Žaliakalnis Funicular (

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

: ''Green Hill Funicular'') is a funicular railway in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ; also see other names) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a county in the Duchy of Trakai ...

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

. Built in 1931, it is the oldest funicular in Lithuania and is among the oldest vehicles of such type in the world still operational. The funicular is made of a wood-paneled coachwork and climbs up from behind the

Vytautas the Great War Museum The Vytautas the Great War Museum ( lt, Vytauto Didžiojo karo muziejus) is a museum in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was built in Art Deco and early functionalism style. Originally it was established in 1921 by Vladas Nagevičius but later it was deci ...

to the Basilica of the Resurrection. Opening ceremony of Zaliakalnis Funicular Railway

It was constructed by engineering firm Curt Rudolph Transportanlagen from

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

with electrical equipment from

AEG Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...

and mechanical parts from Bell Maschinenfabrik,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. The official opening was on 5 August 1931 with one passenger car, while the second car was only a platform ballasted with stones used to counterbalance the passenger car. The electric overhead power cable and the

pantographs A pantograph (, from their original use for copying writing) is a mechanical linkage connected in a manner based on parallelograms so that the movement of one pen, in tracing an image, produces identical movements in a second pen. If a line dr ...

of the coaches are only used for lighting and heating of the cars. The upper station housed the electrically driven funicular mechanism in the basement, whilst the lower end of the line did not even have a shelter until 1932. The funicular succeeded and became very popular transportation for the city inhabitants and guests. It is known that about 5 million passengers were moved using it between 1950 and 1970. The funicular was renovated between 1935 and 1937. New, larger cars with car bodies from Napoleonas Dobkevičius on underframes from Bell Maschinenfabrik were built, and the lower station was given a proper building. The Žaliakalnis Funicular Railway was included in the Registry of Immovable Cultural Heritage Sites of the Republic of Lithuania in 1993. In 2015, the funicular was one of 44 objects in Kaunas to receive the European Heritage Label. Zaliakalnio funikulierius 2006-06-17

References

1931 establishments in Lithuania Transport in Kaunas Buildings and structures in Kaunas Funicular railways in Lithuania 1520 mm gauge railways in Lithuania Tourist attractions in Kaunas Heritage railways {{Lithuania-struct-stub

See also

References