Marzilibahn
Encyclopedia
The Marzilibahn, officially the Drahtseilbahn Marzili–Stadt Bern (Funicular Marzili–City of Bern) is a very short funicular
in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Its 105 meters of track lead from the Marzili neighbourhood to the Bundeshaus, the seat of the Swiss federal government and parliament, in the Old City of Bern.
The cars were water-powered: a tank in the upper car was filled with up to 3.5 tons of water from the city stream (Stadtbach). This car, being heavier, then pulled the other one up the slope, after which the water would be drained and the process repeated with the other car. Up to thirty persons could be transported upwards in this manner. The descent was controlled by an operator on the forward platform on the upper car, who communicated with his colleague in the lower car by means of bell signals.
The original green cars, built by the local machine company Pümpin & Herzog (later part of Von Roll) were replaced in 1914 by a new set of cars on account of the Swiss national exhibition in Bern, and the official name of the funicular was changed from Drahtseilbahn Aarziele to Drahtseilbahn Marzili-Stadt Bern. Ticket prices ranged from 10 rappen
at the time of the opening (the Federal Council
had to forbid charging non-locals twice that much) to 30 rappen in 1973. The area around and below the raised steel tracks was a garden, cared for by the conductors.
Since 1974, electric power has been used.
in Croatia is at any rate shorter at 66 m. The shortest non-public funicular in Switzerland is a 85 m installation belonging to the Hotel Montana in Lucerne
.
Funicular
A funicular, also known as an inclined plane or cliff railway, is a cable railway in which a cable attached to a pair of tram-like vehicles on rails moves them up and down a steep slope; the ascending and descending vehicles counterbalance each other.-Operation:The basic principle of funicular...
in Bern, the capital of Switzerland. Its 105 meters of track lead from the Marzili neighbourhood to the Bundeshaus, the seat of the Swiss federal government and parliament, in the Old City of Bern.
History
The Marzilibahn was proposed by a committee of seven Bernese entrepreneurs, who received an 80-year operating license by the Swiss Federal Assembly on 13 December 1884. Construction began in March 1885 and was hastily completed to allow a start of operations on 19 July 1885, to coincide with the opening of the Eidgenössisches Schützenfest, the Swiss marksmen's festival, in Bern. As originally built, the tracks had a length of 112 metres (122.5 yd) and spanned a height difference of 31 metres (33.9 yd).The cars were water-powered: a tank in the upper car was filled with up to 3.5 tons of water from the city stream (Stadtbach). This car, being heavier, then pulled the other one up the slope, after which the water would be drained and the process repeated with the other car. Up to thirty persons could be transported upwards in this manner. The descent was controlled by an operator on the forward platform on the upper car, who communicated with his colleague in the lower car by means of bell signals.
The original green cars, built by the local machine company Pümpin & Herzog (later part of Von Roll) were replaced in 1914 by a new set of cars on account of the Swiss national exhibition in Bern, and the official name of the funicular was changed from Drahtseilbahn Aarziele to Drahtseilbahn Marzili-Stadt Bern. Ticket prices ranged from 10 rappen
Rappen
A Rappen originally was a variant of the medieval Pfennig common to the Alemannic German regions Alsace, Sundgau and Northern Switzerland. As with other German pennies, its half-piece was a Haller, the smallest piece which was struck.Today, one-hundredth of a Swiss franc is still officially...
at the time of the opening (the Federal Council
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
had to forbid charging non-locals twice that much) to 30 rappen in 1973. The area around and below the raised steel tracks was a garden, cared for by the conductors.
Since 1974, electric power has been used.
Technical parameters
The funicular covers a difference in altitude of 32 m, and its route is 105 m long. The maximum speed is 3 meters per second. A trip takes about one minute.Records
The Marzilibahn is sometimes called the shortest funicular in Europe, but its operators are not certain about this, noting that similarly short funiculars exist in England and Hungary. The Zagreb FunicularZagreb Funicular
The Zagreb Funicular is the funicular in Zagreb operated by ZET, situated in Tomić Street, connecting the Ilica Street with Strossmayerovo šetalište to the north ....
in Croatia is at any rate shorter at 66 m. The shortest non-public funicular in Switzerland is a 85 m installation belonging to the Hotel Montana in Lucerne
Lucerne
Lucerne is a city in north-central Switzerland, in the German-speaking portion of that country. Lucerne is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne and the capital of the district of the same name. With a population of about 76,200 people, Lucerne is the most populous city in Central Switzerland, and...
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