Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway

In the Grand Duchy of Baden was born in 1840, a national railway, which was built in 1872 under the name Grand Ducal Baden State Railways ( BadStB ) for stand-alone railway administration; its route network was about 2000 km last.

With the nationalization of the German state railways in the Weimar Republic they went in April 1920 in the German Reich Railways, in 1924 transferred to the autonomous state enterprises German State Railroad Company (DRG).

History

Foundation

After the Duchy of Brunswick Baden was the second German state, which undertook the construction and maintenance of railroads on behalf of the State in the hand. In 1833, the proposal to construct a railway from Mannheim was proposed to Basel for the first time from Mannheim entrepreneur Ludwig Newhouse, but at first was not accepted at the Baden government. Also, further advances, for example, by Friedrich List, remained at first without success. It was not until the establishment of a railway company in the neighboring Alsace to build a line from Basel to Strasbourg in 1837 led to serious planning for the construction of a railroad in Baden, in order to avoid the migration of traffic to Alsace. In an extraordinary parliament the Baden stands Assembly on March 29, 1838 three laws decided to build the first stretch between Mannheim and the Swiss border at Basel, together with a branch line to Baden -Baden and a branch line to Strasbourg. The railway construction should be done at government expense, for which, in particular, Karl Friedrich Nebenius had used. In September 1838, construction began.

For the construction of railways, the Interior Ministry was responsible which has its own authority, the Railway Construction Directorate founded for this purpose. Later, the railway authority was incorporated into the Chief Directorate of the water and road construction. The operation of the railway, however, was assigned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the task was entrusted to the main post office, which was henceforth called the Chief Directorate of the posts and railways. Only with the inclusion of the Baden Post in the imperial post 1872 was an independent railway administration in Baden, the Grand Ducal Baden State Railways.

Development of the main routes

The first route, also known as Badische main track, was completed in stages over the years 1840-1863. The first, 18.5 km long section between Mannheim and Heidelberg was put into operation on 12 September 1840. First, the route was traveled by the locomotive Griffin and Lion, 1841 was added in the third locomotive Heidelberg. During the first two years of operation was the English engineer Thomas Turner overseeing the driving, he came from the locomotive Sharp, Roberts & Co., who had delivered the first of Baden locomotives. In the grid, the sections to Karlsruhe in 1843, Offenburg in 1844, followed Freiburg im Breisgau in 1845, Schliengen 1847 Efringen -Kirchen 1848 and Haltingen 1851., The side panels to Kehl and Baden- Baden had been opened in 1844 or 1845. The continuation of the main route through the Basel area required negotiations with the Swiss Confederation, with disagreements over the best place to connect the Baden train to the Swiss network - Basel or Waldshut - led to delays. In the State Treaty of 27 July 1852 agreement could be found which enabled the Baden State Railway construction and operation of its railway on Swiss territory.

Broad gauge

Baden built its railway lines as the only German state first in 1600 mm broad gauge. Likewise, the State Württemberg tried to commit on his track in 1844 during the negotiations for the construction of the Württemberg Western Railway. After the wrong decision in choosing the gauge was obvious the Baden policy defended it initially vehemently. So argued the Marshal Baron von Goler (1809-1862) in 1846 in a meeting of the First Chamber of the Estates:

" I think you put far too much emphasis on the match in the gauge; also accepted, that would be one and the same track by Germany, so never ever would a car driving on the Baden Württemberg railway. "

Standard gauge

Only after it was revealed that all neighboring countries, the preferred standard gauge ( 1435 mm), built the Baden State Railways within a year 1854/55 all of their previously created routes to ( gauging ).

The railway reached Basel 1855, Waldshut in 1856, Konstanz, 1863. Thus the 414.3 km long was completed Badische main track. After the Baden Mainline, the major north -south axis Mannheim -Basel as well as the connection of the Lake Constance region were realized, the further network expansion focused on the development of the space Pforzheim with the line Karlsruhe - Pforzheim- Muehlacker (opened 1859-1863 ), the connection of the Odenwald and Tauber franc with the Odenwaldbahn Heidelberg Mosbach -Würzburg (opened 1862-1866 ) and the establishment of a direct connection from Karlsruhe to Konstanz without going through Basel in the form of the Black Forest Railway (opened 1866-1873 ).

Connection to neighboring countries

Even the construction of the Baden Mainline linking was planned with the Swiss railway network. This was the first time completed with the commissioning of built by Robert Gerwig bridge over the Rhine at Waldshut on 18 August 1859. Other compounds created in 1863 in Schaffhausen, 1871 in Konstanz and in 1875 in Singen am Hohentwiel. The Basel junction line connecting the right bank to the left bank of the German railway station Central Station and today is the most important railway connection between Germany and Switzerland, was opened in 1873.

The connection to the north towards Weinheim -Darmstadt -Frankfurt ( Main) has been produced since 1846 by the Main-Neckar Railway, where the Grand Duchy of Baden was involved. 1879 was followed by the Riedbahn, but at the Baden had no share. Since 1861 there have been following the construction of the bridge over the Rhine between Strasbourg and Kehl, a direct link with France. The connection to the Palatinate was first realized in 1865 with a pontoon bridge near Karlsruhe - Maxau and 1867, with the connection between Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. The connection with Bavaria took place with the opening of the Badische Odenwaldbahn 1866.

Were particularly difficult negotiations over a connection with Württemberg, especially since both countries competed directly to the traffic between Germany and the Alpine passes. While Baden favored the connection via Pforzheim, Württemberg was interested in a possible direct connection in Bruchsal. The agreement was sealed in a treaty on December 4, 1850, whereby Württemberg the construction of the direct line Stuttgart- Muehlacker -Bretten - Bruchsal ( Württemberg Western Railway ) was also granted to Badischer territory while bathing the part lying in Württemberg connection Pforzheim- Muehlacker allowed (see railway line Karlsruhe- Muehlacker ) build and operate. The connection in Bruchsal was already taken in 1853 in operation.

Further extensions

Further extensions of the route network was served by the regional development or organized military point of view. Also worth mentioning are:

• The Neckar Valley Railway Neckargemuend - Eberbach- Jagstfeld, opened in 1879
• The Höllentalbahn Freiburg (Breisgau ) -Neustadt ( Black Forest), opened in 1887
• The strategic bypass lanes on the Upper Rhine: Railway Weil am Rhein- Lörrach, Wehratalbahn and completion of the Wutachtalbahn (all 1887-1890 )
• The strategic railway Graben-Neudorf -Karlsruhe - Rastatt - Roeschwoog (Alsace ), opened in 1895

By 1895, the railway network of the Baden State Railway was completed except for minor additions. In 1900 it comprised 1996 km route length, of which 1521 km owned by the state railway. In subsequent years, the focus of expansion measures in transforming the node stations was. The most important modifications affected:

• New marshalling yard in Karlsruhe, 1895
• New station Rastatt, 1895
• New freight bypass track Freiburg (Breisgau ), 1905
• New freight station in Basel, 1905
• New freight bypass track Bruchsal, 1906
• New marshalling yard in Mannheim, 1906-1907
• New station Offenburg marshalling yard, 1911
• New Baden train station in Basel with north followed by new marshalling yard at Weil am Rhein, 1913
• New main railway station in Karlsruhe, 1913
• New shunting and freight station in Heidelberg, 1914

The new building of the Heidelberg main station could not be completed because of the early First World War, therefore, the construction was delayed until 1955.

State- operated private railways

Several railway lines in Baden were built by private hands, but operated by the State Railway and later taken over completely in most cases. This is not only to secondary routes with only local significance, such as the meadow valley Bahn Basel - Schopfheim cell in the meadow valley, opened in 1862, but also to main-line railways. In addition to the efforts of the cities which had hitherto remained without railway connection for better connections to the transport network to the larger cities in the country dedicated build the railway to open up their surrounding countryside and to consolidate its position as a transportation hubs. So the city of Mannheim operation the construction of a direct rail link to Karlsruhe without going through Heidelberg to step out of the traffic shadow into which they fall in Frederick field or Heidelberg by linking the Baden Mainline with the further north Main- Neckar line had. In return, the city of Heidelberg hired for the construction of the track Heidelberg - Schwetzingen -Speyer to consolidate its position as a hub.

The most important of the privately built, operated by the state railway routes are:

• The Maxaubahn of Karlsruhe on the Rhine, built by the city of Karlsruhe, opened in 1862, introduced the first connection of the railways of Baden and the Palatinate ago, nationalized in 1906
• Rheinbahn Mannheim- Schwetzingen -Graben - Neudorf- Eggenstein -Karlsruhe, built by the city of Mannheim, founded in 1870 and acquired by the Baden State Railways on the opening day
• The Kraichgaubahn Karlsruhe -Bretten - Epping with continuation to Heilbronn, built by the city of Karlsruhe, opened in 1879 and taken over by the Baden State Railways on the opening day

Integration into the Reichsbahn

With the founding of the Deutsche Reichsbahn on April 1, 1920, the Baden State Railways was incorporated into the Reichsbahn. The railway administration in Karlsruhe became the Reichsbahndirektion Karlsruhe. At the foundation of the Reichsbahn a wish had been erected on unrealized rail lines in Baden, of which only four lines were built:

• The extension of the railway to Bad Peterstal Renchtal 1926 Bad Griesbach 1933
• The DreiSeenBahn Titisee- Seebrugg 1926
• Closing the gap on the Murgtalbahn 1928
• The branch line Neckarsteinach -Schönau (Odenwald ) 1928

With the construction of the railway line Bretten - Kürnbach ( with a possible connection to the Zabergäubahn in Leonbronn ) was started, the route was never completed.

Electrical operation

The Baden State Railways opened on 13 September 1913 electrical use with a voltage 15 kV, 16 ⅔ Hz on the meadow valley Bahn Basel cell in the meadow valley and on the branching path Schopfheim bath Säckingen. For the operation in addition to a series of Versuchslok ¹ A total of 11 electric locomotives of series A and A ² ³ ( DR series E 61 ) have been procured. All locomotives had a pinion drive, who worked on three axes. The electrification of the meadow valley railway served primarily the testing of electric traction, greater traffic- meaning they did not possess. To an expansion of the electric operation, it was due to the difficult economic situation after the First World War no longer, the electrification of the Baden railway network was continued until 1952 in a larger scale.

Route network

The routes of the Baden State Railways were opened as follows:

The designated ¹ cross- border routes only part of the route to the border belongs to the Baden State Railway. The Basel connecting railway was built by the Swiss Central Railway and co-financed by the Baden State Railways. The budget for the Höllentalbahn stretch Donaueschingen- Huefingen was built at government expense, but at first entertained by the Bregtalbahn as a private company and operated. After the opening of Höllentalbahn 1901, the management and the maintenance was on this section adopted by the Baden State Railways and introduced a joint operation.

As a state-run private railways were opened:

In addition to the route Ettlingen West Ettlingen city on 1 January 1898 by the BLEAG was taken, all state-operated private railways went over to the State over time.

A special role is played by the route Mosbach- Mudau a state farms as private railroad line and the only narrow gauge railway in the Baden State Railway, which opened on 3 June 1905. With the construction and operation of this section, the company Vering & Waechter was commissioned.

As a privately operated state railway was opened:

Besides the well of the Baden State Railways Railways from 1887 there was also completely privately operated railways, which are not included in this list.

The German Reichsbahn completed the Baden railway network until 1945 by the following routes:

Furthermore, some lines were built by foreign state-owned railways, which touched a Baden territory. The section Bretten Bruchsal - changed in 1878 to the ownership of the Baden State Railways.

Rolling stock

The first two steam locomotives for the Baden State Railways made ​​the English locomotives forge Sharp, Roberts & Co and delivered them 1839. They wore the name lion and griffin. With the ongoing construction of the railway lines, the fleet grew rapidly. At the time of re-gauging of broad - standard gauge 1854/55 were already 66 locomotives, 65 Tender and 1133 cars in stock. At the end of the First World War, the fleet totaled 915 locomotives, 27,600 freight cars and 2,500 passenger cars, of which, according to the Treaty of Versailles 106 locomotives, 7307 freight cars and 400 passenger cars to the victorious powers were to be given as reparation. An overview of the Badische models of engine is found in the List of Baden locomotives and railcars.

The Baden State Railways promoted the emergence of a private railway vehicle industry in Baden by the preferred order with local companies. Preferred manufacturer of locomotives was the Maschinenfabrik by Kessler and Martiensen in Karlsruhe, which later developed the Maschinenbau-Gesellschaft Karlsruhe. The three major car suppliers of Baden State Railways had since about 1842, the wagon factory Schmieder & Mayer in Karlsruhe, the wagon factory, founded in 1862 Fuchs in Heidelberg and the wagon factory in Rastatt, founded in 1897. To a lesser extent, the main workshop Karlsruhe made ​​even railroad cars.

Grand Duchy of Baden Lake Steamship

On 13 June 1863, the Badische main railway reached the city of Constance, and thus its southeastern end point, as the sea line in 1871 went on to Romanshorn. The Lake Constance belt path on the north side of the lake association even until 1901 Südbaden over Friedrichshafen (Württemberg ) with Lindau ( Bavaria) and Bregenz ( Austria ). For the further transport of passengers and freight only the steamship connections from the harbor of Constance came into consideration. Already on 1 July 1863 took the Baden State " Steamship Company for Lake Constance and the Rhine " in Konstanz, a company established in 1830 private corporation, the operation with four flush deck steamers and three freight tugs a regulated ship traffic on Lake Constance and placed them as " Grand Duke of Baden Lake Steamship " the traffic department and the Foreign Affairs in Karlsruhe. The management was assigned to the Grand Ducal Baden State Railways and exercised by district officials in Konstanz.

To adjust the capacity of the increased demand, 1863, two new flush deck steamers were commissioned today. 1871, the first representative Salon steamship Kaiser Wilhelm was put into service, which until 1902 was followed by five half Salon steamships. Moreover transported two unpowered Trajektschiffe railway wagons between Constance and Bregenz, and Lindau. After the First World War, the Grand Duchy of Baden Lake Constance steamship in 1920 as all countries railways subordinated to the German Reich and was in 1924 the Deutsche Reichsbahn. The seven Baden ships sailed under the flag of Empire and the Emperor Wilhelm was renamed Baden. The different colors of Baden, Württemberg and Bavaria vessels were replaced by a single white - the White Fleet joined the succession of the former " colorful fleet " to.