Paternosters still available to ride in Budapest

Please squelch the rumors about paternosters - the open-fronted conveyor-belt-like elevators - being illegal. They still exist in Budapest, and are not even considered elevators.

When Hungary joined the EU in 2004 there were fears that legislation would banish these relics of vertical transportation invented by Londoner J.E. Wells in 1882.

And no wonder, because on first glance the paternoster is almost comically scary. Not only are there no doors to keep your hands, legs, feet or head from getting stuck and potentially chopped off, but paternosters generally don't even stop to let people on or off. And then there is the question of what happens if you don't get off, and try to make a "round-trip" around the top or bottom of the belt-driven circuit.

But according to regulations, as long as there is a proper, wheelchair-accessible elevator in addition to a paternoster, the latter can keep running in circles for as long as its operator desires.

They are a confirmed presence at the headquarters of oil and gas giant Mol, at the Ministries of Defense, Health, Agriculture and Education, at the Hungarian National Bank, and HQ of electricity company Elmű.

But getting permission to ride is no walk in the park.

"I am not sure about visitors," says Krisztina Talas of the International Department of the Ministry of Health in Budapest. "We have a security system and at entrance someone must let you past for you to ride our paternoster."

After calling the Ministry of Health a second time, however, I spoke with one Miklós Gati, a political adviser to the minister of health, who was willing to pass along his mobile number and sponsor me for a visitor's pass - all in the name of educating people on the delights of the paternoster.

For those willing to make a few phone calls, it is possible to try a ride for yourself.

By definition, though, there is a serious fear factor when riding in an open-faced bucket named for the Lord's Prayer in Latin. But not everyone thinks this is a bad thing.

"See when you ride on it, all the way up and down, you will understand. There is a big wheel at the top and the bottom which is turning and moving this elevator and this is like rosary," says Gati.

Should we say any Hail Marys beforehand?

"Has it broken? No never. Well, maybe once," says Gati. "Actually, I am not sure if it has at all. I am just working here for one year. You know I am a political adviser of the minister, I do more with politics than paternosters."

At the Mol office building in Buda, signs warn against riding the elevator so far down you come back up, or so far up you go back down.

That didn't stop one local Indian resident, from trying.

"I really wanted to see what it was like," he says with a big grin. "And I survived. But then I got in trouble with the security guards. I just shrugged and said, 'nem Magyar.' I came here with an AIESEC traineeship and I thought Budapest, wow, it sounds like an Indian word. I will be ok. And then I come and find these cool elevators."

Long outdone by flashy gondolas and voice activated buttons, paternosters are a footnote in the history of motion. But for those who want a joyride in the office, consider it a Budapest necessity.

As Ági Szűcs from Mol says: "Paternosters, they are the third most Hungarian thing after paprika and the Parliament."

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