International Electrical Exhibition 1883
The International Electrical Exhibition took place from August 16 to October 31, 1883 on the grounds around the Vienna Rotunda . It was the third in a series of international electricity exhibitions that were shown in Europe at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century , based on the “ Exposition de l'électricité ” in Paris in 1881 and the “Electricity Exhibition” in Munich in 1882 provided a comprehensive and complete picture of electrical engineering at the time.
The show generally marked a turning point in the application of electrical engineering in public use in Austria.
Opening and procedure
The grand opening took place on August 16 by Crown Prince Archduke Rudolf in the presence of the director of the exhibition, Karl Pfaff, in the Imperial Pavilion. The importance of the use of electricity in society can be seen from the fact that the Crown Prince “expressed his appreciation to the art-industrialists in a particularly benevolent manner for the achievements through which they give the electric light the opportunity to achieve all its effects unfold. ”His tour, which he and 4,000 other visitors on the first day, took a full three hours. If on the first day admission was only for invited guests, on the other days anyone could visit the exhibition at an admission price of 40 guilders per person.
On October 31st, the decision was made to extend the exhibition until November 4th. In recognition of the employees at the exhibition, it was also decided on the last day that all of the income from November 4th will be paid out to them. The exhibition was visited by a total of 872,211 people.
Exhibition profile
A total of 575 national and international exhibitors took part. France was the second largest exhibitor after Austria. Other participants were Germany, Belgium, England, Italy, Denmark, Turkey, Russia and Switzerland.
The interior lighting of the rotunda alone was considered an event. In the lantern of the rotunda was a lamp with a luminosity of 40,000 candles. A further 20 lamps with 4,000 " candle strengths " each shone from the gallery . More shone from the lower gallery too. The individual lamps were from different manufacturers such as the one in the lantern by František Křižík , the others by Schuckert & Co. or Zipernowsky . Even today-looking curiosities such as combined gas and incandescent lamps were shown there.
The Leobersdorfer Maschinenfabrik presented its electric cable car at the exhibition, which promptly drew a lawsuit from a competitor who claimed the technology of the carriage carrier on the basis of an imperial patent and was right by the Leopoldstadt district court. The part in question was replaced within a few days.
The Austrian telegraph administration and the Austrian railways dominated the exhibition area in the rotunda. The focus was on telegraph apparatus and telegraph line material that were used in the telegraph stations. The Austrian railways presented their electrical railway signaling and lighting systems as well as a railway with electrically illuminated wagons that drove directly into the interior of the rotunda.
In the gallery of the rotunda, some fully furnished salons and rooms with Edison light bulbs were on display. This is where the first prominent appearance of the Austrian furniture maker and interior designer Portois & Fix took place, which achieved international fame as a result. Even Werner Siemens was represented by his inventions. Among other things, he presented the “ Thompson Recorder”, an electrical device that was used on the “ transatlantic cable ”.
A highlight of the exhibition was the presentation of the first electric tram, the Mödling – Hinterbrühl local railway .
A large number of electrically operated machines were shown in the machine hall, including an AC machine from " Ganz & Comp " and a dynamo machine from the " Weston Company ". An interesting detail there was the electrically operated printing press . When Crown Prince Rudolf toured the premises after his opening speech and also entered the machine hall, he was presented with a freshly printed copy of a newspaper with the speech he had just given.
Another station was the "hall for electrical power transmission", where the electricity supplied by the dynamos of the machine hall was converted into motion and used for work. Here the interested visitor was brought closer to the functionality of the machine operation through electricity, which was then used in electric railways and electric ships. The most powerful generator on display was able to generate electricity for 1,200 light bulbs.
In the pavilion of the French ministry, the French post and telegraph system showed the telegraphic type break apparatus. Visitors were able to listen to opera performances from the State Opera in their own "telephone chambers" ( theatrophon ). Worth mentioning is the Havelland Theater's own show , which presented electrical equipment to protect theater visitors.
In the art pavilion, Viennese artists exhibited their works of art, which were illuminated with electric light, and there was a separate pavilion for electroplating . The "Oriental Pavilion" was decorated with embroidery, carvings and carpets in an oriental style. A library and boiler house were also accessible as part of the show .
Technical innovations (extract)
- The first electric passenger elevator was introduced, but the cost was exorbitant. Every trip had to be accompanied by an elevator operator .
- On the sidelines of the exhibition on August 28, 1883, the Praterbahn, which is operated with 150 V direct current, was opened to public transport. The electricity was supplied via the two rails, which were insulated from one another.
- An electric boat with 78 batteries transported 40 people in 4 hours from Vienna to Pressburg
Marginal phenomena
As a result of the intensive occupation before and during the exhibition, standards and regulations were issued for Austria. For example, it was stipulated that both commercial production and forwarding are tied to a license to be issued by the state authority (so-called license ordinance ). On March 5, 1883, the Electrotechnical Association Vienna (EVW) was founded, a predecessor of today's Association for Electrical Engineering (OVE).
literature
- Niederösterreichischer Gewerbeverein, Franz Klein (Ed.): Report on the International Electrical Exhibition Vienna 1883 . IW Seidel & Sohn, Vienna 1885 ( archive.org ).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Viennese electrical exhibition - the opening .. In: Neue Freie Presse , August 17, 1883, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).
- ^ Vienna electrical exhibition. In: Neue Freie Presse , November 1, 1883, p. 5 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ Vienna Electrical Exhibition - The End. In: Neue Freie Presse , November 5, 1883, p. 3 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ a b c d e f International electrical exhibition .. In: Das Vaterland , August 17, 1883, p. 1 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ The cable car at the electrical exhibition. In: Neue Freie Presse , September 14, 1883, p. 5 (online at ANNO ).
- ↑ a b c d International Electrical Exhibition. In: Wiener Zeitung , August 17, 1883, p. 4 (online at ANNO ).
- ^ Website of the Technisches Museum Wien
- ↑ a b From the history of electricity ( Memento of the original from March 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 681 kB) accessed on March 7, 2009
- ↑ a b History of the OVE ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
