Giant Ferris Wheel
In Giant Ferris Wheel once stood the Wiener Riesenrad—“Vienna Giant [Ferris] Wheel”—a 64.75-metre (212 ft) attraction built in 1897 at the entrance of the Prater amusement park. It was designed by British engineers Harry Hitchins and Hubert Cecil Booth, and constructed that year by Lieutenant Walter Basset Bassett of the Royal Navy, son of Charles Bassett, an MP from Devon. The wheel was created to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Emperor Franz Josef I, and it was built with 30 gondolas. A permit for demolition was issued in 1916, but lack of funds meant it survived. During World War II the wheel was severely damaged; when it was rebuilt, only 15 gondolas were replaced. Its later international fame came after the 1900 Grande Roue de Paris was demolished in 1920—then the Wiener Riesenrad became the world’s tallest extant Ferris wheel, holding that title until 1985. …
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