Bronzeelefant

TUFFI und die G15-Schwebebahn

Einmalige Aufnahmen!
Die Geschichte von 1950 wiederholt sich, damals sprang der Elefant TUFFI aus der Schwebebahn in die Wupper. Bei der ersten Tages-Testfahrt der neuen Schwebebahn G15 in Wuppertal-Elberfeld, Ohligsmühle am 08.06.2016 traue ich meinen Augen nicht, als der Elefantentest mit der neuen G15 wiederholt wurde und ..... TUFFI2 wählte natürlich die große Panoramascheibe!
Dem Tier ist nichts passiert, nur die Scheibe musste dran glauben.
Wer die Geschichte von 1950 glaubt, sollte sich das jetzt mal ansehen.

Tipp: Tag der offenen Tür am 06. Okt. 2016 vielleicht die WSW-Schwebebahnwerkstatt?

The Elephant that jumped out of a Monorail

Tuffi (*1946 in India, † 1989 in Paris, France) was a female circus elephant that became famous in Germany in 1950 when she jumped from the suspended monorail in Wuppertal into the river below.
On 21 July 1950 the circus director Franz Althoff had Tuffi, then 4 years old, take the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal, as a marketing gag. The elephant trumpeted wildly and ran through the wagon, broke through a window and fell some 12 metres (39 ft) down into the Wupper river, suffering only minor injuries. A panic had broken out in the wagon and some passengers were injured. Althoff helped the elephant out of the water. Both the circus director and the official who had allowed the ride were fined.
Tuffi was sold to Cirque Alexis Gruss in 1968; she died there in 1989.
A manipulated picture of the fall still exists and a building near the location of the incident, between the stations Alter Markt and Adlerbrücke, shows a painting of Tuffi. A local milk-factory has chosen the name as a brand.
The Wuppertal tourist information keeps an assortment of Tuffi-related souvenirs, local websites show original pictures.
In 1970 Marguerita Eckel and Ernst-Andreas Ziegler published a Children's picture book about the incident, named Tuffi und die Schwebebahn. (Wikipedia)
Tuffi (* 1946 in Indien; † 1989 in Paris war eine Elefantenkuh des Zirkus Althoff, die am 21. Juli 1950 im Alter von vier Jahren in Wuppertal aus der fahrenden Schwebebahn in die Wupper sprang. (Wikipedia)