Wetterhorn elevator
The Wetterhorn elevator in Switzerland was one of the first aerial cable cars in the world to transport people.
history
In 1905, Wilhelm Feldmann began building the first Swiss aerial cableway on the Wetterhorn near Grindelwald. The original plan was to run the elevator in four sections to the summit of the 3,701 m high Wetterhorn.
In 1908 the first section from the Hotel Wetterhorn east of Grindelwald to the Enge mountain station at 1677 m was put into operation. The route ran over the (now melted) tongue of the Upper Grindelwald Glacier to the meadows at the upper end of the “ Ischpfad ”, where the ruins of the mountain station still stand below the path to the Glecksteinhütte . The Enge mountain station is embedded like an eagle's nest in the rock face above the upper Grindelwald glacier at the foot of the Wetterhorn.
This section was to be extended along the south-western ridge of the Wetterhorn to the Krinnenhorn area.
The train, very popular with tourists, could carry 110 people per hour and direction. Although there were no specific regulations at the time, the system had all the essential safety features of today's cable cars. For example, there were two suspension ropes and two pull ropes as well as two independent braking systems. The drives of the cabins were equipped with safety brakes and in addition to a manual emergency drive (in the event of a power failure) there was also a recovery system in the event of a wedged cabin.
The cabins, machines and braking systems were built by the Ludwig von Roll'sche Eisenwerke company in Bern . The wire ropes came from Germany and had to be transported by horses from the Grindelwald train station to the construction site.
The Wetterhorn elevator, inaugurated near Grindelwald on July 27, 1908, was a pioneering achievement, as it was the first passenger cable car in Switzerland. It was a combination of a lift and an aerial tramway with two suspension cables.
Initially, this train had a great success. Although it was way ahead of its time, the Wetterhorn elevator ceased operations in 1915 due to the absence of tourists after the outbreak of the First World War . He was not reinstated for various reasons. In particular, the location of the mountain station of the first section on a sloping ledge was not very attractive.
Today only the ruins of the Enge mountain station and the foundation of the valley station remain. The mountain station has already been refurbished once to save it from deterioration.
At the nearby "Hotel Wetterhorn" there is a replica of a cabin based on the original steel frame. An original car running gear is exhibited in the Swiss Museum of Transport in Lucerne.
Technical specifications
- Height of the valley station: 1257 m above sea level. M.
- Height of the mountain station Enge: 1677 m above sea level. M.
- Difference in altitude: 420 m
- Travel time: 8.5 min
- Transport capacity in one direction: 110 people. / H
- Horizontal length: 365 m
- Length of the inclined path: 556 m
- Average tendon inclination: 116%
- Four suspension ropes (two per cabin), each 44.9 mm in diameter
- Four pull ropes (two per cabin), each 29 mm in diameter
- Two cabins with 16 places each (8 seats, 8 standing places)
- Travel speed 1.2 m / s
- Electrical systems: AG Brown, Boveri & Cie. , To bathe
- Buildings and foundations : E. Rossi construction company
- Machines, cabs and brake trucks: Foundry Bern of Ludwig von Roll'schen Eisenwerke
- Iron construction: Albert Buss & Cie. , Basel
- Ropes: Felten & Guilleaume Lahmeyerwerke AG , Mülheim am Rhein
literature
- Werner Neuhaus: Wetterhorn lift, the first cable car in Switzerland. Prellbock Druck & Verlag, Leissigen 2007, ISBN 978-3-907579-50-3 .
- Werner Neuhaus: Wetterhorn lift, the first cable car in Switzerland. Writings of the Heimatvereinigung Grindelwald, No. 4, Grindelwald 1976.
Web links
Coordinates: 46 ° 37 '50 " N , 8 ° 4' 58.9" E ; CH1903: six hundred forty-nine thousand three hundred forty-eight / 164,568