TODAY IN BERLIN: A LOW FLYING OBJECT HITS A TRAM

March 19

On March 19, 1898 one of the captive balloons belonging to Berlin’s Luftschifferabteilung - Prussian Balloon-Detachment was part of the Military Railway Troops of the Prussian Army - caused a serious traffic accident.

At the aeronautic barracks on the western edge of Tempelhofer Feld - back then the site where barracks stood still belonged to Schöneberg - strong wind ripped a balloon out of its moorings and pushed it to move in a uncontrollable way.

Considering that the said balloon was nothing but a massive sack full of hot air, any threat to people and objects would have been minimal. Had it not been for a small problem: the balloon was attached to an iron wagon, which it now pulled behind it like a plough.