearing for his ideas. In 1850, for example, the community council called a citizens' meeting at which Leitenberger was allowed to present his ideas. Of the less than 2,000 inhabitants of Reichstadt, 144 volunteers immediately volunteered to join the Pompiers Corps . The group, initially named as a voluntary vigilante group, changed its name to fire brigade the following year.
According to Leitenberger's idea, the fire brigade was divided into different groups from the start. The following groups were planned:
- Life and goods rescue department
- Fire engine operation department
- Water supply department
- Poker and Ladder Department
The members of the individual departments elected their leaders and deputies in order to achieve a cooperation based on trust. These commanders, in turn, made a pledge of obedience to a common commanding officer.
In 1851 this fire brigade was well organized, equipped and trained so that it could be officially established. After this facility set a course in this form and was able to demonstrate its skills in various fires, the entire preparation and organization are recorded by Leitenberger. In 1855 a brochure was published with the title The Voluntary Pompiers Corps or Instructions on how a fire brigade can be set up in every provincial town or in every larger village with inconsiderable expenses. published. Numerous illustrations also explained the description. In the following year these instructions were also published in Czech .
Böhmisch Kaunitz is documented as the next fire brigade founded in 1856 .
First fire brigades in today's Austria
Extinguishing systems are already documented in the two kk tobacco factories in Fürstenfeld from the years 1813 and Schwaz in 1831. However, their structures and organizations are not sufficiently known so that they cannot simply be classified as fire brigades. Other similar facilities are known from Hallein in the Kaltenhausen brewery from 1825, as well as in St. Florian Monastery .
Almost at the same time as Reichstatt, a volunteer fire brigade was founded in Linz after a professional fire brigade could not be financed. In response to a call from Mayor Reinhold Körner , 29 residents of Linz volunteered at the end of 1850. They pledged to participate in exercises and missions for at least three years. Due to the small number of members, you still had to fall back on the craftsmen, as they have already been committed. The mayor himself commanded this fire brigade. Since the fire brigade was not fully recognized by society, the number of members decreased again. In 1866, the fire brigade was re- established and command was transferred to Josef Hafferl .
In Graz in 1853, after research by the gymnastics teacher August Jakob Augustin in Germany, based on the Ulm model, a Pompiers corps paid by the city was decided and established with 24 men, consisting of various craftsmen. As of 1861, the corps, now called the Municipal Fire Brigade , consisted of 36 men. The Graz professional fire brigade was the second in Austria after Vienna.
In Tyrol, Franz Thurner, born in 1828, was the driving force behind founding a fire brigade. It was shaped by the events of 1848 when Emperor Ferdinand had to flee to Innsbruck during the revolution. After the revolution he learned to fight fires in an orderly manner on the Walz , which led him through various German cities as a rope maker. In order to be physically fit, he trained to be a gymnastics teacher and also tried to inspire young men. The Tyrolean state parliament also supported him. During the holidays he trained as a firefighter in Germany. A prescribed extinguishing system, which consisted of gymnasts, had been in place since 1826, but it did not work effectively. In 1857 he founded a voluntary rescue corps . Initially hostile to the gymnasts, it passed its baptism of fire in 1858 and received financial support from the local council. In 1864 the new volunteer fire brigade was entrusted with fire protection by the fire brigade and the vigilante group was dissolved. Thurner became the first commander appointed by the local council.
The gymnastics clubs, which were founded in the 1840s based on German models, such as in Salzburg , Hermannstadt , Asch or Bregenz , and in some cases also carried out fire-fighting services, had to cease their activities for political reasons as a result of the revolution. It was not until 1861 that associations were allowed to be founded again.
The first Turner fire brigades were founded between 1848 and 1851 in Bregenz , Dornbirn and Feldkirch . In 1852 these were dissolved again for political reasons and re-established in 1861. From this time on, the two mottos that are still in use today can be found for the first time, God to honor, to defend one's neighbor , and one for all, all for one .
In 1862, numerous other Turner fire departments were established in Wiener Neustadt , Hainburg and Leobersdorf .
In the years that followed, more and more fire departments were established throughout the empire. In Klagenfurt the sieve maker Ferdinand Jergitsch was the driving force behind the founding meeting in Klagenfurt in 1864 under the direction of Carl Metz personally and Jergitsch became the first commanding officer. As a result, Jergitsch sold the Metz devices and operated other start-ups in Carinthia.
Also in 1864, the Turn-Feuerwehr-Verein Bruneck was established as the second fire department in Tyrol . In Salzburg it was Karl Billerhart who, as a master tanner, was already a member of the Prague fire brigade founded in 1853 and now founded a fire brigade in Oberndorf near Salzburg . He was supported in this by the neighboring Bavarian fire brigade in Laufen , which had existed since 1860.
In Graz, as early as 1862, in addition to the existing professional fire brigade, a volunteer fire brigade was also set up with the founding of the gymnastics club. However, this was delayed due to the bureaucracy until 1865. Up until this point in time, it was forbidden to carry fire hatches and snap hooks as weapons . In 1865 the Gloggnitz fire brigades , the Turner fire brigade in Baden , Bad Vöslau , Ried , the city of Salzburg and Villach were founded.
In the meantime, however , the idea of the Turner fire brigade was carried on in western Hungary , which did not belong to Cisleithanien, and the voluntary Turner fire brigade was founded in Ödenburg in 1863, although it was not officially recognized until 1866. As a result, Pinkafeld (1871), Eisenstadt (1874), Mattersburg and Kittsee (1875) were founded. The Hungarian National Fire Brigade Association was also founded in 1870.
The development of fire brigades in the Austrian part of the monarchy took an unexpected boom due to numerous foundings.
With the First World War , the fire brigades began to motorize. On May 10, 1914 , the company started operating in Marburg an der Drau , which was then part of Styria.
- Number of fire departments between 1865 and 1901
| Crown land | 1865 | 1870 | 1880 | 1890 | 1901 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Duchy of Carinthia | 2 | 18th | 63 | 161 | 290 |
 |
Archduchy of Austria under the Enns | 13 | 68 | 408 | 884 | 1246 |
 |
Archduchy of Austria above the Enns | 3 | 24 | 113 | 270 | 475 |
 |
Duchy of Salzburg | 2 | 5 | 27 | 48 | 104 |
 |
Duchy of Styria | 3 | 17th | 122 | 240 | 378 |
 |
Princely county of Tyrol | 2 | 10 | 69 | 129 | 322 |
 |
State of Vorarlberg | 1 | 5 | 14th | 51 | 67 |
  
|
Kingdom of Bohemia Margraviate Moravia Austrian Silesia |
81 | 234 | 1147 | 3294 | 5689 |
Austrian fire brigades in the German fire brigade committee
While in Austria until the first fire brigades were founded already the first were in Germany Fire Brigade events held. These loose meetings of the fire brigades took place for the first time in Plochingen in 1853, organized by CD Magirus . As a result, fire brigade days were held in Stuttgart in 1855 and Karlsruhe in 1859. Representatives from Vienna and Innsbruck also took part in the 4th Fire Brigade Day in Mainz in 1860 . From the beginning, the Austrians were treated equally. On the 6th Fire Brigade Day in Leipzig in 1865, Captain Jergitsch from Klagenfurt proposed the establishment of a German Fire Brigade Association . However, this was initially rejected.
Another driving force in the development of the Austrian fire brigade was German industry, which, due to the larger market, was much further ahead than the Austrian. While the companies Knaust and Kernreuter were still at the beginning of the development, Metz delivered numerous fire extinguishing syringes to Austria. The company GA Jauck from Leipzig is also relatively well represented. They supported the fire brigades to such an extent that uniforms and even rules for the Leipzig fire brigade were introduced into individual fire brigades . The Deutsche Feuerwehr-Zeitung was also eagerly read.
Loose fire brigade connections arose, as in 1860 the Bodensee Fire Brigade Association, which is still in existence today, or the Free Association of Voluntary Fire Brigades in the Salzach Region , to which Austrian and Bavarian fire brigades belonged.
Due to the consequences of the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, the Braunschweig Fire Brigade Day was postponed to 1868. Jergitsch campaigned for the Fire Brigade Day to take place in Linz in 1870 . In fact, Linz was the first Austrian city to be awarded the contract to organize and hold the German Fire Brigade Day.
Although the Austrian fire brigades considered their own Austrian fire brigade association to be unnecessary, as they felt well represented at the German, the Klagenfurt fire brigade under Jergitsch promoted the establishment of its own association to promote Austrian interests towards Hungary at the 1st Austro-Hungarian Fire Brigade Day held in 1869 to be able to represent better.
Professional fire departments
As can be seen in the Czermack report from 1901, the development of professional fire services in old Austria was inconsistent. Various forms of organization of fire brigades were found, which can be roughly divided into the following groups:
- Cities with only one professional fire brigade, such as Prague (founded in 1853), Pilsen or Trieste and Pula .
- Cities with outer districts that are either not yet or already incorporated, such as Vienna. There were also smaller volunteer fire brigades in the suburbs.
- But there were also professional fire departments where there was an equal coexistence with the volunteer fire departments, as in Graz, Brno , Lemberg , Krakow , Przemyśl or Chernivtsi .
- Similar to a professional fire brigade, there were paid municipal guards who, in addition to police duties, also had to perform fire-fighting tasks. These were found in Gallicia , where the voluntary system did not penetrate and there were also compulsory fire brigades . This species was also found in the Italian communities in South Tyrol.
- Where the volunteer fire brigades were powerful enough, the professional fire brigade was only set up as a support and there were only a few municipal employees who also had to perform fire services. This was the case in Innsbruck or Budweis, for example .
There were a considerable number of fire departments that could be equated with professional fire departments in the various barracks and state-owned companies. The company fire brigades, as in breweries, mines or ironworks, were added to the volunteer fire brigades, although a large number of employees are only dedicated to fire protection.
German Fire Brigade Day in Linz
The fire brigade day dealt with a number of topics that continue to provide material for discussion today. For example, insurance protection , so-called support funds, was required for firefighters who had had an accident. Other topics that are now taken for granted were discussed just as intensely, such as common hose coupling threads . Business interests were also present, as Knaust wanted to assert his thread over that of Metz.
Due to the increasing number of fire brigades established, the number of delegates was also redefined. For northern Germany as well as for southern Germany six delegates were decided. From now on, three of the six for southern Germany were provided by Austria. These three were initially Grohe from Sternberg , Hafferl from Linz and Alois Hueber from Graz. But since it was mainly the state fire brigade associations that were currently being established that negotiated with the authorities, they too had more powers than the fire brigade committee.
Further path in the German Association
As early as 1874 it was decided that the chairmen of the state fire brigade associations should be delegates in the committee. These were also increasingly involved on the German side. One of the objectives in the Rules of Procedure was:
"The German Fire Brigade Days and the German Fire Brigade Committee aim to promote and train fire fighting in the German Empire and in German Austria"
But after the organization of the Austrian fire brigades improved increasingly among themselves, voices were repeatedly raised not to attend the German Fire Brigade Days. In addition, the legal situation in the two countries differed. The Austrian industry had also improved its level and so there were initiatives to found its own association as early as 1876 and the importance of the German association was becoming less and less important. One of these functionaries was Karl Richter from Mährisch-Ostrau . The platform for these efforts, however, was the meetings on the fringes of the German Fire Brigade Days, to which people continued to like to go for reasons of friendship. The 12th German Fire Brigade Day was held again in Austria, namely in Salzburg.
On the one hand, nothing could be decided at the fire brigade days, as the individual regional associations in both Germany and Austria were regulated too individually, on the other hand, these days were increasingly used only for holding parties and celebrations. For this reason there were only a few visitors who followed the fire brigade days out of real interest. As a result, Technical Fire Brigade Days were held, which were reserved for the specialist audience. The first of its kind took place in Dresden in 1886. About 500 listeners appeared, some of them from Austria and Switzerland. Here again, factual issues were in the foreground.
In 1898, however, at the 15th German Firefighters separation tendencies were more obvious, because the German regional fire associations wanted to join and as the Austrians did not fit into the scheme as it provides on the other side 1889 Reginald Czermack yourself a Permanent firefighters committee established had. According to Czermack's proposals, the state fire brigade associations should not automatically provide the delegates in the future. Instead, only a reduced number of members of the Austrian Fire Brigade Association should represent the Austrian fire services. After no agreement was reached between the Germans and Czermack in the negotiations in 1902, the Austrian delegation was the last co-organizer of the Fire Brigade Day in 1904, when the German Fire Brigade Association was founded.
As a result, however, after they were still willing to continue working together, a joint federal committee was founded in which, for Austria, Rohrer from Brno , Staudt from Josefstadt in Bohemia, Graff from Innsbruck and Schneck from St. Pölten sat.
The connections between the two countries remained upright and there was a lively exchange of ideas and friendship, especially in the neighboring regional associations of Germany and Austria. As a result, in 1912 the Austrians Czermack, Schneck, Rohrer and Müller from Vienna became honorary members of the German Fire Brigade Association.
The last meeting of the federal committee took place in 1913.
Formation of the state fire brigade associations
The first Austro-Hungarian Fire Brigade Day was held in Klagenfurt on September 6, 1869. Efforts to unite all fire brigades of the monarchy into one association failed because of Ödenburg's veto, since too few fire brigades were set up in Transleithanien, so that this part felt underrepresented. Thus a common approach had become impossible for a long time. Nevertheless, they wanted to hold a joint fire brigade day every two years, which was to be organized by a standing committee , but which was quickly forgotten.
The establishment of the German Fire Brigade Day in Linz in 1870 caused a boom in the start-up of fire brigades. 16 regional fire brigade associations were formed in the individual crown lands before, but also afterwards :
| founding year | Association |
|---|---|
| 1869 | Association of voluntary fire brigades in Carinthia |
| 1869 | Lower Austrian Fire Brigade Association |
| 1869 | Association of Moravian-Silesian Voluntary Fire Brigades |
| 1869 | Upper Austrian Fire Brigade Association |
| 1870 | Styrian State Fire Brigade Association |
| 1872 | Association of voluntary German-Tyrolean fire brigades |
| 1875 | Voluntary Fire Brigade Association of Bukovina |
| 1875 | Vorarlberg fire brigade district association * |
| 1875 | Association of Voluntary Fire Brigades in Gallicia |
| 1878 | Fire Brigade State Central Association for Bohemia |
| 1881 | Association of the voluntary fire brigades of the Duchy of Salzburg |
| 1882 | Zemská ustredni jednota mor.-slez. dobrovonlnych sboru hasicskyvh (Bohemian Association of Moravian-Silesian Fire Brigades) |
| 1888 | Carniolan State Fire Brigade Association |
| 1891 | Zemská ustredni hasicská jednota královsvi Ceského (Bohemian regional association, after the separation from the joint association in 1878) |
| 1894 | Austrian-Silesian State Fire Brigade Association (due to the departure of the Silesian-German fire brigades from the joint association founded in 1869) |
| 1895 | Czecho-Slavic Fire Brigade Association for Silesia |
The way to the Austrian Fire Brigade Association
The way to the fire brigade Reichsverband led similar to the German development over the individual fire brigade days.
The lack of a higher-level organization had a negative impact as early as 1871 during the preparations for the Vienna World Exhibition , which took place in 1873. Count Edmund Széchenyi , one of the leading figures in the Hungarian fire brigade and first state fire brigade commander, already suggested holding a European Fire Brigade Day. But the initiative did not get beyond joint discussions and a visit to the world exhibition with the fire fighting equipment on display.
The small regional associations in particular pushed for an association so that they too would have a better negotiating position with non-fire service partners such as fire insurance companies , but also with official bodies such as the Ministry of the Interior. But initiatives such as the Association of Moravian-Silesian Voluntary Fire Brigades in 1874 fizzled out because the large regional associations, such as the Lower Austrian one, repeatedly vetoed not having to give up any competencies. The association is also trying to advertise the Fromme’s Austrian Fire Brigade Calendar 1876 on the initiative of Carl Richter from Mährisch-Ostrau.
But since the fire police regulations appear over the years , the regional associations are upgraded and the formation of a Reich association is postponed. The partially existing memberships at the German Fire Brigade Days were also not beneficial.
It was not until 1880 that the 1st Austrian Fire Brigade Day took place. One delegate should be sent by the individual state fire brigade associations for every 20 fire brigades. From the industry German companies were present as exhibitors compared to 17 from Austria, so that one could clearly see that the Austrian economy was catching up. Although the fire brigade day was organized in an interesting way as part of a state exhibition, the visit was rather modest. Again, it was mainly the large associations, of which only a few participants showed up. Again it was Czermack and the other participants from Bohemia and Moravia who pleaded for a Reich Association. In addition to these efforts, there have been petitions that showed similarities in interests. For example, a petition was sent to the Reichsrat and the Ministry of Education to set up training in fire extinguishing in suitable schools.
In 1882, the 2nd Fire Brigade Day was held in Innsbruck as part of the 25th anniversary of the fire brigade's celebration, after other associations refused to hold it. As before, the fire brigade days were carried out according to a suburb principle , i. H. the association of the next fire brigade day organizes the entire process in contrast to when the process is organized by a fixed association. This fire department day was a great success. In addition to the 500 members of the Innsbruck fire brigade, around 2,500 firefighters from all over Austria came to Innsbruck. Even the railroad gave discounts. Delegations also came from other countries. In addition to the requirements such as tax relief or other legal adjustments to facilitate the fire service, a syringe test standard, a first standard for testing fire extinguishing syringes , is decided. This Standardized was due to a contest that advertised for the Bohemian and Moravian-Silesian Association previously among its member fire departments for suggestions. A petition was sent to the Reichsrat regarding the position of the fire brigade, according to which the fire brigades should no longer be treated as associations, but as community institutions. Another success was that the skepticism against a Reich Association was broken.
The Lower Austrian Fire Brigade Association worked out the organization for the 3rd Fire Brigade Day in St. Pölten by 1884 . This fire brigade day was not a success for Innsbruck and the attendance was not so numerous. Some associations were also missing, such as the Styrian one. There were also hardly any replies to the numerous petitions that were submitted on the last day in Innsbruck. Nevertheless, this was another step in the direction of a general association. After individual fire brigades were getting so old, advice was given to hand over an award to fire brigade members for their 25-year membership. However, a solution that exists today should still take 18 years.
In 1887 the Fire Brigade Day was held in Brno with the participation of almost all associations . The event coincided with the 20th anniversary of the Turner fire brigade in Brno. Here again provisions were defused that could give the impression of wanting to determine the state associations with a Reich Association. In principle, every regional association now had a vote and a right of veto in resolving the most varied of issues, even if it would affect all fire departments.
For the next suburb , Teplitz was decided as the venue for the next fire brigade day. Organized by the Bohemian State Central Fire Brigade Association under the direction of Reginald Czermack. With him a representative was elected who has always been in favor of a central association. There have also been the constant Austrian fire brigade Committee statutes in the founding meeting on March 25, 1889 in the City Hall of nine representatives of regional associations, and the others were excused decided. The plan for the central association was unanimously adopted by them.
The committee was registered as an association and approved by the Imperial and Royal Interior Ministry in 1890. It was headed by a chairman and two deputies and was re-elected after the fire brigade day. Czermack was elected as the first chairman. The seat of the newly created standing fire brigade committee was also Czermack's place of residence and seat of his company Teplitz. The competencies were now clearly regulated.
The new chairman was also one of those officials who stood for the fact that the fire brigade should also provide support in the medical sector. However, the committee members were indignant about Czermack when he offered the Austro-Hungarian War Ministry , without prior agreement , to transport wounded soldiers from the respective train station to the reserve hospitals.
Nevertheless, the 5th fire brigade day in Teplitz in 1891 was a testimony that the fire brigade must be seen as an Austrian institution. One of the first joint actions of the Fire Brigade Day was the creation of joint ranks and the rank badges for all of Cisleithanien. Shortly afterwards, in 1892, these were approved by the Imperial and Royal Interior Ministry .
As a result, a wealth of tasks had to be solved. In 1895, the committee was approved to use the imperial eagle in its letterhead as recognition of the highest authorities. (This was also kept in the republic so that the ÖBFV is allowed to use the national coat of arms ).
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After the fire brigade day in Klagenfurt in 1896, the throne jubilee in Vienna followed in 1898, when 20,000 firefighters, representing all crown lands, paid homage to Emperor Franz Joseph . In 1900, after long negotiations, it was possible to collect common statistics that were valid for all fire departments in the Austrian half of the empire, a total of 8,170 volunteer fire departments with a total of 353,564 men appeared in the report.
In 1900 a delegation from the committee traveled to Paris to found the CTIF , where Austria was a founding member. The fire brigade committee was then renamed the Austrian Fire Brigade Association .
The time until the fall of the empire
Since more and more contacts had to be maintained with the Reich authorities, whose headquarters were in Vienna, the headquarters of the Reich Fire Brigade Association was moved from Teplitz to the capital of the Reich. In addition, any future costs should not have to be borne by the chairman himself, but should be reimbursed by the committee. So far, Czermack's office costs have been financed from private funds. There were also calls for a secretary of their own, as was done in the Hungarian association.
In 1901 the Reich Fire Brigade Association took part in the International Exhibition for Fire Protection and Rescue Services. Already here one presents the voluntary system in contrast to paid fire brigades in an international comparison. At this event, however, nationality conflicts of the monarchy already openly occur. The Czech associations wear the Czech colors in red and white instead of the black and yellow badge.
For these reasons, the fire brigade day in Ljubljana was canceled in 1902 and held in Salzburg instead. Czermack resigned on this fire brigade day. Rudolf Rohrer from Brno, who was previously editor of the Austrian Association of Fire Brigade Gazette , became the new chairman, Karl Schneck from St. Pölten and Johann Schauer from Wels became deputies.
If there was continuous progress on the technical side, but organizational problems arose due to the increasing number of nationality problems - the Czech associations no longer appeared at the meetings.
Further fire brigade days were then only held in Vienna in 1906 and 1911. 1917 was in the war , although taken in view of the changed situation in the area of activity and the name extended to Austrian National Association for fire and rescue services , yet found on 5 August 1917, the last meeting of the association to which belonged not all crown lands instead.
Education and training
At the beginning of the fire brigade, not only the organization had to be rebuilt, but also the training, which consisted of exercises and training. In the gymnastics fire brigades, only physical fitness was available in this regard. All laypeople were on fire extinguishing. The problem, however, was that there were no management structures with previous knowledge.
In 1854 the university gymnastics teacher August Augustin, who was commissioned by the city of Graz in 1849 to prepare a study on fire extinguishing, had completed training documents with a large number of experiences that he had gained in Europe. Leitenberger's notes , who had prepared his brochure for the Pompiers Corps , were similar . Many of these suggestions were copied by Magirus, who wrote them in his book on training for the Ulm fire brigade. It can also be assumed that Franz Thurner brought not only equipment to Mainz, but also knowledge from the handbook The German Fire Brigade published by the local captain Carl Josef Anton Weiser .
Based on the German Turner fire brigades, their structure was determined in 1864 by Hanns Stingl and Ferdinand Jergitsch in Linz. The fire brigade was then divided into:
- Syringe operation team
- Steiger
- Tears
- Water feeder
- Rescue and protection team
The commandant had to make the division and to lead the overall exercises. Initially, the men were trained directly by the manufacturers on the devices. Such was Carl Metz was personally delivered 1864 in Klagenfurt as the fire engine and trained one of the men shortly before established fire department. When Jergitsch took over the distribution of these fire engines, he also combined this with practice on site . This training finally led to a practice and drill instruction that appeared to him in 1872.
In Salzburg, the first captain brought the training regulations with him from his wanderings in Prague. But knowledge was also acquired at the Laufen fire brigade, which was founded earlier. The teacher Friedrich Rösch, who came from Württemberg , published various rules and regulations in German and Hungarian in 1870 and brought the idea of a fire service to western Hungary , including under Carl Graf Batthyány to Jormannsdorf .
Not only the organization, but also the training meant that more and more fire departments came together to form units in order to standardize the training.
In addition to the general training that all men received, the first special training was necessary. For example, this included medical training. But the horn player's job was also an important one, as there was no other way to raise the alarm. These signals had to be standardized.
In 1896 it was decided that volunteers from smaller fire brigades should also volunteer at larger fire brigades, i.e. to do service and thus receive practical training.
The first fire brigade courses were held in Graz, where batch courses were organized by the regional chairman Josef Purgleitner in 1891 . For the time being, this only existed until 1895 because there was resistance from the local volunteer fire brigades against the students and further teaching activities were boycotted. The German State Fire Brigade Central Association for Bohemia also held its specialist fire extinguishing course in Reichenberg in 1892 , as this fire brigade already had a large and well-trained team and the large number of devices available meant that effective visual instruction could be guaranteed. In addition, the kk Staatsgewerbeschule had a course in fire extinguishing for several years. The courses, at which 70 participants received their theoretical training in the trade school and demonstrations from the FF Reichenberg, could be held by Reichenberg teachers.
equipment
While organized units first had to be created, technical aids such as hand pumps and hoses were already available. These aids were only available in cities where they could already be used. In the country, the extinguishing bucket , which was transported to the source of the fire by means of a bucket chain, still prevailed .
With the establishment of the fire brigade, however, the technical development suddenly made much greater progress. But here too, great differences between town and country were noticeable. Mobile pumps and hydrophores were soon used in cities . In 1854, Leitenberger also designed and patented a do-it-yourself pump for the fire brigades.
The taller buildings also called for corresponding ladders, which were later made mobile.
With the invention of the steam engine as early as 1769, pumps were only slowly developed further from manual drives to steam engine drives. However, the steam drive had the disadvantage that a lead time of a steam engine, which is caused by heating, still had to be compensated for by manual drive. It was only with the development of gasoline and diesel engines that vehicles got a bigger boost. At first only the pumps were driven by the steam engines and the vehicles continued to be pulled mostly by horses, but now both could be driven with the new engines.
The development of Austrian companies is also gaining momentum from the manufacturer's side, which initially consists of German companies such as Magirus or Metz, who deliver their devices to Austria and also train the team. In the second half of the 19th century, the companies Czermack in Teplice, Wm. Knaust and Kernreuter in Vienna, Gugg in Braunau and Rosenbauer in Linz were the dominant companies in the monarchy. In the case of the mobile ladders, which reached a height of around 12 to 22 meters, the producers were later from Germany, including Justus Christian Braun from Nuremberg, Lottholz & Hübsch, Magirus in Ulm, Metz in Karlsruhe, the Nuremberg balance turntable ladder and only Rosenbauer as a local company.
Museums
Despite the fact that in the decades after the Second World War many devices and equipment from this period were partly thrown away and, on the other hand, are no longer in the possession of the fire brigades by collectors, some fire brigades have kept exhibits. Since interest in old stocks has increased again in recent years, numerous fire departments have also set up a small museum. The CTIF also has its own certification body. So far, the "Fire Brigade Movement Center of the Fire Brigade Association of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia" in Přibyslav has only been recognized in the area shown in the Czech Republic . The Styrian Fire Brigade Museum is in the certification stage.
Literature and Sources
- ÖBFV : 120 years of the Austrian Federal Fire Brigade Association. Special edition 2010 yearbook, ISBN 978-3-9502364-8-4 .
- CD Magirus : All parts of fire fighting. Ulm 1850.
- Carl Weiser: The German fire brigade. Mainz 1855.
- Ferdinand Leitenberger : The voluntary Pompiers Corps or instructions on how a fire brigade or fire-life-saving extinguishing station can be set up in every provincial town or in every larger village with inconsiderable expenses. Already carried out in Reichstadt zu Bohemia. Prague 1855.
- Rolf Schamberger: One for All - All for One. 150 years of the German Fire Brigade Association. Bonn 2003.
- Adolf Schinnerl: Handbook on fire brigade history. Published by ÖBFV, Vienna 2005.
- Dieter Jarausch: Fire departments: How did they come about? Contribution to the proceedings of the 17th CTIF conference, Prybislav 2009.
- Hans Schneider: The relations of the German and Austrian fire brigades from 1861 to 1936 (= Lower Austrian fire brigade studies. Vol. 2.) Vienna 1990.
- Rolf Schamberger, Daniel Leupold: Fire protection history. Stuttgart 2015.
Web links
- Fire brigade lens: fire fighting and fire insurance
- Editions digitized by the Austrian National Library : Fromme's Austrian Fire Brigade Calendar (online at ANNO ).
Individual evidence
- ^ Manfred Mischinger: The Austrian fire helmets. Adjutum-Verlag, 2006, ISBN 3-200-00574-2 , p. 129.
- ↑ Austrian Federal Fire Brigade Association Subject area 1.5 Fire brigade history and documentation
- ^ History of the Pinkafeld City Fire Brigade , accessed on December 17, 2009.
- ↑ The first automobile extinguisher in Styria. In: The interesting sheet / Wiener Illustrierte , June 4, 1914, p. 11 (online at ANNO ). accessed on February 11, 2017
- ^ The founder of the United Voluntary Fire Brigade Tatzmannsdorf-Jormannsdorf , accessed on August 31, 2015.
- ↑ Fire Brigade Museums in Austria ( Memento from October 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ CTIF: Fire Brigade Museums ( Memento from October 14, 2012 in the Internet Archive )