Paternoster elevator

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Paternoster in the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin
Schematic representation of the functional principle
Schematic representation, animated

A paternoster , shortly Paternoster , technical people circulating elevator or jokingly officials excavators respectively officials Heber called, is a special type of elevator system for passenger transport.

In the paternoster elevator, several individual cabins (usually for one to two people per cabin), attached to two parallel circulating chains, run in constant circulation. At the upper and lower turning point, the cars are transferred to the other elevator shaft using large panes. It is possible and safe to transport people during the turning process. The transport speed is approximately 0.20 to 0.45 meters per second .

history

The previously common sack lifts with vertical endless conveyor belt had a similar construction principle. Early bucket elevators , also known as paternosters, and belt conveyors are also among the forerunners.

The paternoster, known today, was developed in England. The world's first known paternoster lift was installed in the General Post Office in London in 1876 . However, it did not yet fully correspond to the later technology, was used there for the transport of packages and already combined all the features of the paternoster technology: The constantly circulating, always upright cabins (or here still containers). Later it was also used for passenger transport.

In 1882 the Englishman Peter Hart developed the idea of ​​a circulating elevator for people, his Cyclic Lift . Hart 's invention became JE Hall's Cyclic Elevator , which was first installed by JE Hall in 1884. Even this system did not yet correspond to the later technology - for example with the drive that was limited to just one chain.

In 1886 the newly built Dovenhof in Hamburg was inaugurated. The prototype of the Hamburg office building , equipped with the latest technology , also had a paternoster. This first system outside of Great Britain already had the technology that would later be used, but was still powered by steam power like the English systems. At this point in time, the areas of Hamburg close to the port with the growing trade relations with city ​​districts were redesigned with modern business and office buildings, as a result of which around 1936 slightly more than half of the 679 paternoster systems counted in Germany were in Hamburg. They were also mockingly referred to as proletarian excavators , especially where there were separate, closed elevators (coll. Bonzen lifters ) for the “upscale” needs .

The highest paternoster elevator in the world was located in the Hansahochhaus in Cologne from 1925 , then in Stuttgart in the Tagblatt Tower completed in 1927 , where the system was replaced by two passenger elevators from Füller & Knörzer in the 1960s. In 2015 there were around 250 paternosters in Germany.

In Austria, the paternoster from 1910 in the House of Industry on Vienna's Schwarzenbergplatz is the oldest. This is still in operation.

In Switzerland, the last publicly accessible paternoster, opened in 1974 in the Vaucher sports shop, is still in operation as a crowd puller in the Bayard fashion shop in the old town of Bern (as of 2015).

  • Paternoster (from the inside) in the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus

  • Paternoster (outside) in the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus

  • People are waiting for the next car

  • Look at the technology at the upper turning point

  • View from the car at the upper turning point

etymology

The term paternoster (lat. Pater noster "our father") is related to the rosary , a chain for prayers. In the rosary, ten smaller pearls for each Ave Maria are followed by a larger one for the Our Father (Latin: paternoster ). The rosary used to be known regionally as a paternoster cord and its manufacturer as a paternoster maker . In the same way, in a circulating elevator, the passenger cabins are threaded like on a string. The name was first used by miners for the freight elevators, as they resembled the arrangement of the beads on the rosary.

Advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of paternoster elevators compared to other elevators are the constant availability for both directions (up and down) without long waiting times, which in particular enables a quick change between floors that are close together, as well as the very high conveying capacity similar to that of an escalator . Although the speed of a paternoster is about 0.25 meters per second below that of a conventional elevator, but with the same small space requirements, no elevator is usually able to move a similar number of people in the same time.

Driving over the upper and lower end points is generally safe, as the cabin is only moved, not turned around. There may be a further advantage for people who do not or reluctantly use other elevators because of the tightness of a completely closed car, because of the higher speed or because of the forces acting when starting and braking.

Due to the lower speed, the disadvantage is the longer travel time between more distant exits, which is why installation in very high skyscrapers is not possible. In the case of heavily frequented elevators that are stopped on several floors, however, the travel time is put into perspective again. Transporting loads is also prohibited with a paternoster. The risk of accidents is also greater; entering or leaving the cabs while driving costs some users a certain amount of effort. There is a risk of falling for disabled people; use by wheelchair users is almost impossible. As with an escalator, getting in and out requires a certain amount of concentration, especially for inexperienced users. But there are also dangers through carelessness and careless action. Getting out of the car is to be avoided as much as possible when the car has already clearly passed the floor, and climbing out of a stopped paternoster can be dangerous if the paternoster starts up again at this moment. To prevent jamming, paternosters are equipped with upward-opening flaps at the entrances at the level of the floors of the storeys. This prevents jamming when the cab is moving upwards. When the cab is moving down, a hinge ensures that the front of the cab can be folded away up and back.

Another disadvantage is the reduced fire protection compared to conventional elevators , since in the event of a fire the fire can easily spread over several floors of a house. This is not so easy with other elevators because of the entrance doors, at least in newer systems, which often function as fire doors.

Energy balance and noise level are to be assessed differently. It is true that an elevator - since it only moves when it is needed - has a better energy balance than a paternoster system that is constantly in operation or, in office buildings, is usually only parked at night. However, an elevator also consumes electricity when it is idle (e.g. due to the cabin lighting, which is usually not available with paternosters). In a direct comparison, the different transport services, different types, technology and age of the systems play a role. In addition, the paternoster mechanism with its drive chains causes higher friction losses, which can result in greater noise development compared to conventional elevators. Here, too, the type of system, the installation, the respective building and existing measures for sound insulation as well as the frequency and times of use play a role, as the continuous knocking noise of the paternoster is not necessarily perceived as more annoying than the intermittent operating noise of another elevator.

Legal situation in individual countries

Public paternoster lift in the town hall in Wuppertal

Germany

Since 1974 no new paternoster elevators may be put into operation in West Germany. In 1994, an amendment to the elevator ordinance was planned, which provided for the shutdown of the existing systems by 2004. Resistance arose against this time limit, among other things by an "Association for the Rescue of the Last Circulating Elevators" founded in Munich. The Federal Council therefore canceled the planned change so that the existing paternoster could remain in operation until further notice. Paternoster elevators had to be operated according to the state of the art . The corresponding technical rules have been laid down in TRA 500 (" Technical rules for elevators - circulating passenger elevators ") since 1972 (last changed in 1985). There was no such restriction in the GDR . For example, a paternoster was built in 1982 in what was then the House of Ministries , today's Detlev-Rohwedder-House , where the Federal Ministry of Finance is now based. Up to May 2015, around 240 paternosters were still in operation in Germany.

In 2009 a new paternoster was put into operation in the Solon company building (Berlin-Adlershof). It was only approved because there is hardly any public traffic in the building and the elevator has several safety features. Its speed of 0.15 m / s is significantly lower than that of classic paternosters. In addition, a kind of traffic light regulates when you can get in and out. Photoelectric barriers stop the elevator immediately if users want to enter or leave the car when it is “red”.

Paternoster in the Gotha insurance company in Göttingen owned by Eggers-Kehrhahn

After an accident due to improper operation, the paternoster lifts in the IG-Farben building in Frankfurt (Main) were only allowed by the university management from July to November 2011 by employees and students of the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University individually and with an instructing certificate of authorization (" Paternoster driving license ”), which was monitored by security personnel. In November 2011, however, the “paternoster driver's license” was abolished, as additional warning and information signs should now be sufficient for the safety of paternoster users.

The Annex 1 No. 4.4. Of the Ordinance on Industrial Safety banned the operation of carousels in the public sector since 1 June 2015. According to § 22 para. 2 no. 5 were violations since an administrative offense and could with a fine is punishable by up to 100,000 euros. After widespread opposition arose as in 2004 (e.g. from the editorial staff of the Neues Deutschland newspaper ), the Federal Ministry of Labor rowed back and announced another revision of the Industrial Safety Ordinance for autumn 2015. As early as June 24th, it became known that the new ordinance had been "defused" by the Federal Cabinet and that the paternosters may continue to be operated, provided that the operators undertook to "avoid hazards during use by taking additional measures". This required the approval of the Federal Council, which followed on July 10, 2015. The necessary measures include such a technical nature, education about dangers and safe behavior as well as the ban on transporting loads with the elevator. The paternoster in Stuttgart City Hall was then reopened with an official ceremony by Mayor Werner Wölfle and Environment Minister Franz Untersteller .

Austria

Paternoster by Anton Freissler F. No. 6295 (1910) in the Vienna House of Industry

One of the most important developers of paternosters in Austria-Hungary was Anton Freissler .

Since the 1960s, no new paternosters have been allowed in Austria. There are also no longer any valid standards for this type of elevator, which is why evaluations according to the state of the art are very difficult. Since safety is more important than monument protection, old paternoster elevators are being dismantled and replaced by standard elevators. In 2007 there were still around 20 to 25 paternosters in operation throughout Austria.

In Vienna in 2015 - in addition to the probably oldest still in operation electric paternoster in the world in the House of Industry from 1911 with a speed of only 0.2 m / s - there were six more paternosters in operation. (see list )

The two elevators in the Federal Computing Center were dismantled in 2017 for ostensibly economic reasons.

Others

A (short) cinematic memorial was set for the paternoster by Doris Dörrie in her film Men , Heinrich Böll immortalized him literarily in his satire Doctor Murke's Collected Silence and Hans Erich Nossack in Paternoster . David Lodge provides a literary example of a criminal paternoster hunt in his novel Changing Places .

In the Austrian crime series Kommissar Rex, there is also a paternoster at the end of the episode: The Scent of Death (Season 2 Episode 10). While the marriage impostor Hubert Zauner runs away from Rex (a German shepherd dog), Inspector Moser and Stockinger, he takes refuge in the paternoster of an official building. Rex can only watch the adversary disappear down below. Because of the slow speed, the three of them can follow him up the stairs. Once at the bottom, Rex, Moser and Stockinger wait for Zauner, who drives back up through the diversion, they pull him out of the paternoster and arrest the marriage impostor.

A modern legend is the idea that the cabins at the top of the facility would turn around and head down again, making it very dangerous to accidentally drive over the top floor. Because of this, some people are afraid to use a paternoster. This was jokingly portrayed in a spot by the Mainzelmännchen , as well as in a film with Charlie Chaplin . In addition, this performance in the show Do you understand? played: People stood in front of the paternoster elevator and saw that others were apparently going down it upside down.

The cabins of a paternoster are only shallow and therefore have no lighting fixtures and receive light on the building floors through the entry areas that are more than room-door high. (Electric power for lighting could only be supplied to the cabs supported by chains via wear-and-tear sliding contacts with considerable effort.) This results in changing brightness in the cab while driving, but the best lighting needs-based when the cab floor and the building (floors) are at the same level as the floor and get on or off. Little light can enter the upper and lower loops if they are close enough to the floor. Typically, a sign with the inscription "Continue without dangerous" on the shaft front wall, legible at the beginning of each loop entrance, reassuringly indicates that the journey can continue without problems. Next to it, closer to the top of the loop and embedded smoothly in the shaft wall, there is a frosted glass lamp to illuminate the section of the route that is otherwise darkest in the cabin.

From the outside, only in the two uppermost and lowermost entry openings of the building can be seen to a certain extent that the cabins and their aprons move in the loops on circular arcs, i.e. also horizontally sideways. To support the sideways acceleration of the cabin, which is only suspended above the cell and thus above its center of gravity, there is a guide on the rear wall of the cabin. When driving along, a slight rumble of the floor can be felt especially here in the turns, which has a horizontal component especially here.

See also

literature

  • Jan Gympel : The elevator into the capitalist world. The symbolic paternoster is threatened with its end after 110 years in Germany. In: Der Tagesspiegel of December 18, 1993, p. 15.
  • Falk Jaeger: Doctor Murke's shudder. A new paternoster has been put into operation for the first time in 36 years. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung of September 29, 2009, p. T6.

Web links

Commons : Paternoster lift  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Also called "civil servant excavator": What is a "paternoster" and where does the name come from? , Article in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung from June 24, 2015, online at noz.de, accessed on October 23, 2019
  2. ↑ Stuttgarter Zeitung: City of Stuttgart changes operations - compulsory breaks for paternosters , article from December 22, 2019, online at stuttgarter-zeitung.de, accessed on December 22, 2019
  3. ^ The Elevator Museum - Timeline .
  4. ^ The Elevator Museum - Paternosters .
  5. ^ Daniel Tilgner: Small Lexicon of Hamburg Terms , Zeiseverlag Hamburg, 2nd edition 1999, p. 117.
  6. ↑ Kate Conolly: Lovin 'their elevators: why Germans are loop about their revolving lifts. theguardian.com, August 14, 2015, accessed August 16, 2015
  7. ^ Prof. Karl König page of the Federation of Industrialists on February 24, 2006, accessed on March 16, 2009.
  8. ↑ Adrian Sulc: paternoster lift may continue to rotate his rounds. In: Der Bund , November 11, 2014.
  9. ↑ Adrian Sulc: The small fashion empire. In: Der Bund , November 11, 2014.
  10. ↑ Greetings from the German official mold - Paternoster only for professionals in NZZ from May 30, 2015, accessed on June 1, 2015.
  11. ↑ List of running paternosters. In: Homepage of Wolfgang Flemming. April 22, 2015, accessed July 21, 2015 .
  12. ↑ Corporate Headquarters of Solon SE. Schulte-Frohlinde Architects, accessed on July 21, 2015 .
  13. ↑ Falk Jaeger: Doctor Murke's shudder. In: FAZ . September 29, 2009, p. 76 , accessed on July 21, 2015 (only seen opening credits, article costs € 4.38, deleted from the Internet archive).
  14. ^ Paternoster license , Extra 3 , September 7, 2011.
  15. ↑ University of Frankfurt: Communication on restarting the paternoster ( Memento from September 18, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  16. ↑ Rules for the paternoster ride. (No longer available online.) In: Frankfurter Neue Presse . July 19, 2011, archived from the original on May 25, 2012 ; Retrieved July 29, 2011 . 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fnp.de
  17. ↑ Paternoster: Instructions for using the lift . In: Frankfurter Rundschau , July 15, 2011. Accessed November 30, 2015.
  18. ↑ Paternoster license abolished again. (No longer available online.) In: Frankfurter Neue Presse. January 21, 2011, formerly in the original ; Retrieved February 28, 2013 .  ( 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.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.fnp.de  
  19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bju8-vDaRjg
  20. ↑ Officials are fighting against the paternoster driver's license. In: The world . June 1, 2015, accessed July 21, 2015 .
  21. ↑ Nostalgia wins, the paternoster stays. In: Spiegel Online . June 24, 2015, accessed July 21, 2015 .
  22. ↑ Federal Council defuses the "paternoster ban". In: The world. October 7, 2015, accessed July 21, 2015 .
  23. ↑ Paternoster: Federal Council overturns controversial ban. Use allowed again. In: Stern . July 10, 2015, accessed July 21, 2015 .
  24. ↑ Wolfgang Schulz-Braunschmidt: Paternoster in Stuttgart: Put your foot in, follow the other. Stuttgarter Zeitung , July 28, 2015, accessed on July 28, 2015 .
  25. ↑ Endangered elevator type: Paternoster in Wiener Zeitung of December 27, 2007, accessed on November 7, 2013.
  26. ↑ Paternoster threatened with extinction , wien.orf.at, December 14, 2013.
  27. ↑ Too expensive: Rare elevators are sawed up on ORF from March 26, 2017, accessed on March 27, 2017
  28. ↑ Bundesrechenzentrum - Nostalgische Wehmut on the Wiener Zeitung website from March 29, 2017, accessed on July 19, 2018