Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft

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For the state railways of the German Democratic Republic, see Deutsche Reichsbahn of the GDR.

The Deutsche Reichsbahn (DR, literally "German Imperial Railway") was the name of the German national railway created from the railways of the individual states of the German Empire following the end of World War I.

It was founded in 1920 as the Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen when the Weimar Republic (formally "Deutsches Reich," hence the "Reich" in the name of the railway) took national control of the German railways, which had previously been run by the German states. In 1924 it was reorganized under the aegis of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG) and the operating name of the railway was simplified to Deutsche Reichsbahn. After the Anschluss in 1938 the DR also took over the Bundesbahn Österreich (BBÖ, Federal Railway of Austria).

In 1949 the newly created German Democratic Republic took over the control of the DRG on its territory and continued to use the traditional name as Deutsche Reichsbahn, while the railway in the new Federal Republic of Germany became the Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB, German Federal Railway). The Austrian Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB, Austrian Federal Railways) was founded in 1945, and was given its present name in 1947.

1 1920: Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen
2 1924: Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
3 References
4 Literature
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] 1920: Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen

The Deutsche Reichseisenbahnen (literally German Imperial Railways) were established on 1 April 1920 as a union of the existing state railway companies of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Württemburg, Baden, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Hesse, and Oldenburg. The union of the state railway companies became necessary due to the new constitution of the Weimar Republic of 1 August 1919, which placed responsibility for railways with the national government; like the prewar German state, it was known as the German Reich.

[edit] 1924: Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft

Among the provisions of the 1924 Dawes plan was a plan to indemnify the state railway completely for war reparations. Following the plan's publication, on 12 February 1924 the government announced the creation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (literally German Imperial Railway) as a state enterprise. As this did not go far enough for the reparations creditor on 30th August 1924 a law was enacted for the establishment of a privately owned Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (German Imperial Railway Company) as a holding company to operate the national railways. The aim was to earn profits which, in accordance with the Dawes Plan, were to be used to contribute to Germany's war reparations.

The beginning of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft was characterised by the acquisition of new rolling stock built to standard types. The stock already in use was inherited from the various state railways and comprised a great number of designs, many of them quite old. In the latter part of the 1930s, high speed trains like the Flying Hamburger and streamlined steam engines with matching cars were developed. The series 05 streamlined express engine reached a speed of 200km/h. Before the Second World War the most important rail lines ran from east to west. The most modern high speed lines were the Prussian Ostbahn which ran through the Polish corridor, the line from Berlin to Hamburg, the line from Hanover to the Ruhr, the line from Frankfurt am Main to southwest Germany on which high speed diesel trains ran, and the line from Berlin to Breslau (Wrocław) on which electric express trains were in use.

[edit] 1937: DRG becomes DRB

With the law re-organising the Reichsbank and Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft, the rail network was again placed under state ownership on 10 February 1937. To emphasize this, the Hoheitsadler symbol (winged eagle and swastika,Hakenkreuz), one of Nazi Germany's symbols of national sovereignty was painted onto railcars, and the DR was held to stand for "Deutsches Reich," although this was legally ambiguous. Mail transport cars sported Deutsche Reichspost.

[edit] 1938: Absorption of Austrian State Railway

On 18 March 1938, following the annexation of Austria, the Bundesbahn Österreich (BBÖ, Federal Railway of Austria) was integrated into the Deutsche Reichbahn. On 27 April 1945,the Austrian railways became independent again as the Austrian State Railway (Österreichische Staatseisenbahn or ÖStB). On 5 August 1947 this was renamed Austrian Federal Railways (Österreichische Bundesbahnen or ÖBB).

[edit] Dissolution after the Second World War

With the end of the war in 1945 railway operating powers were transferred to the respective zones of occupation. The Deutsche Reichbahn legally existed in four parts until 1949. In the three western zones the rail system was re-unified on 7 September 1949 and renamed Deutsche Bundesbahn (DB, German Federal Railways, the railways of the Federal Republic of Germany). In the eastern zone, which became the German Democratic Republic, the rail system retained the name Deutsche Reichsbahn, despite the "Imperial" connotations of the name; this was due to the designation of the Deutsche Reichsbahn in postwar treaties and military protocols as the railway operator in West Berlin, a role it retained until the creation of the unified Deutsche Bahn at the beginning of 1994.

[edit] References

Roland Beier, Hans Sternhart: Deutsche Reichsbahn in Österreich 1938 - 1945 (-1953). Internationales Archiv für Lokomotivgeschichte, Band 14, Slezak, Wien, 1999, ISBN 3-85416-186-7
Alfred C. Mierzejewski: The most valuable asset of the Reich. A history of the German National Railway.
- Vol 1: 1920-1932, Chapel Hill und London, The University of North Carolina Press 1999
- Vol 2: 1933-1945, Chapel Hill und London, The University of North Carolina Press 2000
Lothar Gall und Manfred Pohl: Die Eisenbahn in Deutschland. Von den Anfängen bis zur Gegenwart. Verlag C. H. Beck, München, 1999