Jan Perner
Encyclopedia
Jan Perner was a Czech railway engineer. During 1842 - 1845 Perner was responsible for construction of several railways in the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

.

Career

Perner was born to a water-mill owner and his wife. During 1830-33 he studied at an engineering school in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 led by František Josef Gerstner
František Josef Gerstner
František Josef Gerstner was a Bohemian physicist and engineer.Gerstner studied at the Jesuits gymnasium in Chomutov, after which he studied mathematics and astronomy at the Faculty of Philosophy in Prague between 1772 and 1777. In 1781, he started to study medicine in Vienna, but quickly decided...

. When Gerstner looked for engineers for construction of railways in Sankt Petersburg area of Imperial Russia, Perner joined the project (1836). Due to problems in communication with Gerstner he left in the same year. In 1837 Perner began work at the state railway company and was gradually promoted to take responsibility for construction works. In 1842 he started to design and oversee construction of important railways Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

 - Pardubice
Pardubice
Pardubice is the capital city of the Pardubice Region and lies on the river Elbe, 65 miles east of Prague. Pardubice has an antique centre square and old town, with many restaurants that stay open until late in the evening. There is an old Tower and a recently renovated Castle...

 - Olomouc
Olomouc
Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...

 and Prague - Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

.

The railway from Prague to Pardubice (over 100 km) was finished in 1845. On September 9 1845, while Perner was returning from an inspection trip he looked out of the window of a moving train (near Choceň
Chocen
Choceň is a town in the Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has c. 9,100 inhabitants.First written document mentions this place in 1227. In 1562 building of large Choceň Castle started....

). His head hit a pole, and he was severely injured and died the next day. He has the dubious fame of being the first person to die in a railway accident in Bohemia. Today one of the faculties of University of Pardubice
University of Pardubice
University of Pardubice is a university in Pardubice, the Czech Republic. In 2005 it had nearly 8,000 students. It is the only university in Pardubice Region.-History:...

 is named after him: Jan Perner Transport Faculty (Dopravní fakulta Jana Pernera) http://genesis.upce.cz/english/english-faculties/en-dfjp/. An InterCity
InterCity
InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe...

 class train of railway operator České dráhy
Ceské dráhy
České dráhy or Czech Railways is the main railway operator of the Czech Republic. In 2010 its consolidated revenues reached CZK 41.0 bn...

bears the name Jan Perner.

External links

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