Graz fairy tale train

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Graz fairy tale train
At the train station of the Grazer Märchenbahn
At the train station of the Grazer Märchenbahn
Route of the Grazer Märchenbahn
Ice world of the Graz fairy tale train
Route length: 2 km
Gauge : 600 mm ( narrow gauge )
   
railway station
   
siding
   
Track triangle

The Graz tale path is a narrow-gauge track with a track width of 600 mm in the tunnel of Graz Castle Hill , which at the lower level of the Castle Hill lift on Schloßbergplatz drives off.

history

During the Second World War , the tunnels of the Graz Schloßberg , which had been laid out since 1937, served as a refuge from air raids for 40,000 people from 1943 onwards. The extensive 6.3 km long tunnel system with 20 entrances offered the residents of the city protection.

In the post-war period, the air raid tunnels were initially no longer used, until the first fairy tale grotto railway was set up in a section of the tunnel system in 1968 and was accessible via an entrance in Wickenburggasse. Ten years later, operations ceased and the fairy tale grotto railway was out of service for four years.

The railway was reopened in 1982. From 1984 the drivable route was extended and the entrance relocated to Schloßbergplatz . The necessary construction work was supported by the private mining and works railway museum, which has been storing its rail vehicles in the tunnels since 1984 but is not yet open to the public. The train operation was switched to electricity and the tunnel walls were secured with shotcrete.

At that time there were many plastic dolls in the Schloßberg tunnels that represented 34 fairy tales such as Snow White and the seven dwarfs . At that time, the journey took about 20 to 25 minutes on the 2 km long route with 500 mm gauge. Electric locomotives powered by direct current such as the Heinz 1 locomotive , each with ten cars built in 1968, pulled over eight points at a speed of 4 km / h. Up to 20 passengers could ride on a fairytale train.

In 1997, the worn tracks were completely renewed during the construction of the Schloßberg lift and the Dom im Berg event location, changing the gauge from 500 to 600 mm. The railway was reopened in 1999, but was officially closed in 2000 due to the stricter safety regulations following the fire disaster of the Kaprun glacier railway and taken over by the city of Graz. After extensive fire protection measures, the railway resumed operations at the end of 2011.

From the beginning of 2012 to November 2014, the fairytale grotto train was redesigned. The necessary renovation of the tunnel and the railway was, also because of the changed legal provisions, much more complex than originally expected. Two thirds of the costs of 1.6 million euros were incurred for the renovation. The Graz Children's Museum FRida & freD was commissioned to redesign the content . It was officially opened on November 14, 2014 under the new name Grazer Märchenbahn .

Route

Fairytale forest
mirror
Spring escape point
Headgear
Ballroom

During the approximately 35-minute journey with one of two electrically powered trains, the train crosses a total of 22 stations and stops at 10 of these stations so that passengers can illuminate the exhibits with flashlights:

  • Otherworld (bus stop)
  • coach
  • Hexenreich (stop)
  • Flower meadow
  • Giant feet (bus stop)
  • Ausweichstelle autumn
  • Märchenwald (interactive stop)
  • Robber's den
  • Treasure Cave (interactive stop)
  • flight
  • Gleisdreieck Orient (interactive stop and turning point)
  • storm
  • water
  • Eiswelt (interactive stop)
  • Stones - transformation (interactive stop)
  • mirror
  • Spring escape point
  • eat
  • Thorn hedge (interactive stop)
  • Headgear
  • Guard
  • Ballroom (interactive stop)

Exhibition concept

The not undisputed current concept of the Grazer Märchenbahn is intended to offer children from 4 years of age and adults an equally impressive experience, instead of simply depicting the fairy tale content using puppets as in the past.

The fairy tale world was carefully staged, with the characters and fairy tale content not being explicitly depicted. The collage of light and darkness, travel and standstill, as well as comments and quotes from fairy tales that stimulate interaction, allow a wide variety of associations in the coolness of the dark tunnel and allow the passengers as much freedom as possible.

Web links

Commons : Grazer Märchenbahn  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. The spelling of the Grazer Schloßberg with ß instead of ss, based on the Grazer Magistrat, survived the spelling reform as a proper name.
  2. Barbara Stelzl-Marx (Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Research on the Consequences of War): The Grazer Schloßbergstollen.
  3. a b c d e History of the Grazer Märchenbahn - formerly Grottenbahn.
  4. a b Reopening of the Grazer Märchenbahn.
  5. ^ Graz Märchenbahn - Grottenbahn.
  6. Grazer Märchenbahn on Tripadvisor.
  7. Mirjam Marits: Into the tunnel, back to childhood. The press, January 10, 2015.

Coordinates: 47 ° 4 ′ 26.1 ″  N , 15 ° 26 ′ 15.3 ″  E