Premiere in Cologne in 1925: 100 years of escalators: Dream ride for 30 seconds

100 years ago, on July 11, 1925, Germany's first escalator was opened in the Tietz department store in Cologne's city center.

A postcard published at the time, now preserved in the Cologne City Museum, shows the narrow escalator leading upwards with three customers. The department store advertised the innovation with the promise that the "rolling walkways" would save customers "time and therefore money."

That same year, escalators were also put into operation in department stores in Berlin and Munich. In Berlin, there was initially a lift attendant on duty to assist customers as needed.

In the 1920s, "rolling stairs" were considered an expression of urban living and a realization of humanity's desire to move effortlessly from one place to another. Floating instead of groaning.

The "circulating platform" was invented in the USA at the end of the 19th century. Railway engineer Jesse W. Reno, who also lived in Berlin for a time, filed a patent for his developed transportation system in New York in 1892. A few years later, the first escalator opened at the Coney Island amusement park in New York.

From there, they spread throughout the world because they were considered a suitable means of controlling large crowds. Today, according to the German Engineering Federation (VDMA), there are approximately 39,000 escalators in Germany alone, although the Frankfurt-based association uses the official term "moving stairs."

"The escalator is a wonderful symbol of modernity," says Frank Steinbeck, head of the road traffic department at the German Museum of Technology in Berlin. "On the one hand, it is a consequence of industrialization, urban growth, and the associated increase in traffic in the 19th and 20th centuries. On the other hand, it is also a symbol of the emerging consumer society."

The two main locations were train stations and shopping malls, initially large department stores, then shopping malls.

In the Federal Republic of Germany, escalators became a symbol of the economic miracle after 1945. Back then, gliding along the grooved steps was still a real experience.

Reinhard Mey, born in Berlin in 1942, describes outstanding childhood experiences from the post-war period in one of his songs with the lines: "Going to the Avus race with me, watching the planes at Tempelhof, riding the escalator in the department store for hours."

The ascending and descending conveyor belt has always been more than just a technical device; it has evolved into a popular literary metaphor. "Escalator Downward" is the title of a 1970 young adult novel by Hans-Georg Noack, which generations of students have studied in German classes.

Cultural scientists divide escalator riding into three stages. The first stage is stepping onto the escalator. From solid ground, you step onto the moving steps, thus relinquishing control of your own propulsion. This step is not without risk, as your parents instill in you as a child: Avoid stepping on the gap between two steps, otherwise you risk losing your balance if the front step rises at any moment.

The second stage of the escalator ride is the "transit phase." You glide along, condemned to passivity, which can also be pleasant. For 20 or 30 seconds, you have the opportunity to let your mind wander—a moment of daydreaming in the midst of hectic everyday life. You drift off, usually not even checking your phone because the ride is too short.

It's recommended to hold onto the handrail while riding, but parents often tell their children not to do so, citing hygiene concerns.

The third and final stage of the ride is the exit. The steps become flatter until they disappear into a shaft-like slot. The user must now move under their own power; everyday life takes over again.

Andrea Mihm puts it this way in her dissertation "The Escalator": "While the ride itself is perceived as a pacification, the reintegration into the events of the respective reference system turns out to be more of a dissatisfaction, even a minor annoyance."

On wider escalators, the rule is "Stand on the right, walk on the left." In metropolises like London, it's a mortal sin to block the way on the subway escalators. This would expose you as an ignorant tourist, and for any local, being shooed aside with a quiet "Excuse me" would be the height of embarrassment.

In London, as well as in Moscow, there are particularly long escalators because many subway stations are located very low. "That's why these escalators run faster," says Frank Steinbeck of the Museum of Technology.

Children and teenagers sometimes find themselves challenged to break the rules of the escalator by, for example, running up downward escalators and thus, so to speak, conquering them. In "Skyfall," Daniel Craig, as James Bond, uses the connection between two escalators on the London Tube (underground) as a slide to shorten a chase.

Escalators are of particular importance in Medellín, Colombia: for decades, drug-related crime dominated the city, especially the slums located on steep mountain slopes.

One of them, Comuna 13, received several escalators totaling almost 400 meters in 2011, making the neighborhood more accessible and helping to control crime. Every trip from the bottom to the top is like climbing to the 28th floor of a building. "A great thing," says Frank Steinbeck.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:250710-930-780282/1