German Kleinlokomotiven (literally: small locomotives) like the DRG Kö II (later: Köf II ) were developed as locomotives with a low weight and driving power for light shunting duties. There were two classes, based on engine power. The Class II were engines which developed more than 40 (later 50) HP.
84-475: After tests with several trial locomotives, they were placed in service from 1932 onwards by the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRG) and used on small stations for light shunting and marshalling work. They were intended to make the handling of goods traffic more economical. To do that, an appropriately trained controller had to be able to handle shunting duties using the locomotive. Accordingly, the locomotive
168-679: A comprehensive reform of the German railway system (Bahnreform) which was approved by the Bundestag in 1993 and went into effect on 1 January 1994, that included the planned merger between the DR and DB on 1 January 1994 to form the Deutsche Bahn Aktiengesellschaft or AG (Corporation), which is a state-owned limited stock company. ( ) Was also GDR Minister of Transport during his term of service as Director General of
252-642: A considerable strain on the Reichsbahn. Not until the Lausanne Conference of 1932 was the Reichsbahn released from its financial obligations. In total, about 3.87 billion Goldmarks was paid in reparations to the Allied powers. During the DRG period the following milestones occurred: The beginning of the DRG was characterised by the acquisition of new rolling stock built to standard types, such as
336-481: A coordination agreement concerning operations. On 1 June 1992, the DB and DR formed a joint board of directors which governed both entities. The merger between the DR and DB was delayed by several years over the structure of the merged railway due to concerns by German politicians on the ever-increasing annual operating deficits incurred by the DB and DR. The Federal Ministry of Transport (Bundesverkehrsministerium) proposed
420-620: A period of great turmoil in German history". The company was founded on 1 April 1920 as the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen ("German Imperial Railways") when the Weimar Republic , which still used the nation-state term of the previous monarchy, Deutsches Reich (German Reich, hence the usage of the Reich in the name of the railway; the monarchical term was Deutsches Kaiserreich ), took national control of
504-454: A result many light locos in the DB and DR were equipped with a compressed-air brake , that could also operated the brakes of attached wagons. DR engines were not equipped with their own brake cylinders so that only the attached wagons were air-braked. In the DB the permitted top speed was raised from 30 to 45 km/h (19 to 28 mph) where compressed-air brakes had been installed. These locos can be easily recognised by their air reservoirs on
588-517: A rolling memorial to the thousands of youth and children who were deported from all over Europe, many via the Reichsbahn , to the camps. A certain amount of controversy has surrounded the train's tour through Germany, in part because of the apparent lack of cooperation on the part of Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) concerning such matters as compensation for the use of the DB AG's right of way (during
672-618: A self-declared socialist state, the German Democratic Republic (commonly known as East Germany), on 7 October 1949. One month prior, on 7 September 1949, the railway systems in the three western zones (the Federal Republic of Germany ), were reunified and renamed the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB – German Federal Railways). On the formation of East Germany on 7 October 1949, the railway system in
756-709: A treaty between the GDR and the West Berlin Senate entered into force and turned over the responsibility for the operation of the S-Bahn in West Berlin to the West Berlin transport authority BVG . The BVG gradually restored much of the S-Bahn service that had been previously reduced. Following the reunification in October 1990, the arrangements were kept until the creation of Deutsche Bahn AG on 1 January 1994 when
840-648: A visible West German government presence in West Berlin. Another oddity was the presence of a ticket counter at the East Berlin station Berlin Ostbahnhof (known as Berlin Hauptbahnhof from 1987 to 1998) operated by the Soviet (later Russian ) military to facilitate transport of their personnel to and from Russia. A special military train regularly operated between Berlin and Moscow until 1994 when
924-420: Is very small and yet of 1,435 mm ( 4 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in ), standard gauge , width, but only fills about half the loading gauge profile. As a result, it can be loaded onto flat wagons . This was how the locomotives were moved between yards or to depots for overhaul and repair. The top speed of 30 km/h (19 mph) made it impractical for the locomotives to power themselves over
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#17327908328311008-675: The Anschluss in 1938 the DR also took over the Bundesbahn Österreich ("Federal Railway of Austria", BBÖ). The East and West German states were founded in 1949. East Germany took over the control of the DR on its territory and continued to use the traditional name Deutsche Reichsbahn , while the railway in West Germany became the Deutsche Bundesbahn ("German Federal Railway", DB). The Austrian Österreichische Bundesbahnen ("Austrian Federal Railways", ÖBB)
1092-621: The Polnischen Staatsbahnen (PKP) , but from November 1939 by the Ostbahn (Generalgouvernement). In the campaigns against Poland , Denmark , France, Yugoslavia , Greece etc. the newly acquired standard gauge networks could be used without difficulty. By contrast, after the start of the invasion of Russia on 22 June 1941, the problem arose of transferring troops and materiel to Soviet broad gauge lines or converting them to German standard gauge. Confounding German plans,
1176-561: The Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft was placed under Reich sovereignty and was given the name Deutsche Reichsbahn . The Reichsbahn had an important logistic role in supporting the rapid movement of the troops of the Wehrmacht , for example: In all the occupied lands the Reichsbahn endeavoured to incorporate the captured railways (rolling stock and infrastructure) into their system. Even towards
1260-570: The Reichsbahn were crucial to the conduct of Germany's military offensives. The preparations for the invasion of Russia saw the greatest troop deployment by rail in history. Characteristic of the first six and a half years of this period was the exponential growth of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , which was almost exclusively due to the takeover of other national railways. This affected both parts of foreign state railways (in Austria
1344-875: The Reichsbahn-Generaldirektion in the British Zone under Director General Max Leibbrand in Bielefeld. In the French Occupation Zone, the railways were grouped into the Operating Association of the Southwest German Railways ( Betriebsvereinigung der Südwestdeutschen Eisenbahnen ) with its headquarters in Speyer. The Operating Association included the railway divisions of Karlsruhe (in
1428-516: The Berlin Wall and across from the site of the former Reich Chancellery . The company was administratively subdivided into eight regional directorates (Reichsbahndirektionen) with headquarters in Berlin , Cottbus , Dresden , Erfurt , Greifswald , Halle , Magdeburg , and Schwerin . Catering services to the DR, both on board trains and in stations, were provided by Mitropa . The DR
1512-754: The Berlin Wall came down. In 1983/84 three DR Kö II were converted to metre gauge working for the Halle industrial railway and the Harz Narrow Gauge Railway. They have been preserved. Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft The Deutsche Reichsbahn , also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was
1596-545: The Class 260/261 (up to 1968 called V 60) engines were reclassified as light locomotives and renumbered into classes 360/361. The brake effort of the Kö was initially only determined by the weight of the engine driver and the maximum force he could transmit via the brake pedal. With the introduction of new, more powerful motors (up to 128 hp or 95 kW) and the corresponding increase in tractive effort this proved insufficient; as
1680-554: The Deutsche Reichsbahn incorporated 378 machines of power category 2 in its EDP classification scheme as Class 100 . After German reunification these became Class 310 in the DB AG. Only a few of the DR's light locomotives had hydraulic power transmission; they were grouped into sub-class 100.8. Under the old numbering scheme they were classified as Köf . Dead man's handles ( Sifa ) and radios for marshalling were not common. The Deutsche Reichsbahn converted many Kö to compressed-air brakes , this programme had not been completed when
1764-634: The French Eastern Railway Company ( French : Compagnie des chemins de fer de l'Est or German : Französische Ostbahn-Gesellschaft ) and then sold it again to the German Empire. After the end of the First World War this national "imperial railway" was taken back by France. In the remaining German states, by contrast, the existing state railways continued to be subject to their respective sovereigns, despite
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#17327908328311848-513: The German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regional railways of the individual states of the German Empire . The Deutsche Reichsbahn has been described as "the largest enterprise in the capitalist world in the years between 1920 and 1932"; nevertheless, its importance "arises primarily from the fact that the Reichsbahn was at the center of events in
1932-713: The German Empire , which was founded in 1871, were the Imperial Railways in Alsace-Lorraine , whose Imperial General Division of Railways in Alsace-Lorraine ( Kaiserliche General-Direktion der Eisenbahnen in Elsass-Lothringen ) had its headquarters in Straßburg (now Strasbourg). It was formed after France had ceded the territory of Alsace-Lorraine in 1871 to the German Empire and the newly created Third French Republic had formally purchased
2016-640: The Red Army and Soviet railways managed to withdraw or destroy the majority of its rolling stock during its retreat . As a result, German standard gauge rolling stock had to be used for an additional logistic role within Russia; this required the laying of standard gauge track . The price was high: Reichsbahn railway staff and the railway troops of the Wehrmacht had to convert a total of 16,148 kilometres (10,034 mi) of Soviet trackage to German standard gauge track between 22 June and 8 October 1941. During
2100-471: The Reich Ministry of Transport ( German : Reichsverkehrsministerium ). As this was not enough to satisfy the reparations creditors, on 30 August 1924 a law was enacted providing for the establishment of a state-owned Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft ("German Imperial Railway Company", DRG) as a public holding company to operate the national railways. The aim was to earn profits which, under
2184-688: The Soviet occupation zone (which became the German Democratic Republic or GDR on 7 October 1949) continued to run as the Deutsche Reichsbahn, the name given to the German national railways in 1937. In West Germany , the Reichsbahn was succeeded by the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB). Both the Reichsbahn and the Bundesbahn continued as separate entities until 1994, when they merged to form the Deutsche Bahn . The DR
2268-596: The 1980s numerous Köf IIs were still in service with the DB and DR (some over 50 years old. For a while, DB 323 412 and 323 415 were the oldest locomotives in the Deutsche Bundesbahn), as well as a handful of battery-operated light locos, of classes 381 and 382. Since 1999 no Köf IIs have worked for the Deutsche Bahn AG. However many remain working for other railway companies and societies, both in regular services and as museum locomotives. In 1970
2352-689: The DR in their West Berlin railway stations who were controlled by the GDR Interior Ministry, although the three Western Allies (the United States , Great Britain , and France ) never officially recognized the authority of the GDR government in the Soviet (Eastern) sector of Berlin, let alone in West Berlin. For this reason, the West Berlin Polizei had separate patrols who were empowered to maintain law and order in
2436-546: The DR-GDR era. Article 26 of the Unification Treaty (Einigungsvertrag) between the two German states signed on 31 August 1990 established the DR as special property (Sondervermögen) of the Federal Republic of Germany , and stipulated the DR to be merged with DB at the earliest opportunity. Upon reunification , the DR and DB continued to operate as separate entities in their respective service areas, albeit under
2520-654: The Dawes Plan, were to be used to contribute to Germany's war reparations. At the same time as the Reichsbahn law was enacted, the company was handed a bill of eleven billion Goldmarks to be paid to the Allied powers, while its original capital was valued at fifteen billion Goldmarks. These terms were later amended in the Young Plan . Nevertheless, the Great Depression and the regular payment of war reparations (about 660 million Reichsmarks annually) put
2604-404: The GDR. The DR did offer a limited number of express trains such as the "Neptun" ( Berlin – Copenhagen ), " Vindobona " (Berlin – Vienna ), "Karlex" (Berlin – Carlsbad ), and "Balt-Orient-Express" (Berlin – Bucharest ). Steam engines were the workhorses after the war and remained important for a long time into the period of German partition. The DR's last steam engine (on normal-gauge tracks)
DRG Kleinlokomotive Class II - Misplaced Pages Continue
2688-532: The German railways, which had previously been run by the German states ( Länderbahnen ). In 1924 it was reorganised under the aegis of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft ("German Imperial Railway Company", DRG), a nominally private railway company, which was 100% owned by the German state. In 1937 the railway was reorganised again as a state authority and given the name Deutsche Reichsbahn ("German Imperial Railway", DRB). After
2772-609: The Railways of the American and British Occupation Regions ( Hauptverwaltung der Eisenbahnen des amerikanischen und britischen Besatzungsgebiets ) was created. In 1947 it moved its headquarters to Offenbach am Main and called itself the Deutsche Reichsbahn in the United Economic Region ( Deutsche Reichsbahn im Vereinigten Wirtschaftsgebiet ). Following the foundation of the Federal Republic of Germany , it
2856-529: The Russian military finally withdrew from Germany. Each of the Western Allies also maintained its stations and ticket offices in its respective zone: The Western Allies operated military trains over DR lines converging on the route between Berlin- Wannsee and Marienborn . DR conductors and engine crews managed these trains while military transport officers and soldiers dealt with their passengers and
2940-640: The Soviet Zone retained the name Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR), despite the connotations of the word "Reich". This was due to the designation of the Reichsbahn in postwar treaties and military protocols as the railway operator in West Berlin , a role it retained until the creation of the unified DBAG at the beginning of 1994. To conform to the formation of the Bizone in 1946 the Head Office of
3024-485: The Soviet military checkpoint officials at Marienborn. The presence of the DR in West Berlin was costly to the GDR – the annual operating deficit for the DR in West Berlin in the early 1980s was estimated to be around 120-140 million Deutsche Marks . The status of Berlin is also believed to be the reason the East Germans retained the name Deutsche Reichsbahn as it was mentioned as such in transit treaties. After
3108-771: The US Zone), Mainz and Saarbrücken. After the Saarland was transferred from the French Zone and was given its own state railway – the Railways of the Saarland ( Eisenbahnen des Saarlandes ) – the rest of the network of the Saarbrücken division went into the new Trier division. After the Deutsche Bundesbahn was formed this Operating Association was merged with it. The Soviet zone of occupation became
3192-544: The West Berlin railway stations. The West German Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) maintained a ticket office in West Berlin for many years on Hardenbergstraße near the main Zoological Garden railway station that was run by the Eastern Reichsbahn. One reason for this was due to the generally poor customer service offered at the DR's ticket counters . Another reason may have been psychological – to promote
3276-405: The Western Allies would probably have refused to recognise it as the same or a successor organization and removed its right to operate in West Berlin. The legal necessity of keeping the term 'Deutsche Reichsbahn' explains the unique use of the word 'Reich' (with its Imperial and Nazi connotations) in the name of an official organisation of the communist GDR. This quasi-official presence in West Berlin
3360-534: The basic key – price controlled key – was that Jews were going to be shipped to Treblinka , were going to be shipped to Auschwitz , Sobibor ... so long as the railroads were paid by the track kilometer, so many pfennigs per mile. The rate was the same throughout the war, with children under ten going at half-fare and children under four going free. Payment had to be made for only one way. The guards of course had to have return fare paid for them because they were going back to their place of origin ... Conditions in
3444-494: The burning of domestically produced lignite . The electrified rail network grew from 11.5% in 1979 to 27.3% by 1990. Due to the Four-Power Occupation Agreements for Berlin, in which the long-term division of Germany and Berlin (the partition of Germany into two German states; and Berlin partitioned into two principal zones of occupation, West Berlin and East Berlin) was not foreseen, the DR operated
DRG Kleinlokomotive Class II - Misplaced Pages Continue
3528-668: The director general of the Reichsbahn by his office. Dorpmüller, who since 1937 was also in charge of the Reich Ministry of Transport , continued in office as the director general after 1939 under this new legal framework. With the Act for the New Regulation of the Conditions of the Reichsbank and the Deutsche Reichsbahn ( Gesetz zur Neuregelung der Verhältnisse der Reichsbank und der Deutschen Reichsbahn ) of 10 February 1937
3612-450: The end of the war the Reichsbahn continued to move military formations. For example, in the last great offensive, the Battle of the Bulge (from 16 December 1944), tank formations were transported from Hungary to the Ardennes . The railways managed by the "Eastern Railway Division" ( Generaldirektion der Ostbahn ) were initially run from that part of the Polish State Railways within the so-called General Government -assigned part of
3696-457: The entire state railway ) in the countries annexed by the Deutsche Reich, as well as private railways in Germany and in other countries: The logistics of the Reichsbahn were also an important factor during the Holocaust . Jews were transported like cattle to the concentration and extermination camps by the Deutsche Reichsbahn in trains of covered goods wagons , now known as Holocaust trains . These movements using cattle wagons from
3780-442: The erection of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961, many West Berliners boycotted the S-Bahn in West Berlin. After a strike by West Berlin-based DR employees in September 1980, the S-Bahn service in West Berlin was greatly reduced. Almost half of the West Berlin S-Bahn railway network was closed following this action, including the closure of the western portion of the Berlin circular ring railway ( Ringbahn ). On 9 January 1984,
3864-501: The fact that Otto von Bismarck had tried in vain to purchase the main railway lines for the Empire. A similar attempt failed in 1875 as a result of opposition from the middle powers when Albert von Maybach presented a draft Reich Railway Act to the Bundesrat . In the wake of the stipulations of the Weimar Constitution of 11 August 1919, the state treaty on the foundation of the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen ("German Reich Railways") came into force on 1 April 1920. This resulted in
3948-419: The foundation of East Germany on 7 October 1949 the East German government continued to run all the railways in its territory under the official name Deutsche Reichsbahn, by so doing it maintained responsibility for almost all railway transport in all four sectors of Berlin. Had the DR been renamed, for example, Staatseisenbahn der DDR (State Railways of the GDR) along the lines of other East German institutions,
4032-706: The front. Because the open cab gave no real protection from the weather in winter, doors and windows were added during the course of main inspections from the late 1950s. Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft: power category ( Leistungsgruppe ) II, Kb/Kö/Köf/Kbf 4001 to 6047 Deutsche Bundesbahn: continued production of Köf II up to Köf 6835 Deutsche Bundesbahn: in 1968 redesignated as Class 321-324 Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany): new models Kö 4002 to 4032 Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany): in 1970 redesignated as Class 100 Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany): in 1973, narrow gauge Kö redesignated as Class 199 Deutsche Bahn AG: in 1992 DR Class 100 redesignated as DBAG Class 310 In
4116-456: The goods station of the great Frankfurt Market Hall , for example, thus played a significant role in the genocide within the extermination machinery of the Holocaust . In 1997, the market erected a memorial plaque in recognition of this dark period of history. The following is an excerpt from the testimony of Holocaust scholar Raul Hilberg : The Reichsbahn was ready to ship in principle any cargo in return for payment. And therefore,
4200-494: The latter part of the 1930s, the development of high-speed trains like the "Flying Hamburger" was accelerated. Before that streamlined steam engines had been built, but they were not as economical as the high-speed diesel and electric railcars. Although the Borsig streamlined steam engine, the no. 05 002 reached a speed of 200.4 km/h (124.5 mph) during a demonstration run, the Reichsbahn preferred fast railcars on its high speed network. The potential of these express trains
4284-465: The lead in discriminating against intermarried workers, firing German employees married to Jews and forbidding intermarried Germans from working there in the future, starting in November 1933. In 1935 the railway network had a total of 68,728 kilometres (42,706 mi) of line, of which 30,330 km (18,850 mi) was main line railway , 27,209 km (16,907 mi) were branch lines and 10,496 km (6,522 mi) were light railways . In
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#17327908328314368-404: The long-haul railway service (Fernverkehr) and barge canals in both East and West Berlin throughout the years of the Cold War (and also after the reunification of Germany) until the merger of the DR and DB in January 1994. This led to unique situations due to the occupied status of West Berlin and the presence of the DR there. For example, there were Bahnpolizei (railway police) employed by
4452-556: The mainline. The light diesel locomotives were the first German diesel engines that were built in batches by several manufacturers. They were initially divided into two power groups: DB had over 700 new Köf II engines newly built and further developed after the war. In the GDR, 32 Kö II were (re-)built in Dessau maintenance works for DR (among them the last ever built of 1968). More than 360 very similar vehicles were produced exclusively for industrial railways, series N3 with chain link drive and 60 PS (44 kW), referred to as N3 by
4536-455: The manufacturers, and series N4 with side rod drive and 90 hp (67 kW). The first proper development of small shunting locomotives in the GDR was the V 10 B, which was further developed into class V 15 . A plan – similar to the one of DB – to build a series of more powerful Köf III was subsequently discarded and replaced by the DR class V 60 project. The DB later developed a Köf III with up to 240 hp (180 kW ). In 1987,
4620-466: The merger of the existing state railways ( Länderbahnen ) of Prussia , Bavaria , Saxony , Württemberg , Baden , Mecklenburg and Oldenburg under the newly formed German Reich . The state railways that merged were the: Initially called the Reichseisenbahnen or Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen , the company was formally given the name "Deutsche Reichsbahn" by decree of the Reich Minister of Transport, Wilhelm Groener , on 27 June 1921. In 1922
4704-412: The merger. In 1933 the Group Administration was disbanded and administration of the railways in Bavaria was taken over by the Deutsche Reichsbahn. At the head of the Reichsbahn was a director general ( Generaldirektor ). The office holders were: From 1925, the director general had a permanent deputy. These were: As a result of the Reichsbahn Act of 11 July 1939, the Reich Transport Minister became
4788-403: The new Deutsche Bahn . Deutsche Reichsbahn (East Germany) The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR (German Reich Railways) was the operating name of state owned railways in the East Germany , and after German reunification until 1 January 1994. In 1949, occupied Germany 's railways were returned to German control after four years of Allied control following World War II . Those in
4872-456: The new German borders laid down in the Potsdam Agreement were transferred to the ownership and administration of the states in whose territory they were situated. For example, on 27 April 1945, the Austrian railways became independent again as the Austrian State Railway ( Österreichische Staatseisenbahn or ÖStB), later renamed as the Austrian Federal Railways ( Österreichische Bundesbahnen or ÖBB ) on 5 August 1947. Operational control of
4956-402: The new company took over all S-Bahn operations in the Greater Berlin region. It took several years to fully restore all of S-Bahn services throughout the Greater Berlin region. Service on the West Berlin portion of the Ringbahn was not restored until after reunification (in phases, from 1993 to 2002). Capital projects continue to address the backlog of construction needs that developed during
5040-417: The old railway divisions ( Eisenbahndirektionen ) were renamed as Reich railway divisions ( Reichsbahndirektionen ). Among the provisions of the 1924 Dawes Plan was a plan to utilize the state railway completely for the payment of war reparations . Following the plan's publication, on 12 February 1924, the Reich government announced the creation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn as a state enterprise under
5124-405: The old state railways, especially those from the Prussia, continued to dominate the scene until the end of the 1930s. They included, for example, the Prussian P 8 (BR 38.10-40), Prussian P 10 (BR 39), Prussian G 12 (BR 58.10) and the Prussian T 20 (BR 95). The Bavarian S 3/6 (BR 18.5) express locomotive even continued in production until 1930. Not until
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#17327908328315208-479: The pace of electrification and instead relied on mostly Russian-made diesel locomotives due to the easy availability of fuel from the Soviet Union at subsidised prices. When the GDR's energy costs began to rise dramatically in the early 1980s (in part because the Soviet Union ceased to subsidize the price of fuel sold to the GDR), the DR embarked on a large rail electrification campaign as the GDR's electrical power grid could be supplied with electricity generated from
5292-565: The permanent way or rail track. The Allied forces of Occupation were put in charge and instantly had myriad problems regarding food, lack of housing, fuel, displaced persons and people on the move. The Engineering Corps of British and American forces oversaw the partial rebuilding of the lines and cars with local labour from prisoners of war, rubble women , and de-mobilized soldiers. Temporary wooden bridges were put up over destroyed spans. Multiple tracks were disassembled into one smaller working line, equipment assessed and rebuilt. In three months,
5376-475: The procurement programme for the wartime Kriegslokomotiven were new goods locomotives built in large numbers, but of course now for a very different purpose. Taking lead from the German Labor Front, the Deutsche Reichsbahn took part in the conflict of intermarriage in Germany. In August 1933 Robert Ley, leader of Reich Labor, demanded that those administrators working for the German Labor Front be married only to German individuals. The Deutsche Reichsbahn took
5460-424: The railway was working again in a rudimentary form. The Armies of Occupation needed the railways to move coal and the soon to be gathered agricultural harvest. Deutschebahn had a critical shortage of wagons, carriages and locomotives, so much so that the US gave war surplus engines to ensure the movement of freight. With the end of the Second World War in 1945 those parts of the Deutsche Reichsbahn that were outside
5544-537: The rest of the DR was devolved to the respective zones of occupation so that the Reichsbahn legally existed in four parts until 1949. In the American Zone the Reichsbahn divisions of Augsburg, Frankfurt am Main, Kassel, Munich, Regensburg and Stuttgart (for the railways in Württemberg-Baden ) were subordinated to the Senior Control Office US Zone ( Oberbetriebsleitung United States Zone ) in Frankfurt. The Reichsbahn divisions of Essen, Hamburg, Hanover, Cologne, Münster (Westfalen) and Wuppertal were grouped into
5628-420: The standard steam locomotives ( Einheitsdampflokomotiven ). The stock already in use had been inherited from the various state railways and comprised a great number of designs, many of them quite old. In fact, the DRG was unable to procure new stock in the numbers it wanted to both for financial reasons and due to delays in upgrading the lines to carry higher axle loads . The locomotive classes taken over from
5712-419: The tour) and the stationing of the train, during its visit to Berlin , at the Ostbahnhof station instead of the more centrally located Hauptbahnhof main railway station. The tour was scheduled to end on 8 May 2008 (the 63rd anniversary of the end of the European portion of World War II) when the train arrived at Auschwitz. However, it continued to make appearances through 2009, and as of January 2010
5796-402: The tracks), the lines from Berlin to Hamburg , via Hanover to the Ruhrgebiet , via Frankfurt am Main to southwest Germany, on which the diesel express trains ran, and the Silesian Railway from Berlin to Breslau (now Wrocław). Within the state of Bavaria , the Bavarian Group Administration ( Gruppenverwaltung Bayern ) had its head office ( Zentrales Maschinen- und Bauamt ) and
5880-448: The wagons were inhumane because no water or food was provided, and sanitary arrangements were minimal, usually a bucket in a corner of the wagon. Although each wagon was intended to hold about 50 people, they were frequently overcrowded and holding 100 to 150 people. No heating was provided, so people could freeze in winter and overheat in summer. Deaths in the wagons were frequent among the young, old, sick, and disabled, especially as travel
5964-412: The war, locomotives in the war zones were sometimes given camouflage livery. In addition, locomotives were painted with the Hoheitsadler symbol (the eagle, Germany's traditional symbol of national sovereignty ) holding a swastika . On goods wagons the name " Deutsche Reichsbahn " was replaced by the letters "DR". Postal coaches continued to bear the name " Deutsche Reichspost ". The logistics of
6048-611: The website requests visitors to look for further travel plans at the end of February. German railways were heavily bombed by Allied RAF and USAAF bombers. Marshalling yards, bridges, repair shops, and service facilities were all destroyed. Fighter-bombers targeted locomotives and bombed them. As a result, trains were at a standstill in the spring of 1945. The cities of Hamburg, Munich, Nuremberg, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden and others were affected. Stations were completely destroyed and wagons and carriage set on fire and destroyed. Bomb craters and blast seriously damaged
6132-524: Was apparently of an utmost importance to the GDR regime, otherwise it is hard to explain why the anti-imperialist and cash-strapped GDR government was willing to both continue using the word 'Reich' and incur large hard currency deficits to operate and maintain the West Berlin railway system. The DR also operated the S-Bahn local train service in West Berlin during much of the Cold War period. Following
6216-650: Was carried out in the 1950s. Gradually, however, they were replaced by the more economical and easier-to-maintain diesel and electric classes. In general this happened rather later than in the West. In 1970, the DR renumbered its locomotives in order to conform to new computerised data standards. On 3 October 1990, the GDR states acceded to the Federal Republic of Germany. Initially the two railway administrations continued to operate separately, albeit with increasing cooperation, and in 1994 they were merged to form
6300-475: Was centrally directed according to socialist principles within the context of a centrally planned command economy . By 1989, 17.2% of the passenger transport volume in the GDR was handled by the DR – three times the market share of the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB) in West Germany . Fares were fairly cheap, but trains tended to be overcrowded and slow, owing in part to the poor condition of most railway lines in
6384-663: Was demonstrated by the Schienenzeppelin in its record run on 21 June 1931 when it reached a top speed of 230.2 km/h (143.0 mph). Before the Second World War the most important railway lines ran in an east–west direction. The high-speed lines at that time were on the Prussian Eastern Railway which ran through the Polish corridor (albeit slower there due to the poor state of
6468-488: Was designed to be robust and easy to operate. Light locomotives mainly used diesel motors (originally classified as Kö/Köf/Köe by the DRG), as their source of energy, but there were also versions with Benzol motors, designated as Kb/Kbf/Kbe , and with electrical batteries ( accumulator cars : Ks/Ka ), as well as one locomotive with a steam engine. The third letter, if present, indicated the type of power transmission. If there
6552-602: Was founded in 1945, and was given its present name in 1947. In January 1994, following German reunification , the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn merged with the West German Deutsche Bundesbahn to form Germany's new national carrier, Deutsche Bahn AG ("German Rail", DBAG), technically no longer a government agency but still a 100% state-owned joint stock company . The first railways to be owned by
6636-675: Was largely independent by § III 14 of the DRG's company regulations. It was responsible for the electrification of many lines, following the commencement of electric power generation to the railways at the Walchensee Power Plant , and for the independent trialling and procurement of locomotives and passenger coaches. The Group Administration introduced, for example, the Class E ;32 locomotive and Class ET 85 railcar into service. Bavaria also continued to use its own signalling system for many years after
6720-417: Was none, the locomotive had a mechanical gear system with a dry clutch. An f stood for an hydraulic drive and an e for electric traction motors, that were fed by a generator. Köf , therefore, stood for a light locomotive ( K leinlok ) with diesel engine ( Ö l-(Diesel-)Motor ) and hydraulic transmission ( F lüssigkeitsgetriebe ). Power is transmitted to the axles using a chain linkage . The locomotive
6804-675: Was renamed Deutsche Bundesbahn . In the post-war years, the DR in East Germany continued to develop independently of the DB, but very much in parallel. The locomotive classification scheme , based on that of the DRG , was extended. The production, conversion and development of steam locomotives initially continued in earnest; older, especially ex- Länderbahn classes being rationalised and withdrawn from service. A major conversion ( Rekonstruktion ) programme to update steam locomotives and rectify flawed, mainly wartime austerity , classes
6888-477: Was slow and often lasted many days since the trains had low priority on the tracks. Their small amount of luggage was stored separately, sometimes at the station and never left with the train, but examined for valuables which were stolen or resold for profit. Beginning in November 2007, a museum train, the "Train of Commemoration" ( Zug der Erinnerung ), began a 3,000 km (1,900 mi) tour of Germany as
6972-532: Was taken out of service on 28 May 1988. Much of the electrified rail network that existed in (present-day) eastern Germany in 1945 had been removed and sent to the Soviet Union as war reparations in the early years of Soviet occupation. By the early 1970s, only a small portion of the tracks in the GDR had been electrified in comparison with those in Western Europe; the GDR leadership chose to reduce
7056-673: Was the largest employer in the GDR and as a state-owned firm was directly subordinated to the GDR Ministry of Transport (Ministerium für Verkehr der DDR) . From November 1954 until November 1989, the GDR Minister of Transport also occupied the position of the Director General of the DR (Generaldirektor der Deutschen Reichsbahn) . The headquarters of the DR were located in East Berlin at No. 33 Voßstraße , close to
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