Paternoster Lifts: Dangerous, Obsolete and Quite Fun (including over the top!) 

Perfect place to put a hidden floor. I was half expecting to see a room full of mythical creatures playing poker or something.

The sign should've said: "You didnt listen, did you?"

I just imagine a grizzled old janitor nonchalantly sweeping up severed limbs every day of his job.

This is one of those things that could work brilliantly if you assume everyone is: A: able bodied B: not an idiot

We had one of those in one of my old workplaces. Used to take the apprentices up to the top floor, "forget" to get out, and then do a handstand whilst screaming loudly as it went over the top. Hilarious to see their faces as you came back round upside down, but yes, dangerous. Also, that was back in the days when I could still do a handstand.

Theres one of these in the danish parliment. Theyre apparently very useful for escaping journalists.

This may be a bit stupid, but i was imagining that at the top the whole thing got turned upside down and you would end up getting tipped over after what tom said, then when i saw the sign an was really confused. Thank god the video clip cleared things up!

As a student at the University of Sheffield, I can tell you that the paternoster is not as terrifying as it might look on camera. I use it instead of the stairs when I'm in the Arts Tower - bit of fun in between lectures. A lot of students do refuse to use it though, more because they're scared of it than anything else. Travelling over the top or round the bottom is not inherently dangerous - university just prefers you not to do it. Many people have, I accidentally went round the bottom on my first go! The One Show on the BBC tested Sheffield's paternoster against the ordinary lifts in the building a few years back, and it moves students a lot faster. Particularly those needing to get to the basement floor for a coffee before quickly returning to their lecture. Great to see a bit of Sheffield though, Tom! (:

There was one at a hospital I went to as a medical student. It was great - no need to wait for the main lifts. Of course, everyone rode it all the way around at least once, despite the “get off now or you’ll die” warning. There was a “don’t worry, just stay at the back of the cab and you’ll be fine” sign as you want over the top.

Ten years ago I briefly worked in a hotel in Amsterdam (the former Scheepvaarthuis) that had a paternoster lift! It wasn't in use anymore since they get significantly more dangerous when you throw drunk/high tourists with suitcases in the mix, but they were still fully operational. They were turned on upon request or for special occasions, but every time we did guests would complain about the noise. Older people who had formerly worked in the building always came in to see them, and often expressed disappointment about not being able to ride them one last time.

Daub some red hand print smears along the top of the shaft as it goes around, just to freak out people who decide to ride it in a loop ;-)

Well, SOMEONE has been to the top that shouldn't have been, judging by the graffiti scrawled on the wall. xD

I assume it's called a Paternoster because you have to say a prayer before you get on the bloody thing.

“Last floor to alight. Further travel not dangerous” that just encourages people to go up.

I have literally had nightmares involving elevators that worked like this. I had no idea they were real.

This lift is bloody brilliant. On a school trip to Sheffield University, our English teacher encouraged us all to under-ride the Paternoster (while she distracted the staff member escorting us round the Uni). It was as much fun as a lift can possibly be. Which, surprisingly, is quite a lot.

1:08 It says it isn't dangerous to go over the top

I like how there's graffiti on the walls past the point of no return so obviously some rebellious teens took this for a joy ride

We have about 50 working paternosters in Czech Republic. Come and see them!:)

I love it, putting personal irresponsibility back into daily activities.

There's one at Northwick Park Hospital, But I've always been to scared to go on it. That and I never knew until recently what happens when you get to the top floor.

I looked up and Hitachi is currently developing a more high-tech one. They call it the "Circulating Multi-Car Elevator System" It's on RU-vid too

I could kill the better part of a day with this thing and a portal gun.

The “escalator” of “elevators”.

I can name at least three different places in Prague that have these, two being publically accessible. Growing up around them, they never struck me as something unusual.

over 35 years ago, when I was about 9 or 10, our school allowed us to go into Newcastle University to learn basic on print-based teletype terminals running into a HP 2000 Mainframe. The department at the time had a paternoster, and these computer classes were after hours, so there was always a massive temptation to try going over the top. 9-year old me, however, was a wuss and chickened out, despite the imagined promise of gateways into future worlds or at the very least, the sight of some cool machinery. Thank you so much for satisfying a 35 year old curiosity!

I'd say that camera ride was a little over the top. ;-)

I live quite close to Sheffield, and I've been in that lift. It's kinda thrilling. You know, for a lift.

When I was at University of Leipzig (Germany), there was a Paternoster. There it was not forbidden to go over the top or under the lowest floor. And it is not dangerous, as you can see in this video.

I was an international student there 2 years ago and I was too scared to use that thing. It did help reduce the morning student traffic which was unreal.

With some improvements and some safety features, I can see these things actually being really good. It never stops and it doesn't have to go back and forth to whatever floors the riders are requesting. Of course, you'd need a couple of conventional elevators for handicapped folks or people who otherwise might have an issue getting on and off, but it's really nothing more than a vertical escalator. Maybe optical sensors plus some digital logic and there would be no "guillotine" risk.

This looks really frightening. I would constantly be afraid that I would trip and fall onto the entry and then get snapped in half by the wall as it went up or down.

am i the only one that thought when the elevator was going over the top that it flipped upside-down?

My father lived in Germany in the 60s while in the USAF and told me about these. I never really could grasp the concept until now. Thanks for this footage and for going "over the top". Much obliged.

Uhm... I live in Prague... These are in every old building... Going to the doctor in the center? Yep. Visiting your lawyer? Yep. Going to a pub on the top of a building? Yep.

Going over the top didn't seem to be that dangerous at all.

Exciting AND very dangerous? Someone get BigClive in there right quick!

I like that this is titled "Things You Might Not Know" instead of the more common RU-vid type of title "X Things you didn't know about _____" the X and the _____ being variable. Tom doesn't seem to assume that everyone but he is ignorant.

Haha, we have several of them in Prague. Once me and my friend went round and I was also a bit scared. Some young people here are fascinated by those elevators because there are urban legends how it goes around - that it turns upside down, compresses at the top and the bottom etc. It's quite fun to be honest. I had to try and see for myself!

That brought back awful memory of watching my brother leaving me in the elevator alone while my hands were holding a heavy box. I don't remember how many floors I passed while I was standing there thinking I will live the rest of my life stuck in metal box carrying another box.

I remember thinking of something like this elevator when I was young. I didn't think it actually existed, much less had a name.

Can we have a counterpart video of going under?

Hitachi wants to make a modern paternoster lift with enhanced safety.

In Czechia, there's about 70 páternoster lifts in total, however only a handful are working and available to the public. I've been to multiple and can say that you might eventually get used to it. The oldest one is in Prague in the building of Czech Radio, it was made in 1920 and installed in 1929 with 18 cabins, reconstructed between 2007-2008. The tallest one (58.5 m) is in Baťa's Skyscraper (AKA Building No. 21) in Zlín with 30 cabins. It takes 195 seconds to get from the 15th to the ground floor, its velocity is 0.3 m/s. It was installed in 1938 and reconstructed between 2018-2019. Apparently the package and letter delivery system was also using the same technology with an automatic tilt mechanism. The second tallest (56.8 m, 35 cabins) is in the Liberec region municipality building in Liberec, installed in 1971. It was reconstructed last year, but 2 months ago, some workers demolished two cabins and the engine room when a ladder they were transporting got stuck (severe safety violation, there are modern lifts in the building), so it's in non-working condition unfortunately. It is not known when it will be running again.

The building where I did an internship at 16 had a paternoster and you were allowed to go over the top, it was honestly so cool

Why the hell did I get a wheelchair add before this? Is it really that dangerous?

That thing looks like it would take body parts in an accident. But at least it will bring them back though. ;P

This would scare the s*** out of me. I'd be perpetually terrified of falling. Or getting trapped between the wall and the lift. Or forgetting to get out and going over the top.

That wave is probably the cutest thing I’ve seen this week

There's one in the building of the main post office in Brno, CZ. As a kid I was fascinated by it and with my classmates we would scare ourselves by imagining what happens beyond the top and bottom floors (the cabin folding close, flipping over, spikes, ...). When we were a bit older we would ride through the transition areas as a dare. In the one I know, there is a massive metal wheel on top which turns the whole thing. It is covered in old bubblegums. Once, my friend and I got stuck there. The whole thing stopped and we were trapped until found by the post office workers. I haven't gone through the top or bottom since :o)

Anyone notice the "Trapped!!" and other various graffiti around 1:28 when it went over the top? ;)

We had them at Salford University when I was there. One thing we use to do was to go to the top floor and someone would go in and come out doing a head stand. Then we'd push a poor fresher into the lift and watch their face as panic set in as they went higher and higher

Hey Tom, University Of Essex, Colchester, have a Paternoster in their Library which if memory serves is 6 floors, so not quite as big as the one in Sheffield. It was still in operation when I graduated in 2005, and I believe it is still going strong - UoE RU-vidrs feel free to correct me... It has always been a bit of a 'Right of Passage' for new students (freshers) to be told the perils and dangers of going 'over the top' and 'through the basement' before being dared, or challenged, to 'endure' a full cycle all the way round - in reality you just see the huge chain pulling the cars around and, so long as you keep protrusions clear, there is no danger whatsoever despite the multitude of horrifying warning signs! (My favourite was to tell them that it 'flips over' at the top and bottom, so you have to be ready to rotate and get back on your feet - seeing them brace for the sudden change, then come around smilingly perturbed was delightfully satisfying!) So yeah, thanks for enlightning the world to the existence of the Paternoster Lift, and keep up the good work. :-) Best Regards, Tigger

The office building where I worked (built in the mid 1960s) had a postal distribution system based on the paternoster principal. When I heard that name I thought it meant it worked if you prayed hard enough! :-)

I remember being caught in one as a child perhaps about five years old. It was at a department store in Bristol (I think) and I got seperated from my parents and went round and up and down without jamming anything: presumably I was too light. Eventually I was freed by my parents and I was in a right old state. It is astounding to me that any of them are still in use.

AFAIK the danish parliament still uses these. When I went there with school ~10 years ago, there were no extra safety features.

This is an amalgamation of all of my worst fears.

They have at least two of these in Copenhagen, Denmark :-D One in Cristiansborg (the Danish parliament building) and one in the KVUC building at Vognmagergade. I've taken a dozen trips with the latter while I studied there. Including the entire way around.

The University of Essex also has one. Tons of freshers sneak onto it and go over the top or bottom. It did break down a while ago and since they need specialists to repair it, it was out of service for about 3 months or something

Tim Key on OffMenu anyone?

I like you for writing "you might not know" instead of "you don't know".

I've ridden in that, it's a lot of fun and I wish they were more common. They're perfectly safe if you're able bodied and you don't prat about.

This thing appeared in one of my dreams a couple months back ( i somehow remember it) even though i had no idea these elevators existed.

In Prague are 28 paternosters still in daily operation and many of them are accessible by the public. In other Czech cities are too. Mostly under Heritage preservation.

I remember the one at BNFL in Birchwood, Warrington. It went round at unbelievable speed, you had to be quick jumping on/ off.

God damn i saw this video and afterwards had a nightmare about a giant one that just lets you fall off, like im not already terrified of elevators

Aha! So the cars are NOT inverted as they go over the top -- under the bottom. Again, I learn something new!

Just when I thought normal elevators were the scariest thing in my life....

There is also one in Berne i used to ride often when I was a kid. They modified it a few years ago and now it is horribly slow (what it wasn't back when I was young). But there was no problem with going over the top or the bottom, you could just stay in and go round and round forever. There is actually a video of it here on youtube as it was in the old state.

We have a paternoster in our city hall and when I was little it was still open to the public. I could make the round trip, at least nobody stopped me from doing so. Loved doing multiple turns in it as a child. Never thought about how dangerous it is but I guess the good old 70s technology wasn't too great with sensors, it didn't even have the cord as a safety measure, just an emergency stop button inside the cabins and outside.

We have one of these in my city. One day I decided to give it a try. Oh boy was that a mistake. Turns out that I'm not afraid to hop on but I'm terrified of getting of. I gotta admit that I went over the top because I didn't realize that I missed the last floor. Whoops.

I still have the occasional flashback to the paternoster in the University of Sussex which was the most terrifying thing I had seen up to that point in my life. This was 1979, and it still ranks in the top five.

We have a small version in the house, it actually also travels horizontally and it only fits about a microwave oven. Our staff uses it to distribute snacks and drinks across our home.

We have a bunch in the main building at the University of Frankfurt - and boy are they needed. The building is only 9 floors includin the basement, but my god, the actual lifts are HORRENDOUSLY slow, that everyone not using the stairs, will use the Paternoster. The building is shaped weirdly, it is a curve and has 6 bits jutting out either side. On each of those, there is a Paternoster that goes from the ground floor up to the 6th floor - and, you can go through the top and the bottom, I have on many occasions, simply by being too late to get off before, it is no problem, as it states. They can transport many students to the libraries on both ends of the building and the many offices for professors, and small seminar rooms. I could not imagine that building without it.. I guess we'd all get super fit, because we'd have to use the stairs. The lifts really are freaking annoying.

Would be interesting to see power consumption data... multiple independent elevators making numerous trips up and down vs one system constantly running. Also this looks incredibly efficient for users as there are constantly available lifts to take...no waiting on a full car to come back up for you!

I expected to see "the cake is a lie "

well, there are several in CZ left and operational :D now I feel even more special

There's one in the Umea University Hospital in Sweden as well

We had a handful of paternosters in office buildings in Norway. There were many accidents in them, some people have died in paternoster accidents. The last paternoster closed few years ago. They were only allowed in buildings with limited access.

I remember the paternoster elevator in the Genetics building at the University of Glasgow - I used to ride all the way around when aged 6 in 1969 - the top area was not closed off like in this one - we could see the machinery and the big wheels that drove the elevator.

there used to be one at Leicester Poly (uni) in a building that has since gone called the James Went building. Really amazing to go in and even more amazing how quickly you got used to it. I do indeed have the pleasure of riding over the top and indeed the bottom. What i found was lots of graffiti from students who had "dared" to be naughty and risk the whole thing closing. Which, considering there were no lifts as an alternative could spark of riots with students having to go up and down stairs. And no i didnt add my signature to the very exclusive club. Well, maybe once :)

My friend showed me this when I came to visit her in Sheffield a while back and I was too scared to get in it 😂

Frankfurt University has one of those as well. I rode it over the top, quite fun! They are only dangerous if you're an idiot.

There used to be one at Leicester university. I got shown it when I went there on an open day. As you do, we asked the guide what happened if you didn't get out at the ground floor. They didn't know. Well, me and the person I was in the lift with got confused and failed to get out at the ground floor, when returning from (as I remember) lunch. We survived.

I remember building these cars back in the 70's,I am sure some were fitted into Aston uni as well!

When I was a child my mom worked in an office building that had a paternoster. Was quite fun and of course we kids went up and down many times while waiting for my mom. Aaah good times! 😎

I've been over the top in that lift. It was less exciting than I had hoped :p

This brings back memories of uni to me. I know everyone is talking about going over the top, but the real challenge is how many can you fit into a single carriage. It takes timing, teamwork, commitment and for the last person in, some very quick decision making. We managed four but didn't dare do more.

Two (?) Siemens office buildings in Berlin are still operating these. I worked in one of them for a few years. They look and operate exactly the same as the lifts in this video. Paternoster lifts are actually a little slow, which is why not many people use them once the novelty has worn off. It's also slightly awkward to get into the same cab with someone else, so people sometimes end up waiting for the next one.

The stress of such a thing even existing, I can't even tell you.

*"Dangerous, obsolete and quite fun"*

Should have done this in Leicester. They expect you to go over and just leave a sign saying no screaming when you do stay on ^^

This is terrifying.

University of Essex used to have one in their Library. I am proud to say that I did a full degree at this university without ever using the library I never got around to using the lift. Well I did have a 'this is your library' session but never went back after that. No point.

The best thing was to get out and then do a handstand in the returning car, the freaked out faces as you went back down were brilliant to see

That style of elevator honestly never occurred to me, and frankly it's genius. I really don't see why they can't co-exist with "normal" elevators. Could make a world of difference in large and highly populated buildings where waiting for an elevator is a significant time sink. Like many large downtown office buildings.

This actually gives me severe anxiety, I wouldn't step on that if I was paid to.

I’m from Sheffield and went on a school trip to this University when I was younger. Me and 4 friends all went over the top of this exact lift, and then all the way down and round the bottom, in the same lift carriage, and nothing bad happened 👀 no secret floor, no off-balancing, no upside-down lift carriage, no damage to the lift... makes me wonder why so many people think it’s so dangerous or damaging? Maybe it might get damaged if absolutely everyone did it, but I’m sure it’s completely okay for the odd few people to do it 😅

University of Essex’s Albert Sloman library also has one. I had to get special dispensation to use the staff lift because of mobility issues but really wanted to have a go on it.

There is one in Switzerland in a department store. As a Scout, I remember being allowed to wander around the town, and we found this lift. 8 stories high, but you could go over the top in one big loop - we organised a game of tig. The shop were not happy