Chance blueprint discovery reveals world's oldest passenger lift

One of the cogs in the Hamburg paternoster, a slow elevator that moves continuously, with a loop of open fronted cabins that run the height of a building. Photos: dpa

A young art historian accidentally discovered what is likely the world’s oldest paternoster elevator in what felt like an Indiana Jones moment.

While doing some research, Robin Augenstein came across an old blueprint of Hamburg’s Fluggerhaus, a historical office building with Art Nouveau touches that dates back to 1908.