Wiener Riesenrad

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
The Riesenrad, seen from the outside of the Prater

The Wiener Riesenrad (German for Vienna Giant Wheel[1]), or Riesenrad, is a 64.75-metre (212 ft) tall Ferris wheel at the entrance of the Prater amusement park in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Austria's capital Vienna. It is one of Vienna's most popular tourist attractions, and symbolises the district as well as the city for many people. Constructed in 1897, it was the world's tallest extant Ferris wheel from 1920 until 1985.

History

Lt. Walter Bassett Bassett (1864-1907), RN, builder of the Wiener Riesenrad

The Wiener Riesenrad was constructed in 1897 by the English engineer Lieutenant Walter Bassett Bassett (1864-1907), Royal Navy, son of Charles Bassett (1834-1908), MP, of Watermouth Castle, Devon.[2] Its purpose was to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef I, and it was one of the earliest Ferris wheels ever built. Bassett's Ferris wheel manufacturing business was not a commercial success, and he died in 1907 almost bankrupt.

A permit for its demolition was issued in 1916, but due to a lack of funds with which to carry out the destruction, it survived.[3]

The Ferris wheel and cafe on the Prater were owned by a Jew, Eduard Steiner, who was murdered at Auschwitz.[4]

It originally had 30 gondolas, but was severely damaged in World War II and when subsequently rebuilt only 15 gondolas were replaced.

The wheel is driven by a circumferential cable which leaves the wheel and passes through the drive mechanism under the base, and its spokes are steel cables, in tension.

Height

Wiener Prater Vienna Austria 20476.JPG

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

When the 64.75-metre (212 ft)[5] tall Wiener Riesenrad was constructed in 1897, both the original 80.4-metre (264 ft) Ferris Wheel in the US (constructed 1893, demolished 1906) and the 94-metre (308 ft) Great Wheel in England (constructed 1895, demolished 1907) were taller. The 100-metre (328 ft) Grande Roue de Paris, constructed in 1900, was taller still. However, when the Grande Roue de Paris was demolished in 1920, the Riesenrad became the world's tallest extant Ferris wheel, and it remained so for the next 65 years, until the construction of the 85-metre (279 ft) Technostar in Japan in 1985.

In popular culture

References

  1. The Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel | Das Wiener Riesenrad
  2. Jahn, Helmut & Petritsch, Peter, The Vienna Giant Ferris Wheel, Dienten am Hochkonig, 1989
  3. Wiener Riesenrad - History
  4. http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/07/world/vienna-skewered-as-a-nazi-era-pillager-of-its-jews.html
  5. Wiener Riesenrad - Technical data
  6. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

Preceded by World's tallest extant Ferris wheel
1920-1985
Succeeded by
Technocosmos

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.