55-707: The Odenwald Railway (German: Odenwaldbahn ) (sometimes referred to as the Baden Odenwald Railway to distinguish it from the Hessian line of the same name ) was the name given to a Baden railway line in southwestern Germany built from between 1862 and 1866. It ran from Heidelberg via Neckargemünd and Meckesheim through the Little Odenwald mountains to Waibstadt , Mosbach , Osterburken and Lauda to Würzburg in Bavaria. The plans in
110-600: A central control panel at Groß-Umstadt Wiebelsbach station. At several stations ( Darmstadt Ost , Ober-Ramstadt, Reinheim, Wiebelsbach, Groß-Umstadt) access to the trains were improved with new platforms. In Darmstadt Nord , a new track connection was built allowing a direct journey to Frankfurt over the Main-Neckar Railway and a new station was opened at the new campus of the Technical University of Darmstadt , called Darmstadt TU-Lichtwiese . In
165-638: A connection to the rail network from the poor areas in southern Odenwald , in the Bauland and in the Tauber valley (mockingly known as Badisch Sibirien , Baden Siberia, because of its small population, cold winters and isolation from the rest of Baden). While a railway line through the area was expected to be only marginally profitable, if at all, railway construction was seen, with its transport benefits, to be an investment that would promote development in this area. The Kingdom of Bavaria also had an interest in
220-651: A length of 173 m and two 60 m long viaducts over the Rindengrund and the kurze Tal ("short valley") are the most impressive viaducts. The line has three tunnels: the 240-metre-long Engelberg tunnel at Reinheim, the 1,205 m long tunnel near Frau-Nauses, both 8 m wide in preparation for a second track, and the Krähberg tunnel with a length of 3,100 m. At the top of the Mümling valley the line has its maximum grade of 1:70 and its smallest curve radius of 300 m. The railway
275-468: A result of bottlenecks especially during peak hours, passenger growth on the new direct services has been low. Therefore, in 2007, four more Itino sets were ordered. These were approved for service in February 2010 and have increased the fleet to 26 sets. The following Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund services are operated: Since the timetable change on 11 December 2005, direct services are able to run from
330-543: A result of the construction of high-speed railway lines—so, in 2001, the last remaining long-distance service, the Rennsteig InterRegio service was stopped. However, the Osterburken–Würzburg line is still used for many freight trains on north–south routes. Local transport had a rather low priority. Thus, in the 1970s between Osterburken and Lauda stops at all stations were temporarily abandoned due to
385-576: A route through Mosbach. The agreement also included the construction of a railway bridge over the Rhine at Mannheim , so that the direct railway reached the Palatinate from Würzburg. The Baden Odenwald Railway was opened in two stages: from Heidelberg via Neckargemünd, Meckenheim Neckarbischofsheim , Aglasterhausen and Neckarelz to Mosbach on 23 October 1862 and from Mosbach to Würzburg via Osterburken and Lauda on 25 August 1866. The construction of
440-594: A shepherd by the name of Franz Gehring discovered rich mineral springs in the surrounding area, during the time when spas were expanding in Germany at a rapid pace. The water turned out to be the strongest sodium-sulfate water in Europe, reportedly effective for the treatment of digestive disorders. In the 1970s during the Gemeindereform (administrative reform) several neighbouring villages were incorporated into
495-653: Is a town in the Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg . It has a population of around 23,000. An officially recognized spa town since 1926, Bad Mergentheim is also known as the headquarters of the Teutonic Order from 1526 until 1809. Since administrative reform in the 1970s the following villages have been part of the municipality: Althausen (pop. 600) , Apfelbach (350) , Dainbach (370) , Edelfingen (1,400 ; birthplace of
550-605: Is also known as the Hessian Odenwald Railway ( Hessische Odenwaldbahn ) and occasionally as the Mümling Railway ( Mümlingbahn ), because it follows the valley of the same name from Beerfelden Hetzbach to Höchst im Odenwald . During the 1860s there were many years of controversy over the route. Darmstadt, the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Hesse (Hesse-Darmstadt) supported a route through
605-635: Is mainly due to Archduke Maximilian Franz. In 1797, he had a "mosque" built there to recall the past Turkish threat and in 1802 the Schellenhäusle , a late Chinoiserie . The obelisk was built under Duke Paul von Württemberg , a memorial for a dog that saved his life on one of his expeditions. The castle complex is dominated by the Schlosskirche (palace church), begun in 1730 under Franz Ludwig Herzog von Pfalz-Neuburg in Baroque style. It
SECTION 10
#1732773141117660-658: The Deutscher Orden ( Teutonic Order ) in 1219 and gave their two castles near Mergentheim to the order. One was abandoned, the other became the seat of the local Komtur (commander) of the order. Following the Order's conquest of East Prussia and part of Livland in the 1230s, in 1309 the Grand Master of the order moved to the Marienburg . In 1340 Mergentheim was awarded town privileges . It rapidly became
715-686: The Gersprenz valley through Reinheim , Brensbach , Hollerbach and the Kinzig and the Mümling valleys. Frankfurt instead supported route through Dieburg . As a compromise, the route as later built was chosen. It runs from Eberbach through the Odenwald via Wiebelbach-Heubach, where it branches, with one branch running to Babenhausen and Hanau Central Station ( Hauptbahnhof ) and the other branch to Reinheim and Darmstadt. This meant that traffic from
770-701: The Glorification of the Cross in Heaven and on Earth and the Emperor Constantine 's Vision of the Cross . The main altar painting is Die Salbung Jesu durch Maria in Bethanien by local painter Matthäus Zehender [ de ] . Side altar paintings were by Giambattista Pittoni ( Kreuzaufnahme , Armenspeisung durch die heilige Elisabeth ). The crypt below the church is the burial site of
825-604: The King of Poland – turned the order's eastern territories into a temporal duchy. The rulers of the order in Germany, now styling themselves Hoch- und Deutschmeister , then made Mergentheim the order's new headquarters and expanded the castle into a palatial residence. Over the next centuries, the town served as the centre of the order's southern German territories much like the residence town of any ruling prince. Some grand masters, like Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614–62), who in his 21 years in that role never once set foot in
880-627: The Pfungstadt Railway . The line for its whole length is listed as a historic landmark under the Hessian Monument Protection Act. Its whole length of 120 km, especially its southern part, is very scenic: between Erbach and Eberbach it runs across a mountain range with many engineering structures. The Himbächel viaduct with a total length of 250 m and a maximum height of 40 m and the Haintal viaduct with
935-479: The 1,205 m long tunnel near Frau-Nauses between Wiebelbach and Höchst im Odenwald in the Mümling valley. This cost the life of eleven people and was finished at the Christmas of 1870. In Darmstadt, work began on 1 February 1869 and progressed quickly towards Reinheim. The line was opened to Ober-Ramstadt on 28 December 1870, to Reinheim on 15 May 1871 and to Wiebelbach-Heubach two months later. On 23 December 1871
990-654: The 31 km southern section of the line through the Grand Duchy of Baden on 3 August 1875; the Baden section of the line was authorised by a treaty between the two grand duchies that had been signed on 3 August 1874. Because the line had to overcome the topography over the watershed between the Main and Neckar, many engineering structures were required between Erbach and Eberbach, including the Himbächel Viaduct and
1045-510: The 56 km route between Darmstadt and Erbach took 1 hour and 17 minutes in 1982; in 2004 they took 1 hour and 10 minutes, which corresponded to an average speed of 48 km/h. Around 2005 was the infrastructure of the Odenwald Railway was upgraded at considerable cost. The line speed was increased in some places from 90 to 120 km/h and the predominant semaphore signals were replaced by colour light signals controlled from
1100-465: The American biochemist Julius Adler ), Hachtel (360) , Herbsthausen (200) , Löffelstelzen (1,000) , Markelsheim (2,000) , Neunkirchen (1,000) , Rengershausen (480) , Rot (260) , Stuppach (680) , Wachbach (1,300) Mergentheim is mentioned in chronicles as early as 1058, as the residence of the family of the counts of Hohenlohe . The brothers Andreas, Heinrich and Friedrich von Hohenlohe joined
1155-731: The Krebsbach Valley Railway were closed, as it could not, according to the SWEG, be operated profitably any longer. The Heidelberg–Meckenheim–Aglasterhausen connection is now operated as line S 51. This stretch now only has regional importance as part of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn. The route is duplicated and has been electrified since 1975. Together with the Stuttgart–Heilbronn–Osterburken line, this line connects Stuttgart and Würzburg and thus forms
SECTION 20
#17327731411171210-485: The Krähberg Tunnel, as well as gradients of 1 in 70. On 1 March 1882, the 23 km long Erbach–Hetzbach section running through the Krähberg Tunnel was opened. On 27 May, this was followed by the opening of the last section from Eberbach to Hetzbach, first for passenger traffic and five days later for freight, making the Odenwald Railway operable along its entire length. Originally, it had been planned to complete
1265-489: The Neckar Valley Railway, it creates a second connection between Heidelberg and Heilbronn. In addition trains runs to Eppingen. The route has been duplicated and electrified since 2009. S-Bahn trains run to Eppingen (S 5) and Aglasterhausen (S 51). After the opening of the Neckar Valley Railway this section very quickly lost importance because through trains now usually ran on the Neckar Valley Railway. Of all
1320-548: The Odenwald Railway on the new rail link north of Darmstadt to Frankfurt. This service is operated hourly from Erbach to Frankfurt, via Frankfurt Central Station , Offenbach Central Station , Hanau Central Station and then on to Erbach (and vice versa), with a short stop and reversal in Frankfurt Central Station. Some of these trains travel in the peak with three sets coupled. The journey from Erbach to Frankfurt via Darmstadt now take about 88 minutes. When
1375-577: The Odenwald Railway over the years: From 1925 the Odenwald Railway was served by local services as well as three “hedgerow expresses” ( Heckeneilzug ), from Frankfurt via Hanau, Erbach and Eberbach, connecting with Stuttgart and during some timetable periods in the 1980s even corridor express ( D-Zug ) trains. These changed from electric to diesel locomotives originally in Heilbronn and later in Eberbach. The travel time between Frankfurt and Stuttgart
1430-457: The Odenwald ran to Darmstadt rather than bypassing it. The Hessian Ludwig Railway ( Hessische Ludwigsbahn ) received the concession for the Odenwald Railway in the summer of 1868 and financed its construction by raising public debt of over 4 million thalers . It was constructed as a single-track main-line railway of standard gauge , crossing the Odenwald in southern Hesse and northern Baden-Württemberg . In September 1868, construction began on
1485-698: The River Neckar , which crosses the Odenwald mountains in the German states of Hesse and Baden-Württemberg . Since 1882 the route has been operated throughout as a standard gauge line and since 2005 has been worked by diesel multiples owned by the VIAS private railway company. The line is timetable no. KBS 641. To distinguish it from the Odenwald Railway in Baden from Heidelberg to Würzburg it
1540-762: The beginning of the 1990s, class 628 diesel multiple units were increasingly operated on the line, while the remaining locomotive-hauled trains, which had been hauled by class 212 diesel locomotives, was gradually replaced by class 216 hauled trains. In the late nineties, these were replaced first by class 215 locomotives, which after a short time were transferred to other regions, and then by class 218 locomotives. The locomotive-hauled trains often ran as push-pull trains . Deutsche Bahn abandoned freight services in 2001. Through passenger services between Frankfurt and Stuttgart were terminated in December 2004 when Baden-Württemberg refused to support them. Passenger trains on
1595-653: The completion of the Odenwald Railway, the Tauber Valley Railway ( Taubertalbahn ) was opened between 1867 and 1869 to Wertheim and Bad Mergentheim in order to develop the Tauber Valley. As already anticipated during the construction of the line, traffic on the Odenwald Railway was only light. It did not meet expectations either in transport or political terms. However, the combination of the line with new railway lines that were subsequently built created transport linkages that became more important that
1650-541: The connection of the Palatinate and Lower Franconia. As a result, the individual sections of the Odenwald Railway developed very differently: This section is now considered to be part of the Neckar Valley Railway (Heidelberg– Heilbronn ) opened in 1879 and serves passengers and freight between the Palatinate and the Stuttgart area . The line is duplicated and has been electrified since 1972. Since 2003,
1705-595: The construction of a railway between the Palatinate and Lower Franconia , since such a railway would connect the Bavarian heartland with the then Bavarian Palatinate , bypassing Württemberg . However, Bavaria wanted a route along the Main river via Wertheim , Miltenberg , Amorbach and Eberbach , while Baden preferred a more southerly route via Mosbach. After lengthy negotiations, the two countries agreed in 1862 on
Odenwald Railway (Baden) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1760-580: The course of modernisation at the timetable change of December 2005, some station names were changed to reflect changes in place names as a result of the municipal reform in Hesse in 1974: The local transport plan for 2011-2016 includes new stations in the Darmstadt-Dieburg district and new stations in Groß-Umstadt are also being considering. Since the timetable change on 11 December 2005,
1815-589: The course of time a representative Renaissance complex was built by connecting the individual buildings in the inner palace courtyard to a closed ring of buildings. In 1574, the main architect, Blasius Berwart [ de ] , also constructed the spiral staircase between the west and north wing. Today the castle houses the Deutschordensmuseum (museum of the Teutonic Order). The English landscape garden between palace and spa building
1870-550: The line in 1879, coinciding with the opening of the Neckar Valley Railway from Neckargemünd to the Jagst river, but due to the stretched financial situation of the Hessian Ludwig Railway Company, this schedule could not be met. Passenger trains took two hours to run over the 56 km route between Darmstadt and Erbach in 1871. A number of additions and connections to different lines were connected to
1925-544: The major north–south link between the regions of Stuttgart and Heilbronn via Würzburg to the North Sea ports. The route is duplicated and has been electrified since 1975. This is the section of the lines that has the greatest significance. Long-distance trains run on this section. Since it is very winding and thus does not allow very high speeds, it lost its significance after the Second World War—especially as
1980-606: The mid-19th century to build a railway network in the Grand Duchy of Baden , initially focused on the construction of the Baden Mainline as a north–south route through the Upper Rhine Valley from Mannheim to Basel as well as a connection through the Lake Constance area to Constance . However, northeastern Baden continued to be ignored. Therefore, from the 1850s, ever louder demands were raised for
2035-591: The most important of the eleven commanderies of the Teutonic Order. The Deutschmeister , highest ranking member inside the Holy Roman Empire (to which Prussia did not belong), moved his seat to Mergentheim in 1525 after his castle at Hornberg/Neckar had been destroyed by peasants . That same year, Grand Master Albrecht von Zollern-Brandenburg resigned his position, left the order, introduced Reformation , married and – supported by his liege lord
2090-548: The municipality. The best-known sight of Bad Mergentheim is the Deutschordensschloss , the castle where the Teutonic Knights once had their home base. It is a complex of buildings built over a period of eight hundred years. The first buildings of the castle were probably erected as early as the 12th century. The castle was expanded in the late 16th century under Grand Master Walther von Cronberg . Over
2145-461: The order's grand masters. For around 200 years the Schlosskirche has been a Protestant church. The sacristy of the Marienkirche (finished in 1388) features frescos made in 1300-10 by the monk Rudolfus. This was formerly the church of a Dominican monastery. The cloister has a fresco from 1486 showing a Visitation that depicts an embryo inside the body of Mary. The church also contains
2200-484: The passenger services on the Odenwald Railway have been operated by the VIAS company, using two-carriage Bombardier Itino DMUs, which are owned by Fahrzeugmanagement Region Frankfurt RheinMain GmbH (fahma). The platform length of 120 metres on the line restricts services to a maximum of three sets coupled together. However, the originally tendered 22 sets are not enough to provide sufficient capacity on all services. So as
2255-462: The rest of the rail network. So In 1982, the state-owned South-West German Railway Company ( Südwestdeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , SWEG), which had operated the Krebsbach Valley Railway since 1963, took over operations between Meckenheim and Aglasterhausen. In August 2009, during the second phase of the expansion of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn the track was acquired by Deutsche Bahn , electrified and upgraded for S-Bahn operations. Passenger operations on
Odenwald Railway (Baden) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2310-659: The second section was delayed as a result of the fighting in Tauberbischofsheim during the War of 1866 . The routing of the Odenwald Railway on the section between Neckargemünd and Mosbach is peculiar. Instead of running through the Neckar valley via Eberbach it took the hillier and thus operationally problematic route through the Elsenz and Schwarzbach valleys via Meckenheim, Neckarbischofsheim and Aglasterhausen. This route
2365-779: The section has been part of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn . With S-Bahn services on the Homburg – Kaiserslautern –Mosbach (– Osterburken ) and Heidelberg–Eberbach routes as well as regional services on the Heidelberg–Mosbach–Neckarelz–Heilbronn and Heidelberg–Meckenheim–Heilbronn routes, this section is well served by local passenger services. Operationally, this section forms part of the Neckargemünd–Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld railway ("Western Fork Railway") to Jagstfeld. Along with
2420-430: The section to Erbach was opened, having been delayed by a collapse in the Frau-Nauses tunnel. The branch line between Hanau and Wiebelbach-Heubach was opened between Babenhausen and Wiebelbach-Heubach in two sections in 1870 and between Hanau and Babenhausen in 1882. The Odenwald Railway crosses the Rhine-Main Railway in Babenhausen. The Hessian Ludwig Railway received a concession from the Grand Duchy of Hesse to build
2475-423: The sections of the Odenwald Railway this had the least volume of traffic and was downgraded to a minor line. With the destruction of the Neckar bridge in Obrigheim in 1945, the Meckenheim–Obrigheim section became a branch line, the bridge over the Neckar was not rebuilt because little traffic was affected. As demand between Aglasterhausen and Obrigheim was very low and the maintenance of two tunnels on this section
2530-469: The sparse population. From the turn of the millennium, services were reactivated at some of them, such as Rosenberg (Baden) , Eubigheim and Boxberg / Wölchingen, which are significant for school transport, and they are served on weekdays by a few Regionalbahn trains. Odenwald Railway (Hesse) The Odenwald Railway ( German : Odenwaldbahn ) is a mainly single-tracked main line from Darmstadt and Hanau to Eberbach on
2585-479: The town, were hardly ever present. Others, like Maximilian Franz (1756-1801), a son of Maria Theresa , loved the place. For the order's general chapter in 1791 he brought the orchestra of the Archbishopric of Cologne , including one Ludwig van Beethoven on viola . Mergentheim retained this role until the dissolution of the order in the countries of the Rheinbund in 1809 by Napoleon . Mergentheim's fortunes declined after that but were reversed in 1826, when
2640-406: The trains run through Babenhausen there are interchanges on the Rhine-Main Railway to Darmstadt and Aschaffenburg . Since the timetable change of 2005, connections on Sundays and public holidays are no longer matched, causing longer waiting times. There are currently no freight operations on the Odenwald Railway. Since December 2011, some services running to Darmstadt continue to Pfungstadt on
2695-495: Was 3.5 hours and between Frankfurt and Erbach about 85 minutes. In the 1970s, the Odenwald Railway began large scale closures. Zeilhard, Richen, Etzen-Gesäß, Schönnen, Ebersberg and Gaimühle stations were closed and Hetzbach, Kailbach, Klein-Umstadt and Langstadt stations were rebuilt as halts ( Haltepunkten , that is they now had all sets of points removed). In the 30 kilometres between Erbach and Eberbach there are now no junctions. The branch lines were partly closed: At times, it
2750-497: Was a tourist attraction from the beginning. It was travelled over by the Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse and his wife, Princess Alice of the United Kingdom , accompanied by the Count of Erbach-Schönberg and their guest, Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn , a brother of the Duchess, in early 1872, on the way to Lauterbach. Bad Mergentheim Bad Mergentheim ( German: [baːt ˈmɛʁɡn̩thaɪm] ; Mergentheim until 1926; East Franconian : Märchedol )
2805-543: Was chosen because the Grand Duchy of Hesse reached to the river Neckar between Neckargemünd and Eberbach, so that a railway would have had to run through Hesse, which was not considered desirable. Shortly after its completion, the Odenwald Railway was connected by two routes with the Württemberg railway network, from Meckenheim via Sinsheim to Jagstfeld ( westliche Gabelbahn , ”Western Fork Railway” , opened 1868/1869) and from Jagstfeld to Osterburken ( Östliche Gabelbahn , ”Eastern Fork Railway” , opened in 1869). Following
SECTION 50
#17327731411172860-520: Was costly, this section was shut down in 1971 and dismantled in the following years. The Meckenheim–Aglasterhausen section, which follows the Schwarzenbach, became known as the Schwarzbachtalbahn (Schwarzenbach Valley Railway). Around 1980, Deutsche Bundesbahn announced the closure of the line completely. This would have meant that Krebsbach Valley Railway ( Krebsbachtalbahn ), which had existed since 1902 and branches off at Neckarbischofsheim Nord and runs to Hüffenhardt, would have had no connection to
2915-408: Was even considered abandoning the mountainous line between Erbach and Eberbach completely. This did not happen, however, and the services began stopping at Kailbach and Schöllenbach stations again from 1994, after they had been closed in 1977. After the Second World War, class 65 steam locomotive were used on almost all trains. They were used because their technical characteristics (tensile strength)
2970-408: Was finished in 1735 under Clemens August von Wittelsbach . The plans for the interior were drawn up by François de Cuvilliés , the Electoral court architect of Cologne. Architects working on site were Joseph Roth and Friedrich Kirchenmayer. Its Rococo interior features elaborate ceiling frescos by the court painter Nikolaus Gottfried Stuber [ de ] , depicting The Defense of Faith ,
3025-459: Was very suitable for the Odenwald line. Passengers trains were mostly composed of three-axle carriages rebuilt from compartmentised carriages. Freight trains were often hauled by class 50 locomotives; in some cases freight traffic was carried between Hanau and Wiebelbach in railbus sets. All locomotives were based in Darmstadt. In 1970, steam operations ended on the Odenwald line and train services were hauled by diesel locomotives of class 212 . At
#116883