Berlin-Anhalt Railway Company
The Berlin- Anhalt Railway Company (in short: BAE ) was a railway company in Prussia. Constructed by her Anhalt Railway led in 1841 from Berlin to Köthen and was therefore one of the first long-distance railways in Germany.
History
The Berlin- Anhalt Railway Company was in the 19th century for more than four decades, one of the largest railway company in Germany. Besides the actual pickup trunk railway line she created in this period, a network of major rail links between Berlin and the northern part of the Kingdom of Saxony, the Prussian province of Saxony and the Duchy of Anhalt, which eventually had a length of approximately 430 kilometers.
The railway policy of the Prussian state prevented the originally planned construction of a line from Berlin to Riesa for connection to the Dresden- Leipzig. Therefore, the Company had 1836 initially opted for a route alternative in the direction of the Duchy of Anhalt 1839 and changed the name of reason " Berlin- Saxon Railway Company " in " Berlin- Anhalt Railway Company ".
The first railroad in the BAE was licensed on May 15, 1839 by Prussia and built to a length of 21 kilometers from the Köthen Anhalt Dessau residence, and opened on 1 September 1840. On 18 and 28 August 1841 the line was then extended by 37 kilometers to Wittenberg.
Already on July 1, 1841, traffic on 63 kilometers had been taken up by Jiiterbog from the northern end of the line, the Anhalt Station in Berlin. The remaining gap of 32 miles between Jiiterbog and Wittenberg was finally closed on 10 September 1841. The Köthen station became the first railway hubs in Germany, as it was also due to the already opened on June 9, 1840 Magdeburg- Leipzig Railway.
It was not until 1848 then the company could realize their original plan to establish a railway line from Jiiterbog about Falkenberg to Riesa. On 2 July 1848, railway operations to Herzberg on the Elster, and opened up Röderau / Riesa on 1 October 1848.
About ten years later the lines of the Berlin- Anhalt Railway Company reached the nodes of Halle and Leipzig. First introduced from August 17, 1857 a line from Dessau to Bitterfeld. From there, two routes went from February 1, 1859 in Halle and Leipzig. After they had also Wittenberg connected from August 3, 1859 directly to Bitterfeld, the route network of the BAE had grown by another 125 kilometers.
The construction of new routes, but also the growth of competing railway companies forced a constant adaptation of transport services to the changing demand. Thus the importance of the oldest route Dessau- Köthen later decreased to the level of a branch line. At the same time, the importance of passenger transport by train constantly and also the increasing industrialization and the necessary fuel and raw material supply ( in particular brown coal from the central German opencast mines ) caused a growth in transport volume.
Only in the first years after German unification, the network of BAE received a further growth. On 1 October 1871 acquired the property at the 13 -kilometer railway from Roßlau Leopold Anhalt Zerbst, whose operation has been carried out since its opening on November 1, 1863. As it was extended on 1 July 1874 in Magdeburg, the BAE took over the five -kilometer section of Zerbst to anhaltisch - Prussian border in Trebnitzgrund.
With the route opened on October 15, 1875 Wittenberg Falkenberg the power of the Berlin- Anhalt Railway Company was completed. However, they expanded their influence even when they the management of the account opened by the Oberlausitzer Railroad Company on June 1, 1874 route took over on July 1, 1878, 148 miles to the east on the Lusatian Neisse up of Falkenberg on Elsterwerda - Hoyerswerda Kohlfurt led.
Opening dates:
After the Prussian state had taken over the management and four years later, the ownership of the routes of the Berlin- Anhalt Railway Company at the beginning of 1882, the railway company finally broke up.
The Anhalt line belonged after its opening to the main trunk railway lines in Germany. From here, the first high-speed trains from Berlin via Köthen went to Halle, Leipzig, Frankfurt and Munich, as well as in the Ralation Dresden- Prague - Vienna - Jiiterbog Röderau. About the Anhalt Railway Berlin was finally connected with Rome and Athens. The monumental new building opened in 1882 the pickup station in Berlin was the result of this development.