Exactly on the day of the 210th anniversary of the birth of Karl Ritter von Ghega a new commemorative is being released to celebrate the great Austrian engineer and builder of the Semmering railway. The stamp motif was designed by Ernst Sladek, and shows a portrait of Ghega and the “Kalte Rinne” viaduct, which was built 160 years ago this year.

Born in Venice to parents of Albanian origin, Carlo Ghega was intended to be a naval officer like his father, but it soon became apparent that his mathematical talents were greater than his love of the sea. Having attended the Imperial Military College, he went to study at the University of Padua at the age of 15, obtaining his diploma as an engineer and architect only one year later, and completing his doctorate in mathematics at the age of 17.

He began his career as an engineer on various road and water construction projects in Veneto, and amongst other things he was involved in the construction of the “Strada d’Alemagna”, the road from Treviso to Cortina d’Ampezzo. As early as 1833, Ghega published his first specialist book. From 1836 to 1840, he was construction manager for the Lundenburg-Brno section of the Emperor Ferdinand Northern Railway; during this time, he also studied the railways of England and other countries in Europe. In 1842, Ghega was appointed overall head of planning of the Southern State Railway, and for this reason he undertook a study visit to America. What he learned there contributed not only to the planning and construction of the Semmering Railway, but also to two publications. Incidentally, Ghega published most of his writings not only in German but also in corresponding Italian and French editions.
After returning to the state railways, he was commissioned to plan the construction of the railway line heading south, from Gloggnitz via Mürzzuschlag and from Graz to Trieste. Many of his contemporaries regarded the crossing of the Semmering pass with a railway as technically complex or even impossible. However, as early as 1844 he submitted a plan for crossing the pass involving the use of normal locomotives and ignoring the possibility of cogwheel and cable operation. Even before it was decided to build the railway, Ghega began designing the locomotives that could overcome the inclines on the route. Construction of the Semmering Railway began in 1848, and even before it was finished in 1854, Ghega was raised to the status of knight.
Ghega died of tuberculosis in Vienna on 14 March 1860, and, although largely unknown in public until then, Karl Ritter von Ghega’s life soon became the subject of a number of novels and numerous myths.

Source: Austria Post

published December 9th, 2011