Mathias Ritter von Schönerer (9 January 1807, Vienna – 30 October 1881, Vienna) was one of the most important

railway pioneer A railway pioneer is someone who has made a significant contribution to the historical development of the railway (US: railroad). This definition includes locomotive engineers, railway construction engineers, operators of railway companies, major ...

s in Austria. He built the ''Südrampe'' or South Ramp on the Budweis– Linz–

Gmunden Gmunden () is a town in Upper Austria, Austria in the district of Gmunden (district), Gmunden. It has 13,204 inhabitants (estimates 2016 ). It is much frequented as a health and summer resort, and has a variety of lake, brine, vegetable and pine-c ...

wagonway and its extension to Gmunden by the Traunsee lake. Following that, he was responsible for the construction of the

Austrian Southern Railway The Austrian Southern Railway (german: link=no, Österreichische Südbahn) is a long double track railway, which linked the capital Vienna with Trieste, former main seaport of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, by railway for the first time. It now ...

or ''Südbahn'' from Vienna to Gloggnitz. After the dismissal of Franz Anton von Gerstner, Mathias Schönerer completed the first railway on continental Europe, the horse-drawn Budweis–Linz–Gmunden wagonway, despite financial and technical difficulties. In 1841 he was responsible for the construction of the first Austrian railway tunnel (165 m) at

Gumpoldskirchen Gumpoldskirchen (Central Bavarian: ''Gumpoidskiachn'') is a town in the district of Mödling in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. Gumpoldskirchen borders on the municipalities Mödling, Guntramsdorf, Gaaden, Pfaffstätten and Traiskirchen. The ...

, whose northern portal bears Schönerer's motto ''Recta sequi'' in large antiqua letters. He was the construction and operations director of the Vienna-Gloggnitz Railway (''Wien-Gloggnitzer Bahn'' or ''WGB'') and in 1839 founded the repair shop near the WGB's Vienna station, later the Lokomotivfabrik der StEG. During the 1848/49 war he organised the first transportation for the military by train. From 1856 he was on the governing board of the

Empress Elisabeth Railway The Empress Elisabeth Railway (german: Kaiserin Elisabeth-Bahn, KEB) was the name of a former railway company during the time of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Its rail network was centred on the Western Railway line from Vienna to Salzburg wit ...

, from 1867 that of the Emperor Franz Joseph Railway. For his services to railway construction he was elevated to the

Austrian nobility The Austrian nobility (german: österreichischer Adel) is a status group that was officially abolished in 1919 after the fall of Austria-Hungary. The nobles are still part of Austrian society today, but they no longer retain any specific privil ...

in 1860 by Emperor Franz Joseph which entitled him and his descendants to the style of '' Ritter von'' in the case of male and ''von'' in the case of female offspring. Mathias von Schönerer was the father of the German politician

Georg von Schönerer Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

and the actress

Alexandrine von Schönerer Alexandrine von Schönerer (15 June 1850 – 28 November 1919) née ''Lucia'' was an Austrian theater owner, managing director and actress. Life and career Schönerer was born in Vienna. Her father, Matthias von Schönerer (1807–1881), was t ...

. He died on 30 October 1881 in his birthplace of Vienna in Austria.

Sources

* :de:Matthias Schönerer

External links

* ''Schönerer, Matthias Ritter von'' in

Constant von Wurzbach Constantin Wurzbach Ritter von Tannenberg (11 April 1818 – 17 August 1893) was an Austrian biographer, lexicographer and author. Biography He was born in Laibach, Carniola (present-day Ljubljana, Slovenia).He later went on to complete a co ...

''Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich'', 31st vol., Vienna, 1876 (online version

* *

Leo Pammer Leo or Léo may refer to: Acronyms * Law enforcement officer * Law enforcement organisation * ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky * Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity Arts an ...

,
''Hitlers Vorbilder – Georg Heinrich Ritter von Schönerer''
(with information about his father, pdf file) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schonerer, Matthias von 1807 births 1881 deaths Engineers from Vienna Austrian railway mechanical engineers Austrian railway pioneers