| Revision as of 21:23, 30 November 2024 editAnatol Svahilec (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users7,398 editsm →In art← Previous edit | Revision as of 22:43, 30 November 2024 edit undoCAPTAIN RAJU (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Page movers, New page reviewers, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers409,739 editsm clean up, removed orphan tag, typo(s) fixed: occured → occurred (3), aly → allyTag: AWBNext edit → | ||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| {{orphan|date=November 2024}} | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| The '''Bolevec Explosion''' or '''Bolevec Disaster''' was a safety incident |
The '''Bolevec Explosion''' or '''Bolevec Disaster''' was a safety incident occurred on 25 May 1917 in ] ammunition plant, Bolevec near ] (Pilsen), the biggest ammunition pruducing facility in former ], during ]. An explosion, probably caused by a single defective ], started a massive ] of another explosions with the death toll of at least 143 people and hundreds of wounded and crippled.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pilsen.eu/citizen/about-the-city/history/traces-of-the-pilsen-history/|title=Traces of the Pilsen History|website=Official website of the City of Pilsen|access-date=16 May 2014}}</ref> | ||
| == Škoda ammunition factory == | == Škoda ammunition factory == | ||
| {{unreferenced section|date= November 2024}} | {{unreferenced section|date= November 2024}} | ||
| At the beginning of World War I Škoda engine and armor company was one of the biggest in the country.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vokál |first1=Vladimír |title=Tragický výbuch v Bolevci inspiroval Čapka k napsání Krakatitu |url=https://www.idnes.cz/technet/pred-100-lety/tragicky-vybuch-v-bolevci-inspiroval-capka-k-napsani-krakatitu.A170522_174455_vojenstvi_vov |website=IDnes.cz |publisher=Mafra |access-date=30 November 2024 |language=cs}}</ref> Except of producing onw designed artillery pieces (field guns, mortrars or howitzers), in 1901 the company built a new facility out of the factory area, in Bolevec, at that period about 6 kilometers from Plzeň, which because of war production became the largest ammunition plant in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Demands of the ammunition production by the army pushed Škoda company to rapildy extend the facility size at the expense of safety or hygienic rules, as proper permitions and regulations for the industrial objects built or storage of a huge amount of ammunition at the same area. Before the incident Škoda ammunition factory emploed more than 3000 people producing about fifty types of ammunition pieces in the 37–305 |
At the beginning of World War I Škoda engine and armor company was one of the biggest in the country.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Vokál |first1=Vladimír |title=Tragický výbuch v Bolevci inspiroval Čapka k napsání Krakatitu |url=https://www.idnes.cz/technet/pred-100-lety/tragicky-vybuch-v-bolevci-inspiroval-capka-k-napsani-krakatitu.A170522_174455_vojenstvi_vov |website=IDnes.cz |publisher=Mafra |access-date=30 November 2024 |language=cs}}</ref> Except of producing onw designed artillery pieces (field guns, mortrars or howitzers), in 1901 the company built a new facility out of the factory area, in Bolevec, at that period about 6 kilometers from Plzeň, which because of war production became the largest ammunition plant in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Demands of the ammunition production by the army pushed Škoda company to rapildy extend the facility size at the expense of safety or hygienic rules, as proper permitions and regulations for the industrial objects built or storage of a huge amount of ammunition at the same area. Before the incident Škoda ammunition factory emploed more than 3000 people producing about fifty types of ammunition pieces in the 37–305 mm caliber range. | ||
| == Explosion == | == Explosion == | ||
| At 25 May 1917 2580 own workers (862 men and 1718 women) and 354 constructional workers were presented in the area. In the noon hours Vojtěch Žižka, worker in the Building No. 10 disposed for an assembling of landmine of the new type, reported a defective piece. The information even reached Ing. Rudolf Thiel, director of the plant, but he did not show any attention to it.{{citation needed|date= November 2024}} | At 25 May 1917 2580 own workers (862 men and 1718 women) and 354 constructional workers were presented in the area. In the noon hours Vojtěch Žižka, worker in the Building No. 10 disposed for an assembling of landmine of the new type, reported a defective piece. The information even reached Ing. Rudolf Thiel, director of the plant, but he did not show any attention to it.{{citation needed|date= November 2024}} | ||
| Between 1:35 and 1:45 |
Between 1:35 and 1:45 p.m.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Austria. Reichsrat. Abgeordnetenhaus |title=Stenographische Protokolle über die Sitzungen des Hauses der Abgeordneten des österreichischen Reichsrates |date=1918 |publisher=k. k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei |page=60 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/Stenographische_Protokolle_%C3%BCber_die_Sit/oz0yAQAAMAAJ?hl=cs&gbpv=1&bsq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&dq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> an explosion of one of the landmines occurred in Building No. 10, killing a few people. Because of the packages of TNT<ref>{{cite journal |journal=The Chemical News and Journal of Industrial Science |date=1925 |volume=131 |page=193 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/The_Chemical_News_and_Journal_of_Industr/otHwdRO7Bx4C?hl=cs&gbpv=1&bsq=Bolevec+1917&dq=Bolevec+1917&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> stored in the same house multiple another blasts smashed the building down and provoked other following ones. All of the workers became to run in panic out, but this strategically important military facility was protected by a ] fences, ]s and locked gates, which crucially complicated the evacuation. The main explosion occurred at 2:50 p.m. creating the pressure wave about six kilometers wide, also breaking many windows in the very centre of Pilsen. Blasts continued till the evening hours. | ||
| == Aftermath == | == Aftermath == | ||
| Line 16: | Line 15: | ||
| Despite the imminent danger, many volunteers rushed inside the factory area to help the injured, facing the danger of additional ammunition blasts. Final number of people killed by the explosions has increased to 146. 143 of the victims were buried in a mass grave digged on the nearby Bolevec cemetery, 3 remaining were buried in their family graves. On 29 May the main funeral ceremony was set with burying of 53 bodies, other coffins were added in the next days as the bodies were discovered during the deconstruction works. The funeral with a personal presence of ] was strictly guarded by the army and the k.k. ] due to a possibilities of riots. In the Austro-Hungarian press just a minimal reflection was allowed by the censors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Austria. Reichsrat. Abgeordnetenhaus |title=Stenographische Protokolle über die Sitzungen des Hauses der Abgeordneten des österreichischen Reichsrates |date=1918 |publisher=k. k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei |page=60 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/Stenographische_Protokolle_%C3%BCber_die_Sit/oz0yAQAAMAAJ?hl=cs&gbpv=1&bsq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&dq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> | Despite the imminent danger, many volunteers rushed inside the factory area to help the injured, facing the danger of additional ammunition blasts. Final number of people killed by the explosions has increased to 146. 143 of the victims were buried in a mass grave digged on the nearby Bolevec cemetery, 3 remaining were buried in their family graves. On 29 May the main funeral ceremony was set with burying of 53 bodies, other coffins were added in the next days as the bodies were discovered during the deconstruction works. The funeral with a personal presence of ] was strictly guarded by the army and the k.k. ] due to a possibilities of riots. In the Austro-Hungarian press just a minimal reflection was allowed by the censors.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Austria. Reichsrat. Abgeordnetenhaus |title=Stenographische Protokolle über die Sitzungen des Hauses der Abgeordneten des österreichischen Reichsrates |date=1918 |publisher=k. k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei |page=60 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/Stenographische_Protokolle_%C3%BCber_die_Sit/oz0yAQAAMAAJ?hl=cs&gbpv=1&bsq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&dq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> | ||
| Some other sources claim, that the number of victims was even higher, more than 202 and about 700 wounded.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weger |first1=Tobias |title=Pilsen / Plzeň |date=27 January 2015 |publisher=Verlag Friedrich Pustet |location=Germany |isbn=9783791760551 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/Pilsen_Plzen/VYl3DwAAQBAJ?hl=cs&gbpv=1&dq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&pg=PT88&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> |
Some other sources claim, that the number of victims was even higher, more than 202 and about 700 wounded.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weger |first1=Tobias |title=Pilsen / Plzeň |date=27 January 2015 |publisher=Verlag Friedrich Pustet |location=Germany |isbn=9783791760551 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/Pilsen_Plzen/VYl3DwAAQBAJ?hl=cs&gbpv=1&dq=Pilsen+1917+explosion&pg=PT88&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> | ||
| On the top of the mass grave a chapel of St. Vojtěch (Adalbert)<ref>{{cite web |title=Bolevec, Zavadilka and Košutka |url=https://pam.plzne.cz/en/path/38-bolevec-zavadilka-and-kosutka |website=Pilsner Architectonical Manual |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> was build by the design of Austrian architect Robert Oerlych. | On the top of the mass grave a chapel of St. Vojtěch (Adalbert)<ref>{{cite web |title=Bolevec, Zavadilka and Košutka |url=https://pam.plzne.cz/en/path/38-bolevec-zavadilka-and-kosutka |website=Pilsner Architectonical Manual |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> was build by the design of Austrian architect Robert Oerlych. | ||
| Line 26: | Line 25: | ||
| == Memory == | == Memory == | ||
| ] | ] | ||
| In 1967 a memorial monument was erected in the area of the Škoda factory, which was after 1950 rebuilt for another industrial use of the company. A new memorial was placed just next the old one in 2017 at the 100th years anniversary of the event.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pomník ke 100. výročí výbuchu muniční továrny |url=https://krizkyavetrelci.plzne.cz/katalog/dilo/2314/ |website=Křížky a vetřelci |publisher=Pěstuj prostor, z. s. |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> |
In 1967 a memorial monument was erected in the area of the Škoda factory, which was after 1950 rebuilt for another industrial use of the company. A new memorial was placed just next the old one in 2017 at the 100th years anniversary of the event.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pomník ke 100. výročí výbuchu muniční továrny |url=https://krizkyavetrelci.plzne.cz/katalog/dilo/2314/ |website=Křížky a vetřelci |publisher=Pěstuj prostor, z. s. |access-date=30 November 2024}}</ref> | ||
| == In art == | == In art == | ||
| Line 42: | Line 41: | ||
| ==Bibliography== | ==Bibliography== | ||
| * {{cite book |last1=Jakubec |first1=Ivan |title=The Economic Rise of the Czech Lands 1 |date=2 April 2024 |publisher=Karolinum Press |location=Prague |isbn=9788024638065 |page=228 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/The_Economic_Rise_of_the_Czech_Lands_I/j5UUEQAAQBAJ?hl=cs&gbpv=1&dq=Bolevec+explosion&pg=PA258&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}} | * {{cite book |last1=Jakubec |first1=Ivan |title=The Economic Rise of the Czech Lands 1 |date=2 April 2024 |publisher=Karolinum Press |location=Prague |isbn=9788024638065 |page=228 |url=https://www.google.cz/books/edition/The_Economic_Rise_of_the_Czech_Lands_I/j5UUEQAAQBAJ?hl=cs&gbpv=1&dq=Bolevec+explosion&pg=PA258&printsec=frontcover |access-date=30 November 2024}} | ||
| * {{cite book |last1=Bauerová |first1=Marie |title=Bolevecká katastrofa v roce 1917 |date=1998 |publisher=Documenta Pragensia |isbn=80-86197-02-6 |url=https://hucentral.kpsys.cz/records/097c0ccc-69e8-4957-b8e2-23886adf3fd2?back=https%3A%2F%2Fhucentral.kpsys.cz%2Frecords%2F147aec9d-3f3d-48d5-9287-5712e783b4e6&group=cd99164b-7963-4d5b-b881-2ef7e6dd476b,0bdff0dc-ea15-4966-82dc-ccee09361964,3d78418c-4018-4317-af2f-cd47a067316c,097c0ccc-69e8-4957-b8e2-23886adf3fd2,7bfd0494-8f04-44d9-a100-4ba5d2d31a99,7e51242f-9af2-4517-8d09-9f2c397d00a1,1447df3c-71e3-4407-b702-ef0fbf5846cd,1473d5db-8a12-4e93-96d4-3a9b79e5e213,abae9ba3-a3bf-4ae6-8c15-b9dfed77ad80,e06c1cfe-4260-4167-a180-773da2dd9903 |access-date=30 November 2024}} |
* {{cite book |last1=Bauerová |first1=Marie |title=Bolevecká katastrofa v roce 1917 |date=1998 |publisher=Documenta Pragensia |isbn=80-86197-02-6 |url=https://hucentral.kpsys.cz/records/097c0ccc-69e8-4957-b8e2-23886adf3fd2?back=https%3A%2F%2Fhucentral.kpsys.cz%2Frecords%2F147aec9d-3f3d-48d5-9287-5712e783b4e6&group=cd99164b-7963-4d5b-b881-2ef7e6dd476b,0bdff0dc-ea15-4966-82dc-ccee09361964,3d78418c-4018-4317-af2f-cd47a067316c,097c0ccc-69e8-4957-b8e2-23886adf3fd2,7bfd0494-8f04-44d9-a100-4ba5d2d31a99,7e51242f-9af2-4517-8d09-9f2c397d00a1,1447df3c-71e3-4407-b702-ef0fbf5846cd,1473d5db-8a12-4e93-96d4-3a9b79e5e213,abae9ba3-a3bf-4ae6-8c15-b9dfed77ad80,e06c1cfe-4260-4167-a180-773da2dd9903 |access-date=30 November 2024}} | ||
| == External links == | == External links == | ||
Revision as of 22:43, 30 November 2024
The Bolevec Explosion or Bolevec Disaster was a safety incident occurred on 25 May 1917 in Škoda Works ammunition plant, Bolevec near Plzeň (Pilsen), the biggest ammunition pruducing facility in former Austria-Hungary, during World War I. An explosion, probably caused by a single defective land mine, started a massive chain reaction of another explosions with the death toll of at least 143 people and hundreds of wounded and crippled.
Škoda ammunition factory
 | This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
At the beginning of World War I Škoda engine and armor company was one of the biggest in the country. Except of producing onw designed artillery pieces (field guns, mortrars or howitzers), in 1901 the company built a new facility out of the factory area, in Bolevec, at that period about 6 kilometers from Plzeň, which because of war production became the largest ammunition plant in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Demands of the ammunition production by the army pushed Škoda company to rapildy extend the facility size at the expense of safety or hygienic rules, as proper permitions and regulations for the industrial objects built or storage of a huge amount of ammunition at the same area. Before the incident Škoda ammunition factory emploed more than 3000 people producing about fifty types of ammunition pieces in the 37–305 mm caliber range.
Explosion
At 25 May 1917 2580 own workers (862 men and 1718 women) and 354 constructional workers were presented in the area. In the noon hours Vojtěch Žižka, worker in the Building No. 10 disposed for an assembling of landmine of the new type, reported a defective piece. The information even reached Ing. Rudolf Thiel, director of the plant, but he did not show any attention to it.
Between 1:35 and 1:45 p.m. an explosion of one of the landmines occurred in Building No. 10, killing a few people. Because of the packages of TNT stored in the same house multiple another blasts smashed the building down and provoked other following ones. All of the workers became to run in panic out, but this strategically important military facility was protected by a barbed wire fences, watchtowers and locked gates, which crucially complicated the evacuation. The main explosion occurred at 2:50 p.m. creating the pressure wave about six kilometers wide, also breaking many windows in the very centre of Pilsen. Blasts continued till the evening hours.
Aftermath
Despite the imminent danger, many volunteers rushed inside the factory area to help the injured, facing the danger of additional ammunition blasts. Final number of people killed by the explosions has increased to 146. 143 of the victims were buried in a mass grave digged on the nearby Bolevec cemetery, 3 remaining were buried in their family graves. On 29 May the main funeral ceremony was set with burying of 53 bodies, other coffins were added in the next days as the bodies were discovered during the deconstruction works. The funeral with a personal presence of Archduke Karl Albrecht was strictly guarded by the army and the k.k. Gendarmerie due to a possibilities of riots. In the Austro-Hungarian press just a minimal reflection was allowed by the censors.
Some other sources claim, that the number of victims was even higher, more than 202 and about 700 wounded.
On the top of the mass grave a chapel of St. Vojtěch (Adalbert) was build by the design of Austrian architect Robert Oerlych.
Investigation revealed the fact of a report of Vojtěch Žižka, who died as one of the firsts, which the factory executives ignored. Factory director Rudolf Thiel was charged, but in 1918 he shot himself in his flat due to a defraudation affair.
A factory of that high importance was decided to rebuild as soon as possible, but the Plzeň city council protested and demanded the factory to be build in a smaller scale and with much higher safety standards. The factory was ultimately built on a significantly smaller scale, although contemporary sources often speak of its reconstruction according to the original project.
Memory
In 1967 a memorial monument was erected in the area of the Škoda factory, which was after 1950 rebuilt for another industrial use of the company. A new memorial was placed just next the old one in 2017 at the 100th years anniversary of the event.
In art
The Bolevec Disaster inspired Czech writer Karel Čapek, who witnessed the event during his work stay at Chyše Chateau, to create the novel Krakatit published in 1924.
See also
- Škoda Works
- Plzeň
- History of Austria-Hungary during World War I
- Largest artificial non-nuclear explosions
Citations
- "Traces of the Pilsen History". Official website of the City of Pilsen. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
- Vokál, Vladimír. "Tragický výbuch v Bolevci inspiroval Čapka k napsání Krakatitu". IDnes.cz (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- Austria. Reichsrat. Abgeordnetenhaus (1918). Stenographische Protokolle über die Sitzungen des Hauses der Abgeordneten des österreichischen Reichsrates. k. k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. p. 60. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- The Chemical News and Journal of Industrial Science. 131: 193. 1925 https://www.google.cz/books/edition/The_Chemical_News_and_Journal_of_Industr/otHwdRO7Bx4C?hl=cs&gbpv=1&bsq=Bolevec+1917&dq=Bolevec+1917&printsec=frontcover. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
{{cite journal}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - Austria. Reichsrat. Abgeordnetenhaus (1918). Stenographische Protokolle über die Sitzungen des Hauses der Abgeordneten des österreichischen Reichsrates. k. k. Hof- und Staatsdruckerei. p. 60. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- Weger, Tobias (27 January 2015). Pilsen / Plzeň. Germany: Verlag Friedrich Pustet. ISBN 9783791760551. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- "Bolevec, Zavadilka and Košutka". Pilsner Architectonical Manual. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- "Sebevražda vrchního inženýra Škodových závodů". Encyklopedie Plzně. City of Plzeň. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- "Pomník ke 100. výročí výbuchu muniční továrny". Křížky a vetřelci. Pěstuj prostor, z. s. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- Vokál, Vladimír. "Tragický výbuch v Bolevci inspiroval Čapka k napsání Krakatitu". IDnes.cz (in Czech). Mafra. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
Bibliography
- Jakubec, Ivan (2 April 2024). The Economic Rise of the Czech Lands 1. Prague: Karolinum Press. p. 228. ISBN 9788024638065. Retrieved 30 November 2024.
- Bauerová, Marie (1998). Bolevecká katastrofa v roce 1917. Documenta Pragensia. ISBN 80-86197-02-6. Retrieved 30 November 2024.