Vestner scenic hydraulic elevator at Breuninger in Reutlingen

Описание: In Reutlingen, there used to be two stores by clothing retailer Breuninger, a main store and a sportswear store. At first, both stores were to be consolidated, with the main one left open and Breuninger Sports closing by the end of November. But now, both stores are permanently closed, leaving considerable retail space unoccupied.

Elevator cabs with doors on three sides are already quite rare. At the main Breuninger store in Reutlingen, there is something even more special: An elevator with a cab that has entrances on all four sides. An easy way to make this possible is to use an inground hydraulic system as was chosen here. One of the elevator entrances has glass doors and is only used for an intermediate level halfway between the ground floor and the basement. Owing to slightly uneven terrain, this intermediate level has its own shop entrance ("Ausgang" = exit). An atrium extends above the intermediate level up to the second floor, which is the top shopping level. The elevator shaft is located directly adjacent to the atrium. Appropriately, the shaft wall facing the atrium is made of glass, allowing for nice views.

When facing the glass doors while inside the elevator cab, it is the left door that serves all shopping levels except for the intermediate level. This is the only single-speed center-opening cab door, with the three others being two-speed center-opening doors. The rear door opens to employee areas on the ground floor and the third floor ("Dachgeschoss" = roof level). Finally, the right door leads to the outside on the intermediate level and is likely used for deliveries. In contrast to all other doors of this elevator, the shaft doors on the outside of the building are a pair of manual swing doors. Interestingly, only the employee accesses on the intermediate level and the ground floor require a key, while the third floor was unlocked.


The elevator at Breuninger Sports is somewhat similar to this one in that it also has sliding glass doors and a side entrance with a manual shaft door:    • Rangger hydraulic glass elevator at Breuni...  . However, that elevator only has two entrances in total instead of four, albeit with a more interesting side cab door.

Technical specifications:
Brand: Vestner (modernized by Lödige)
Capacity: 1200kg / ~2645lbs / 16 people
Type: hydraulic (inground three-stage)
Year built: 1990 (modernized in 2012)
Travel distance: 5 floors / 6 stops