The decision on the entry was made by the Wielkopolska Regional Conservator of Monuments. The coal-gate crane is located at the Gniezno railway station. The structure dates from the 1940s and was in use until the mid-1990s.
The coal-gate crane appeared in Gniezno due to the expansion of the railway station. Initially, the Gniezno railway station was located on the Poznań-Toruń route. In 1887, the direction to Nakło was opened. The station gained the status of a railway junction in Greater Poland. The station was expanded between 1941 and 1942, when a crane was brought to Gniezno.
It was built by Maschinenfabrik Deutschland, based in Dortmund, in 1941. It was a modern piece of equipment with an electrical system manufactured by Siemens-Schuckertwerke of Berlin. The crane with a four-chamber gantry coal hopper was still in use for steam locomotives in the 1990s. When the steam railway in Gniezno was decommissioned, the crane was no longer needed. At the turn of the 20th century, the four-chamber coal hopper was destroyed.
According to the Wielkopolska Voivodeship Conservator of Monuments, the railway crane deserves legal protection due to its historical value. The object represents the level of railway technology during the Second World War.
It has preserved the original material, form, construction and technical solutions from the period of its construction. It is the last object of this type in the Wielkopolska region and most probably the last one in Poland. It is one of the most valuable monuments of railway crane technology in Poland,” reads the WUOZ website.
The protection covers the crane and fragments of the track bed underneath with a cable duct.
photos: WUOZ in Poznań(https://www.poznan.wuoz.gov.pl)
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