Ghega, Karl Ritter von#

Ghega, Karl, Ritter* von, b. Venice (Italy), Jan. 10, 1802, d. Vienna, March 14, 1860, engineer. Constructed the Semmering Railway. Doctoral degree at the age of 18 in Padua, supervised the construction of parts of the Railway, Northern (northern railway) from 1836-1840, in 1836/37 in England and 1842 in the USA to study railway technology, after his return in the service of the national railway, in charge of extending the southern and south-eastern lines. In 1848 he proposed an adhesion railway to cross the Semmering mountain and furthered the construction of the necessary locomotives. The difficult process of construction was completed in spite of protests and the line was opened in 1854, making Austria a pioneer in the construction of alpine railways on long, steep escarpments. In 1850 G. became chairman of the general building administration of the national railways and was awarded the title of Ritter*. In 1855-1857 G. built the last part of the Suedbahn (southern railway) from Ljubljana to Trieste.

Work: Malerischer Atlas der Eisenbahn ueber den Semmering, 1854 (reprint 1998).

Literature#