Britzka
Encyclopedia
A britzka is a type of horse-drawn carriage
. It was a long, spacious carriage with four wheels, with a folding top over the rear seat and a rear-facing front seat. Pulled by two horses, it had a place in front for the driver. It was so constructed as to give space for reclining at night, when used on a journey. Its size made it suitable for use as a 19th century equivalent to a motorhome
, as it could be adapted with all manner of conveniences (beds, dressing tables and so on) for the traveller. The great railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel
used a britzka as his travelling office while surveying the route of the Great Western Railway
, carrying with him his drawing board, outline plans, engineering instruments, fifty of his favourite cigars and a pull-out bed.
The term is a variant of the Polish
term bryczka, a "little cart", from bryka, "cart", possibly coming into English via several ways, including German
britschka and Russian
brichka.
Carriage
A carriage is a wheeled vehicle for people, usually horse-drawn; litters and sedan chairs are excluded, since they are wheelless vehicles. The carriage is especially designed for private passenger use and for comfort or elegance, though some are also used to transport goods. It may be light,...
. It was a long, spacious carriage with four wheels, with a folding top over the rear seat and a rear-facing front seat. Pulled by two horses, it had a place in front for the driver. It was so constructed as to give space for reclining at night, when used on a journey. Its size made it suitable for use as a 19th century equivalent to a motorhome
Motorhome
A motorhome is a type of self-propelled recreational vehicle or RV which offers living accommodation combined with a vehicle engine. The term motorhome is most commonly used in the UK, US, and Canada.-Features:...
, as it could be adapted with all manner of conveniences (beds, dressing tables and so on) for the traveller. The great railway engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, FRS , was a British civil engineer who built bridges and dockyards including the construction of the first major British railway, the Great Western Railway; a series of steamships, including the first propeller-driven transatlantic steamship; and numerous important bridges...
used a britzka as his travelling office while surveying the route of the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, carrying with him his drawing board, outline plans, engineering instruments, fifty of his favourite cigars and a pull-out bed.
The term is a variant of the Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
term bryczka, a "little cart", from bryka, "cart", possibly coming into English via several ways, including German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
britschka and Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
brichka.