Julius Lott

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Julius Lott (born March 25, 1836 in Vienna , † March 24, 1883 ibid) was an Austrian railway pioneer and construction officer . In addition to planning and executing various railway lines, Lott made a name for himself as the builder of the Arlbergbahn . Lott did not live to see its completion, which is why legends grew up around his untimely death for a long time which have now been refuted.

Julius Lott, builder of the Arlbergbahn

Life

Julius Lott, who was born in Vienna, received his first schooling in Göttingen , where his father Dr. Franz Carl Lott (1807-1874), at the local university teaching. After his father was appointed to the University of Vienna , Julius Lott attended the "kk Akademische Gymnasium " and the Technical University in Vienna. Julius Lott completed his technical studies at the University of Karlsruhe in 1858 . During his studies in Karlsruhe he became a member of the Corps Saxonia in 1857 . In Karlsruhe , Julius Lott found his first job with the construction service of the Baden State Railways after a short period of work as a supplementary teacher .

In 1861 Julius Lott received the call of Carl von Etzel , the builder of the Brenner Railway . Etzel initially entrusted him with the planning work and later the construction of the Patsch - Matrei section , the most difficult part of the entire route. Lott did this job with flying colors and made a name for himself as a railway technician for the first time.

The construction director of the Brennerbahn Achilles Thommen , who moved to the Hungarian State Railways as construction director after the completion of this project , was so impressed by Lott's achievements that he entrusted him with the management of route work for the Hungarian railways from 1867–1868 . In particular, Lott was in charge of the alignment of the Karlstadt / Karlovac - Fiume / Rijeka (1867) and Grosswardein / Oradea - Klausenburg / Cluj-Napoca (1868) routes . His successful work brought Lott in 1869 the promotion to chief inspector in the management of the Hungarian State Railways, where he was active in the state railroad construction and construction supervision.

Lott had to pass his greatest test in 1871. Due to the contractor's breach of contract, the construction of the Hungarian Eastern Railway had to be continued and completed by the railway company itself. Lott was appointed construction director for this project and knew how to deal with any difficulties. As a result, Lott won the appreciation of Wilhelm von Nördling , the general director of the Austrian railways. Nördling had taken on the task of reorganizing the construction service of the state railways and in 1875 made Lott head of the "kk Directorate for State Railway Buildings".

In this new area of ​​activity, Lott was confronted with the problem of helping the then emerging tendency to break through in the construction of branch lines for reasons of profitability from the practice that had been practiced up to that point, i.e. the standards of the main lines, i.e. the structural regulations to be used for main lines, apply. The projects worked out by Lott and the rules and regulations that he set up were so carefully thought out that, if the new guidelines were strictly observed, the solidity of the construction was not impaired despite less work and material. These principles were applied to the local and branch lines that were later built by private contractors.

In the work of Julius Lott also fell the difficult planning of the Imperial and Royal State Railroad Tarvis-Pontafel through the Canal Valley . The planning of the Donauuferbahn and the Mürzzuschlag – Neuberg local railway were also part of Julius Lott's work.

Julius Lott's work reached its peak in May 1880 when he was appointed construction director of the Arlbergbahn. Under his direction, the kk Directorate for State Railway Buildings worked out the final project for the Arlberg Railway and subsequently carried out the construction of this project, which was carried out at state expense. Lott devoted himself with all his creative energy to the fastest possible implementation of this project. Since Lott himself ignored his physical capabilities, he finally fell seriously ill and did not see the completion of this most difficult of all his projects.

Already at the bedside Julius Lott, who in addition to his work carried out the planning and construction of the Galician Transversal Railway in 1882 , was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown as an award.

death

Stricken by a serious illness, Julius Lott had to hand over construction management of the Arlbergbahn to Chief Inspector Johann Poschacher shortly before its completion, who successfully completed Lott's work. Julius Lott died of miliary tuberculosis on May 24, 1883 in Vienna I , Lugeck 3, at the age of only 47 .

Julius Lott was buried at the Matzleinsdorf Evangelical Cemetery , Triester Straße 1. In recognition of his services, the Austrian Federal Railways took care of both the grave site in Vienna and the monument in St. Anton.

In honor of his work, Lott's friends erected a memorial in the form of an obelisk on the east portal of the Arlberg tunnel in St. Anton am Arlberg , which was ceremoniously unveiled by Emperor Franz Joseph I on the occasion of the opening of the Arlbergbahn on September 20, 1884 . After the included contributions exceeded the cost of building the monument, the rest of the funds were used to create a foundation bearing the name Lotts for needy widows and orphans by officials of the Imperial and Royal State Railways.

In 1913, Lottgasse in Vienna- Floridsdorf (21st district) was named after him.

Lott's myth

Monument to Julius Lott in St. Anton / Arlberg

For a long time, mythical tales revolved around Lott's death . His early death led to the rumor that Lott had chosen to commit suicide because he feared that the straightening tunnels of the Arlberg tunnel being driven from the east and west would not collide. In December 1960, the mayor of Bludenz took up the legend of suicide because he discovered that the state schools in Vorarlberg were also teaching the claim that Lott had committed suicide. The mayor asked the Ministry of Education in Vienna to instruct the teaching staff of the false allegation about Lott's death.

The Bayerische Rundfunk also beamed on 17 November 1960, the historical lie about the suicide of the builder of the Arlberg railway, claiming that Lott had "committed before his workers suicide because of a love affair in St. Anton at the time of the tunnel sting".

The claim, which had already been clearly refuted at that time, found its way into the work “ Tirol-Lexikon ” by Gertrud Pfaundler, published in 1983. Among other things, it says: “ At the entrance of the 10.24 km long railway tunnel there is a monument to the builder Julius Lott, who committed suicide shortly before the tunnel was completed ”.

Even the Ministry of Transport in Vienna took on the death of Julius Lott and made room for the truth. Thorough research has shown that all claims of Lott's suicide were fictitious. It was also proven that Lott's calculations for the breakthrough of the Arlberg tunnel were correct and therefore there was no reason to doubt the success of his planning. Ultimately, the Protestant pastor's office in the Inner City of Vienna confirmed the dates mentioned about Lott's death in a death certificate with the number 1881/134. Miliary tuberculosis is also given as the cause of death.

literature

  • Juliane Mikoletzky:  Lott, Julius. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 15, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-428-00196-6 , p. 243 f. ( Digitized version ).
  • VA Vienna:  Lott Julius. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 5, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1972, p. 331.
  • Hermann Strach & team of authors: History of the railways of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy , kuk Hofbuchdruckerei Karl Prochaska, Vienna-Teschen-Leipzig 1898, without ISBN
  • Victor Freiherr von Röll : Encyclopedia of the Railway System, Urban & Schwarzenberg publishing bookstore, 1912–1923, without ISBN. Digital edition on DVD at bahnmedien.at
  • The ÖBB in words and pictures , March 1973 issue, without ISBN
  • Josef Dultinger : 100 years of the Arlberg Railway 1884–1984 , Verlag Dr. Rudolf Erhard, Rum 1984, without ISBN
  • Josef Dultinger: 150 years of locomotive railways in Austria (contributions to Austrian railway history) , Verlag Dr. Rudolf Erhard, Rum 1987, without ISBN

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Obituary , Centralblatt der Bauverwaltung , March 31, 1883, p. 118, accessed on December 17, 2012
  2. ↑ a b The ÖBB in words and pictures , March 1973, p. 58.
  3. ^ Corps list of the Weinheimer SC from 1821 to 1906 . Dresden 1906, p. 41
  4. ^ Hermann Strach & team of authors: History of the railways of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy , Vienna-Teschen-Leipzig 1898, Volume 1, Part 2, p. 315.
  5. ^ Victor Freiherr von Röll: Enzyklopädie des Eisenbahnwesens , Berlin / Vienna 1915, Volume 7, p. 233.
  6. ^ A b c d Josef Dultinger: 150 Years of Locomotive Railways in Austria (Contributions to Austrian Railway History ) , Rum 1987, pp. 213/214.
personal data
SURNAME Lott, Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian railway pioneer, builder of the Arlbergbahn from Landeck to Bludenz
DATE OF BIRTH March 25, 1836
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 24, 1883
Place of death Vienna