Prague City Hall Paternoster Shut Down for Repairs

Prague City Hall paternoster; YouTube screengrab via expats.cz

The paternoster — a doorless hop-on, hop-off elevator — in the Prague City Hall building in the Czech Republic shut down in April for repairs, as it had become overburdened due to its increased popularity as a free tourist attraction that went viral on social media and was featured in some guidebooks, expats.cz reports. Mayor Bohuslav Svoboda confirmed to the news site Novinky that the closure was due to long-term tourist burden and incidents with emergency stops. Whether its operation will be resumed will depend on the decision of the municipal office, he said, adding that rumors circulating that it has been permanently stopped are false. The paternoster underwent a technical inspection and is awaiting possible repair, according to a tweet from government officials. The paternoster was completely renovated in 2017 for CZK 3.6 million (US$164,453), replacing equipment from the 1970s. But this didn’t prepare it for the heavy use and overloading that it had been experiencing recently, according to the source. There are several other paternosters in Prague, but not all are accessible to the public. Paternosters have a reputation for being dangerous and are no longer allowed to be constructed in some countries. Most recently, a man died in May in Berlin, Germany, while trying to descend floors on this type of machine.

Get more of Elevator World. Sign up for our free e-newsletter.

Please enter a valid email address.
Something went wrong. Please check your entries and try again.

NYC DOB TO ALLLOW THIRD-PARTY INSPECTION THROUGH END OF YEAR

NYC DOB To Allow Third-Party Inspection Through End of Year

KONE Elevator India team members outside the new office; image courtesy of KONE Elevator India MD India and South Asia Amit Gossain

KONE Elevator India Inaugurates Mohali Office

Wang

Wittur Appoints Wang as China MD

Country Home Elevator; image courtesy of Cibes Lift Group

Cibes Lift Group Acquires Missouri-Based Country Home Elevator

The winning team from Linden Lodge School; image courtesy of Otis

South London Students Awarded STEM Grant in Otis Program

STATION IN SOUTH INDIA WITH VT INAUGURATED

Railway Station in South India with VT Inaugurated

STANNAH TO MANAGE RAILWAY STATION ACCESSIBILITY UPGRADE

Stannah to Manage Railway Station Accessibility Upgrade

ASCENT ELEVATORS ACQUIRES SELECT CENTURY ELEVATOR ASSETS

Ascent Elevators Acquires Select Century Elevator Assets