A paternoster lift is a passenger elevator which consists of a chain of open compartments
(each usually designed for two people) that move slowly in a loop up and down inside a
building without stopping.
Passengers can step on or off at any floor they like.
The name paternoster ("Our Father", the first two words of the Lord's Prayer in Latin) was
originally applied to the device because the elevator is in the form of a loop and is thus
similar to rosary beads used as an aid in reciting prayers.
Peter Ellis installed the first elevators that could be described as paternoster lifts
in Oriel Chambers in Liverpool in 1868.
Another was used in 1876 to transport parcels at the General Post Office in London.
In 1877, the Englishman Peter Hart patented the idea of a circular elevator for people,
his Cyclic Lift. Hart 's invention became JE Hall's Cyclic Elevator, which was first
installed in a London office block in 1884.
The newly built Dovenhof in Hamburg was inaugurated in 1886.
It was a prototype for the latest office buildings, equipped with the latest technology also had
a paternoster.
It was the first paternoster outside of Great Britain and was still driven by steam power
like the English systems.
The highest paternoster lift in the world was located in Stuttgart in the 16 floor Tagblatt
tower, which was completed in 1927.
Paternosters were popular throughout the first half of the 20th century because they could
carry more passengers than ordinary elevators.
They were more common in continental Europe, especially in public buildings, than in the UK.
They are relatively slow elevators, typically travelling at about 1’ (30 cm) per second,
to facilitate getting on and off.
This meant a longer travel time between many floors due to the lower speed, which is why
they were not installed into high skyscrapers.
In the case of heavily frequented lifts stopping on several floors, however, the travel time
can be better.
Another disadvantage is the reduced fire protection compared to conventional elevators, since
in the event of a fire the fire can easily spread over several floors of a house.
This is not as easy with conventional elevators because the entrance doors function as fire
protection doors.
As with an escalator, getting in and out also requires a certain amount of concentration,
especially for inexperienced users.
Paternoster elevators are only intended for transporting people; accidents have occurred
when paternosters were misused for transporting bulky items such as ladders or library trolleys.
The risk involved is estimated to be thirty times higher than conventional elevators;
a representative of the Union of Technical Inspection Associations stated that Germany
saw an average of one death per year prior to 2002, at which point many paternosters
were made inaccessible to the general public.
The construction of new paternosters is no longer allowed in many countries because of
the high risk of accidents for people who cannot use the lift properly.
In 2012, an 81-year-old man was killed when he fell into the shaft of a paternoster in
the Dutch city of The Hague.
Elderly people, disabled people, and children are the most in danger of being crushed or
losing a limb.
In September 1975 the paternoster in Newcastle University's Claremont Tower was taken out
of service after a passenger was killed when a car left its guide rail at the top of its
journey and forced the two cars ascending behind it into the winding room above.
In October 1988 a second non-fatal accident occurred in the same lift.
A conventional lift was installed in its place in 1989.
In West Germany, new paternoster installations were banned in 1974, and there was an attempt
to shut down all existing installations in 1994.
However, there was a wave of popular resistance to the ban at that time, and to another prospective
ban in 2015.
As of 2015, Germany had 231 paternosters.
In April 2006, Hitachi announced plans for a modern paternoster-style elevator with computer-controlled
cars and standard elevator doors to alleviate safety concerns.
A prototype was revealed as of February 2013.
Many paternoster lifts have been shut down, but there are surviving examples still in
use throughout the world, in Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany,
Hungary, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and the UK.