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58-544: The present-day narrow gauge operator emerged as a result of the merger of two different railway companies that operated their own lines: In 1887 the first narrow gauge line in the Harz, from Gernrode to Mägdesprung , was opened. It was owned by the Gernrode-Harzgerode Railway Company ( Gernrode-Harzgeroder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ) or GHE. In the years that followed, the line was extended and

116-642: A de facto monopoly in its segment of the market as it operates hundreds of trains per day, while all competitors' long-distance services combined amount to no more than 10–15 trains per day. Additionally DB Fernverkehr operated a few long-distance coach services throughout Germany, called IC Bus , which since have been terminated. DB Regio AG is the subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn that operates passenger trains on short and medium distances in Germany. Unlike its long-distance counterpart, DB Fernverkehr , it does not operate trains on its own account. Traffic

174-563: A Hoftag in Gernrode and donated a bell to the St. Stephan church ( Stephanikirche , also known as the Market church or Marktkirche ), the second historical church in Gernrode built in 1046. In the thirteenth century, Adelaide II was abbess of Gernrode (r.1207-1220). The Protestant Reformation came to Anhalt and Gernrode in 1521. A Protestant elementary school was founded in 1533 according to

232-574: A 26-storey office tower designed by Helmut Jahn at the eastern end of the Sony Centre and named Bahntower . As the lease was to expire in 2010, DB had announced plans to relocate to Berlin Hauptbahnhof , and in 2007 a proposal for a new headquarters by 3XN Architects won an architectural competition which also included Foster + Partners , Dominique Perrault and Auer + Weber . However, these plans were put on hold due to

290-514: A 6 km (3.7 mi) route between Nuremberg and Fürth . The Deutsche Reichsbahn operated from 1920 through the Weimar and Nazi eras until 1949, when it was split between East and West Germany into two successor entities, Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn , respectively. They remained separate throughout the Cold War era division of Germany, and joined after the 1989 fall of

348-490: A consulting contract with Islamic Republic of Iran Railways ; both projects were abandoned after the United States imposed new sanctions against Iran and said firms doing business with Iran would be barred from doing business with the United States. The California High-Speed Rail Authority 's (CHSRA) board approved on 15 November 2017 an early train operator contract with DB Engineering & Consulting USA. The firm

406-533: A different label, for example "ABR" for trains operated by Abellio , though on platforms, trains and maps or timetables issued by the local transport authority overseeing regional train services, these abbreviations usually do not appear. DB offers two different pricing models for single or return tickets for routes that include long-distance trains: Ticket prices generally rise degressively over distance, particularly for Sparpreise and Supersparpreise. Therefore, putting connecting local trains or excursions planned for

464-537: A fleet of diesel railcars which operate to a greater or lesser degree on most lines to supplement the steam services for the benefit of the local population. Gernrode Gernrode ( German pronunciation: [ɡɛʁnˈʁoːdə] ) is a historic town and former municipality in the Harz District , in Saxony-Anhalt , Germany. Since 1 January 2014, it has been part of Quedlinburg . It

522-589: A local transport authority or tariff associations might brand the trains in a different way than DB does. For example, in the Nuremberg region, RE and RB trains are not differentiated, but called R instead. In some regions, such as Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg , private operators do use the RE and RB labels, in others, such as Saxony , they do not. In online and print information systems of DB, private trains officially labelled RB and RE by their operators, might get

580-624: A narrow gauge railway through the Harz was entered into the commercial register. On 22 December 1898, the Nordhausen-Wernigerode Railway Company ( Nordhausen-Wernigeroder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ) or NWE opened special services on the line from Wernigerode to the Brocken (the Brocken Railway ). The so-called Trans-Harz Railway ( Harzquerbahn ) from Wernigerode via Drei Annen Hohne to Nordhausen

638-575: A significant economic factor. The town had 2,533 (Protestant) inhabitants in 1885. On 19 April 1945, at the end of World War II , Gernrode was taken by the US Army without a battle, followed by occupation by Soviet troops in June. As part of the Soviet occupation zone , Gernrode belonged to East Germany from 1949 until German reunification in 1990. It celebrated its 1,000th year in 1961 and 450th year as

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696-431: A state, and Interrail are also available. These Länder-Tickets offer group tickets, where up to five people can travel on a single ticket. Regular travellers usually use weekly, monthly or annual passes for their connection or region; day or sometimes weekend passes exist in local transport primarily. The price system applies to some international destinations from Germany similarly, when bought at Deutsche Bahn, but it

754-691: A total length of 140.4 km (87 miles), 44 stations and halts . Its trains run daily to a timetable and it operates more than ten steam locomotives , seven diesel railbuses and three trams (on the Nordhausen Tramway ). All the lines are worked by steam trains, only in the winter timetable does the Stiege–Eisfelder Talmühle section of the Selke Valley Railway have no regular steam services due to its relatively low workload at that time of year. The best-known line

812-593: A town in 1989. In 2001, celebrations to honour Emperor Otto I were held. Between 1 January 2011 and 19 February 2013, Gernrode was part of the town Quedlinburg , and again after 1 January 2014. Gernrode is the starting point of the Selke Valley Railway ( Selketalbahn ), a narrow-gauge railway . The line was built in 1887 and after initially climbing through the mountains, follows the Selke river valley to Stiege . The total length from Gernrode to Stiege

870-544: Is 35 km. Attractions include the giant cuckoo clock (whose cuckoo appears every fifteen minutes), which was listed in the Guinness Book of Records in 1998. This is part of a clock factory, which also incorporates a giant weather house indicating current weather conditions. Other local attractions include a 7.45 m giant wood thermometer , the largest Skat table in the world, and the Prussia Tower on

928-630: Is also known as 'Gernrode/Harz', because of its location in the Harz mountains, and to distinguish it from Gernrode in the district of Eichsfeld in Thuringia , also called 'Gernrode (Eichsfeld)'. In 959 the Saxon margrave Gero founded a convent of canonesses in the Schwabengau territory, within the grounds of the Geronisroth fortification he built about the same time. He also founded

986-510: Is divided into several companies, including DB Fernverkehr (long-distance passenger), DB Regio (local passenger services) and DB Cargo (rail freight). The Group subsidiary DB Netz also operates large parts of the German railway infrastructure , making it the largest rail network in Europe. The company generates about half of its total revenue from operating rail transport , with

1044-677: Is ordered and paid for by the Bundesländer (states) or their respective regional train operation supervisors. Some states have awarded long-term contracts to DB Regio (usually 10 to 15 years), in others, DB Regio's operations are decreasing, in North Rhine-Westphalia, their market share is expected to be lower than 50%. DB Regio rail services are divided into several regional companies: The bus services consist of 25 bus companies, which have subsidiary companies themselves. The Transport and Logistics division acted in

1102-617: Is owned by the Federal Republic. By the Constitution , the Federal Republic is required to retain (directly or indirectly) a majority of the infrastructure (the present DB Netze ) stocks. In 2008, it was agreed to "float" a portion of the business, meaning an end to the 100% share the German Federal Republic had in it, with a plan that 25% of the overall share would be sold to the private sector. However

1160-498: Is primarily as a result of lack of investment during the period the line was in Deutsche Reichsbahn ownership, between 1945 and 1993. The mainstay of the steam locomotive fleet is a fleet of 17 2-10-2 tank locomotives , built during the 1950s (apart from the prototype), although several older types do remain, including four 0-4-4-0 T mallet compound articulated locomotives . The steam locomotives are assisted by

1218-651: Is situated at the northeastern rim of the Harz mountain range and the Harz/Saxony-Anhalt Nature Park , about 6.5 km (4.0 mi) south of Quedlinburg . It lies at 215 m (705 ft) above sea level, at the foot of the Ramberg massif. It is nationally recognized for its health facilities and has state recognition as a spa town , where one may take the cure and recuperate in general ( staatlich anerkannter Kur- und Erholungsort ). The town

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1276-606: Is the Brocken Railway which is worked by steam locomotive-hauled trains to a daily scheduled timetable running from Wernigerode via Drei Annen Hohne to the Brocken and back. Regional services between Nordhausen and Ilfeld , on the other hand were transferred to diesel railbuses and (since 1 May 2004) trams, apart from one steam train pair. In addition the HSB still operates regular goods trains from Hartsteinwerk Unterberg (on

1334-679: Is the U.S. arm of Deutsche Bahn AG. As early train operator, DB Engineering & Consulting will assist CHSRA with planning, designing and implementing the state's high-speed rail program. Deutsche Bahn purchased Arriva in August 2010 off the London Stock Exchange . To satisfy the European Commission , Arriva's German operations were rebranded Netinera and sold. As of July 2022, Arriva operated 15,700 buses and 800 railway vehicles in 14 European countries, mainly in

1392-432: Is the unit that manages passenger travel within Germany. Originally called Reise & Touristik ( English : Travel and Tourism), this group is responsible for the managing, servicing and running of German passenger services. This group is divided into DB Fernverkehr and DB Regio . DB Fernverkehr AG is a semi-independent division of Deutsche Bahn that operates long-distance passenger trains in Germany. It

1450-675: Is what the GO in Infra GO stands for in German: ' G emeinwohl o rientierte.' DB Engineering & Consulting , which is responsible for construction supervision, construction planning and maintenance , is also assigned to this department without being part of a business area. Via its subsidiary DB Engineering & Consulting, DB signed a memorandum of understanding with Iranian rail operator Bonyad Eastern Railways (BonRail) in May 2017 and shortly after

1508-607: The BahnCard discount cards, which are available as BahnCard 25 (25% discount on Flexpreis and Sparpreis), BahnCard 50 (50% discount on Flexpreis and 25% discount on Sparpreis), and BahnCard 100 (unlimited travel on all Deutsche Bahn trains, a few private train companies and also in many local transport associations). Other special tickets, such as the Länder-Tickets ("state tickets"), which give unlimited journeys on local trains and in many transport associations within

1566-571: The Berlin Wall , and German reunification in 1990. On 1 January 1994 Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Bundesbahn were merged to form one company, Deutsche Bahn , the successor organisation to the Reichsbahn. At the same time, Deutsche Bahn adopted its current logo and DB abbreviation. Kurt Weidemann modernised the logo and typographer Erik Spiekermann designed a new corporate font known as DB Type . When Deutsche Bahn

1624-550: The British Royal Train and also has interests in Eastern Europe . It is possible to obtain train times for any journey in Europe from Deutsche Bahn 's website. Trans-Eurasia Logistics is a joint venture with Russian Railways (RŽD) that operates container freight trains between Germany and China via Russia . The railway network in Germany dates back to 1835 when the first tracks were laid on

1682-608: The Combino duo class. On the Trans-Harz Railway (which has no catenary ), motive power is diesel-electric, the trams being equipped with an on-board diesel engine. As a result of the connecting track to the Nordhausen Tramway, the station of Nordhausen Nord, in particular, lost its significance. Apart from one pair of steam trains from Nordhausen and a few HSB railcars all trains since then have terminated at

1740-532: The Rübeland Railway . On 30 November 2009 construction was started in Nordhausen on a new halt ( Schurzfell ). This halt is intended to further improve access to the railway network for the population of Nordhausen. Building work continued until shortly before Christmas 2009 and was mainly carried out during the overnight pause so as not to interfere with services. The new halt was opened in time for

1798-577: The Thirty Years' War (twice, in 1631 and 1635). In 1728 Emperor Charles VI formally enfeoffed the Anhalt princes with Gernode which was incorporated into Anhalt-Bernburg , raised to a duchy in 1806. Due to its picturesque setting, Gernrode became a popular destination for recreational visitors from the early 19th century onwards. Goethe , Heinrich von Kleist and Wilhelm von Kügelgen stayed here, followed by numerous vacationers, and tourism became

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1856-587: The United Kingdom over widespread cancellations of railway services and numerous delayed services operated by Deutsche Bahn in Britain, under its Northern brand. This resulted in Britain's Minister of Transport, Chris Grayling, setting up an enquiry into whether the Deutsche Bahn subsidiary had breached its contractual agreement to provide railway services in the north of England. He warned that if

1914-702: The financial crisis of 2008 , and the Bahntower lease was extended. Construction of the new headquarters building was started in 2017 under the title " Cube Berlin " according to the designs by 3XN. Finished in February 2020, the Cube will house the legal offices of Deutsche Bahn, but not become the main headquarters. The second step of the Bahnreform (railway reform) was carried out in 1999. All rolling stock, track, personnel, and real assets were divided between

1972-463: The Ölbergshöhe . Gernrode is twinned with: Deutsche Bahn The Deutsche Bahn AG ( IPA: [ˈdɔʏtʃə ˈbaːn] ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin , it is a joint-stock company ( AG ) and the largest railway company in

2030-548: The Ascanian prince John George I of Anhalt-Dessau , married Duke George Rudolf of Liegnitz . Gernrode received brewing rights in 1545. Beer brewing has since stopped, but a distillery is still present in the city. The city was traditionally part of the Duchy of Anhalt and a district of Ballenstedt . From 1037 to 1740 lead and silver were mined here. Matches and guns were also made in Gernrode. Parts of Gernrode were burnt in

2088-584: The Harz narrow gauge railways to Quedlinburg with at least two pairs of steam trains per day. In Quedlinburg the HSB stops at a platform with trains of the Harz-Elbe Express to Halberstadt . In 2009, with the support of the state of Saxony-Anhalt , the standard-gauge steam engine no. 95 1027 was overhauled at the Meiningen Steam Locomotive Works . It was used on the HSB and is now running museum railway services on

2146-598: The Selke Valley Railway) to Nordhausen Übergabebahnhof (on the Trans-Harz Railway) using diesel locomotives of Class 199.8 and piggy-backed standard-gauge wagons. On 1 May 2004 a link line was opened in Nordhausen between the Nordhausen Tramway and the Trans-Harz Railway. Since then, the above-mentioned tramway between Nordhausen Hospital and the HSB halt of Ilfeld-Neanderklinik ( Line 10 ) has been worked by electric and hybrid vehicles of

2204-502: The United Kingdom and Ireland. In 2019, Deutsche Bahn unsuccessfully tried to sell the business. In October 2023, Deutsche Bahn agreed on terms to sell Arriva to I Squared Capital , with the transaction scheduled to be completed in 2024. The sale was completed on 4 June 2024 at a reported price of £1.4bn. DB also has interests abroad, owning the United Kingdom's largest rail freight operator, DB Cargo UK , which also operates

2262-407: The collegiate church for the convent, which King Otto I took under his special protection by a 961 deed. It was dedicated to Saint Cyriacus , whose relics Gero brought back for the church from his second journey to Rome in 963. Without male heirs, he bequested his vast properties to the convent and made his daughter-in-law Hathui (d. 1014), widow of his son Siegfried, first abbess (r.959-1014). She

2320-526: The company came to an agreement with DSV of Denmark, a logistics company; in the agreement, DSV will acquire Schenker from Deutsche Bahn for $ 15.84 billion. Trains in Germany are classified by their stopping pattern, average speed and level of comfort provided: Just as ICE, EC and (few) IC cross European borders, train categories of other operators cross into Germany and are operated in cooperation with Deutsche Bahn: There are several other operators in Germany which sometimes offer other categories, also,

2378-494: The company was found to be in breach of its contractual agreements it could be banned from running railway services in the United Kingdom. The rail carrier reported a €1 billion half year net loss stemming from investments to repair its rail network, strikes and bad weather in July of 2024. As a result, Deutsche Bahn announced that they would shed 30,000 administrative jobs, roughly equal to 9% of their workforce. In September 2024,

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2436-554: The ideas of Martin Luther . Closely linked to the University of Wittenberg , the premises were used as a school until 1847, when it moved into St Stephen's Church, and may be the oldest such school in Germany. In 1565 Elisabeth of Anhalt-Zerbst (1545–1574) became abbess of Gernrode and the convent was led by Ascanian princesses ever since. It was finally disbanded in 1614, when the last abbess Sophia Elizabeth (1589–1622), daughter of

2494-538: The market with the business units DB Schenker and DB Cargo , which were combined under the umbrella of DB Schenker, and the Intermodal division, which operates in combined transport. In 2016, rail freight transport was separated from logistics and DB Schenker Rail was renamed DB Cargo . In cooperation with the logistics provider time:matters , DB also offers the transport of shipments weighing up to 20 kg on its EC/IC/ICE trains. The infrastructure division

2552-482: The network enlarged. The GHE network included the railway lines from Gernrode to Harzgerode , Hasselfelde and Eisfelder Talmühle . Because the line followed a section of the valley of the Selke , a small river, it was also nicknamed the Selke Valley Railway ( Selketalbahn ). Another pet name was the Anhalt Harz Railway ( Anhaltische Harzbahn ). In 1896, a second railway company that wanted to build

2610-414: The next morning on the same ticket is usually of advantage. Seat reservations are included only for first class tickets and seating capacity is not always assured, even for tickets valid on one particular connection only. Local trains (S, RB, RE, IRE) also accept tickets issued by local transport associations , which can also be used on buses, trams, and U-Bahn trains. DB offers concessionary fares with

2668-644: The onset of the financial crisis of 2007–08 saw this cancelled. In 2014, the Jewish community of Thessaloniki demanded that the Deutsche Bahn , which is the successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn , should reimburse the heirs of Greek Holocaust victims of Thessaloniki for train fares that they were forced to pay for their deportation from Thessaloniki to Auschwitz and Treblinka between March and August 1943. In June 2018 controversy grew in

2726-399: The other half of the business comprising further transport and logistics businesses, as well as various service providers. The company generates further revenue through public transport contracts and support services for infrastructure maintenance and expansion. The Deutsche Bahn Group is divided into various organizational units that perform their tasks with subsidiaries. DB Personenverkehr

2784-498: The railway operating company (EVU) and railway infrastructure company (EIU). Shareholders in the HSB are the districts of Harz and Nordhausen, the communes along the railways, the town of Quedlinburg, the municipality of Tanne and the spa company of Braunlage. Its head office is in Wernigerode, where its workshops and locomotive depot are located. Today the HSB has the longest single network of narrow gauge railway in Germany, with

2842-589: The subsidiaries of DBAG: DB Reise & Touristik AG (long-distance passenger service, later renamed DB Station & Service AG (operating the stations)). This new organisational scheme was introduced not least to implement European Community directive 91/440/EEC that requires open access operations on railway lines by companies other than those that own the rail infrastructure. In December 2007, DB reorganised again, bringing all passenger services into its DB Bahn arm, logistics under DB Schenker and infrastructure and operations under DB Netze . The DB

2900-430: The summer timetable in 2010. In 2009 Lower Saxony tried to co-finance a connection of the town of Braunlage to the HSB network using an accumulation of capital from the economic stimulus package, Konjunktur II . (see also South Harz Railway ). This initiative was shelved on 29 April 2010 due to the unacceptably high costs that were predicted. The network is notable for its significant use of steam locomotives. This

2958-513: The tramway stop of Nordhausen Bahnhofsvorplatz . On 18 April 2005, work started on the extension of the Selke Valley Railway from Gernrode to Quedlinburg (length 8.5 km) after DB AG had closed this standard-gauge section and sold it to the HSB. First, the Gernrode terminus was converted into a through station. On 4 March 2006, the first narrow gauge train Quedlinburg station and, since 26 June 2006, there have been scheduled services by

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3016-715: The world. DB was founded after the merger between the Deutsche Bundesbahn and the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1994 after the unification of Germany and has been operating ever since. Deutsche Bahn is the second-largest transport company in Germany, after the German postal and logistics company Deutsche Post / DHL . DB provides both long-distance and regional transport, serving around 132 million long distance passengers and 1.6 billion regional passengers in 2022. In 2022, DB transported 222 million tons of cargo. The group

3074-477: Was divided into the DB Netz (rail infrastructure), DB Station&Service (stations and services) and DB Energie (Energy) business units. At the end of December 2023, DB Netz merged with DB Station&Service to create DB InfraGO AG. The new company is intended to reduce poor communication between the two previously separate infrastructure firms and to be more 'oriented towards the common good.' In fact, that

3132-691: Was formed in January 1994, it became a joint stock-company, and was designed to operate the railways of both the former East and West Germany after unification in October 1990 as a single, uniform, and private company. There are three main periods of development in this unified German railway: its formation, its early years (1994–1999), and the period from 1999 to the present. Originally, DBAG had its headquarters in Frankfurt am Main but moved to Potsdamer Platz in central Berlin in 1996, where it occupies

3190-498: Was founded in 1999 in the second stage of the privatisation of German Federal Railways under the name of DB Reise & Touristik and renamed in 2003. DB Fernverkehr operates all Intercity Express and Intercity trains in Germany as well as in some neighboring countries and several EuroCity and EuroCityExpress trains throughout Europe . Unlike its sister companies DB Regio and DB Cargo , DB Fernverkehr still holds

3248-650: Was fully opened to traffic on 27 March 1899. After the Second World War , the entire network fell within the Soviet Zone of Occupation , later East Germany . The GHE and NWE were subordinated to the East German Deutsche Reichsbahn on 1 April 1949. On 1 February 1993 the private railway company Harzer Schmalspurbahnen GmbH (HSB) took over all stock, lines, staff, etc., from the Deutsche Reichsbahn and since then has acted as both

3306-442: Was succeeded by Adelaide I (r.1014-1045), a sister of Emperor Otto III , who was also Princess-abbess of Quedlinburg (r.999-1045). Initially the Gernrode convent was on a par with the Imperial abbeys of Quedlinburg and Gandersheim . However, its secular Vogt protectors from the Ascanian princes of Anhalt , descendants of Albert the Bear , became increasingly powerful. Yet in 1188, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa held

3364-439: Was the seat of the former Verwaltungsgemeinschaft ("municipal association") of Gernrode/Harz . First mentioned in 961, Gernrode received the privilege to bear its own coat of arms and seal, commonly regarded as town privileges . The town is best known for the Ottonian church of Saint Cyriakus , the collegiate church of a former Imperial chapter of nuns, and as the start of the narrow gauge Selke Valley Railway . Gernrode

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