Jan Perner (7 September 1815 – 10 September 1845) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

railway engineer. Between 1842 and 1845, Perner was responsible for construction of several railways in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

Career

Perner was born on 7 September 1815 in Bratčice. He was born to a watermill owner and his wife. During 1830–33 he studied at an engineering school in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

led by

František Josef Gerstner Franz Josef Gerstner (from 1810 Franz Josef Ritter von Gerstner, cs, František Josef Gerstner; 23 February 1756 – 25 July 1832) was a German-Bohemian physicist, astronomer and engineer. Life Gerstner was born in Komotau in Bohemia then part ...

. When Gerstner looked for engineers for construction of railways in

Sankt Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

area of

Imperial Russia The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, Perner joined the project (1836). Due to problems in communication with Gerstner he left in the same year. In 1837 Perner began work at the state railway company and was gradually promoted to take responsibility for construction works. In 1842 he started to design and oversee construction of important railways between

–

Pardubice Pardubice (; german: Pardubitz) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 89,000 inhabitants. It is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the Elbe River. The historic centre is well preserved and is protected as an Cultural monu ...

–

Olomouc Olomouc (, , ; german: Olmütz; pl, Ołomuniec ; la, Olomucium or ''Iuliomontium'') is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 99,000 inhabitants, and its larger urban zone has a population of about 384,000 inhabitants (2019). Located on th ...

and Prague–

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 ...

. The railway from Prague to Pardubice (over 100 km) was finished in 1845. On 9 September 1845, while Perner was returning from an inspection trip he looked out of the window of a moving train (near Choceň). His head hit a pole, and he was severely injured and died the next day in

. He has the dubious fame of being the first person to die in a railway accident in Bohemia. Today one of the faculties of

University of Pardubice University of Pardubice ( or UPA) is a university in Pardubice, the Czech Republic. In 2021 it had nearly 8,000 students. It is the only university in Pardubice Region. History In the aftermath of the World War II, chemical factories in the city ...

is named after him: ''Jan Perner Transport Faculty'' (''Dopravní fakulta Jana Pernera''

An

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

class train of railway operator

České dráhy České dráhy (English: ''Czech Railways''), often shortened to ČD, is the major railway operator in the Czech Republic providing regional and long-distance services. Overview The company was established in 1993, after the dissolution of Cze ...

bears the name ''Jan Perner''.

External links

Detailed biography

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perner, Jan 1815 births 1845 deaths People from Kutná Hora District Railway accident deaths in the Czech Republic Czech civil engineers