When I was in Prague in February, one of my top priorities was to ride the paternoster in Pasáž Lucerna. The general idea behind a paternoster is that it’s an open perpetual lift that can also double as a do-it-yourself amputation machine. Paternosters are few and far between these days due to safety regulations, but there are still a handful dotted around Prague as well as other cities in Europe.
If I’d left my foot there, my toes would have been history.
The sign warning passengers to disembark. Theoretically one should be able to ride over the top gear (or under the bottom gear) safely, so I’m not sure why this particular paternoster had warning signs, but I didn’t stay on to find out.
I took a short video to demonstrate how it works:
Given increasing legal issues regarding safety, I think it won’t be that many more years before paternosters are extinct (or at least not available for public use), so if you want to ride, it’s probably best not to wait too much longer.