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73-900: The Görlitzer Bahnhof (Berlin U-Bahn) station was named after this historic station and is located on a different site nearby. The station was designed by August Orth , an architect later responsible for the Emmauskirche in nearby Lausitzer Platz , and built between 1865 and 1867 in the Palazzo style of the Italian Renaissance. It formed part of a railway expansion project that would link Berlin with Cottbus and Görlitz, and then ultimately with cities such as Sagan (Żagań) and Breslau (Wrocław) (both in Poland since 1945) and Vienna in Austria . On 13 June 1866

146-608: A Romanesque church. After a study trip throughout Germany, he performed some professional work for the Bergisch-Markisch Railway Company , and passed his Master Builder examination at the Prussian Academy in 1858. More study trips followed; to France and Italy. From 1861 to 1862, he worked for Bergisch-Markisch again, then found employment with the Berlin–Görlitz Railway Company , becoming

219-512: A bird suspended high in the air which was able to roll along the railway tracks to the border point on the bridge and, in a gesture of peace towards the GDR, exhibit the bird to those in the east. Although the Görlitzer Tunnel remained in use until the beginning of the 1990s, the public access to the site prompted by the new park left it redundant. By the creation of a 'natural' arena in the centre of

292-570: A border crossing point stood on the bridge over the Landwehrkanal . This passage of freight was permanently discontinued on 30 June 1985. Between the years 1984 and 1987 a local swimming pool, the Spreewald Bad , an innovative structure designed by Christoph Langhof architects, was built on the site of the former station. Before the remaining area from Skalitzer Straße up to the Görlitzer Ufer

365-760: A company in which Strousberg had controlling interest. Since 1865, he had been interested in experimenting with room acoustics , and employed what he learned in the design of several churches; notably the Zion Church  [ de ] , the Gethsemane Church , and the Emmaus Church  [ de ] in Berlin, as well as the Christmas Church  [ de ] in Bethlehem . From 1871 to 1873, he developed

438-620: 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

511-559: A manor tenant. In 1834, his family relocated to Korbach . After graduating from secondary school there, in 1848, he attended the Technical University of Braunschweig , where he studied architecture. He also studied painting at the local art school. In 1850, he transferred to the Bauakademie in Berlin. His instructors there included Friedrich August Stüler , Heinrich Strack , Karl Bötticher and Wilhelm Stier , who introduced him to

584-534: A military train bound for the Austro-Prussian war became the first train to leave the then incomplete station site. The connection was one of convenience because the military had built their barracks in neighbouring Wrangelstraße. Shortly afterwards, on 13 September, a regular passenger service began between Berlin and Cottbus. By late 1867 the Berlin-Görlitz line was complete and the route, which passed through

657-508: A proposal for a "Berliner Centralbahn", a four-track, circular, light-rail system, but it was viewed as impractical. From 18772 to 1877, he served on the board of the "Architektenvereins zu Berlin" (Architects' Association). In 1877, he became a "Baurat" (Building Official), and was promoted to Geheimrat in 1893. He was awarded the Order of the Red Eagle , 4th class, in 1884. He was also a member of

730-409: A restaurant – were levelled in 1975 during a wave of demolitions during the 1970s that claimed many historic victims across the city. The reason given at the time for the demolition was that the buildings served no practical purpose in standing empty and as a result were being occupied by an "anti-social" element. The removal of these "ruins" would therefore be better for the image of West Berlin. By 1976

803-507: 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

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876-590: 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

949-606: 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,

1022-543: 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

1095-507: 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

1168-819: 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

1241-608: 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

1314-740: 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

1387-631: 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

1460-464: 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

1533-626: 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)

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1606-634: 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

1679-591: 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 the Anschluss in 1938

1752-699: The Prussian Academy, and an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna . [REDACTED] Media related to August Orth at Wikimedia Commons Deutsche Reichsbahn The Deutsche Reichsbahn , also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after

1825-650: 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

1898-618: 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

1971-735: 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

2044-534: 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

2117-528: The capital with the cloth factories, and the brick and glass works of industrial Görlitz. Lausitz proved to be not only a rich source of Spreewald gherkins but also, more importantly, of coal. In order to improve access between the neighbourhoods that emerged around Görlitzer Straße (the Wrangelkiez ) and Wiener Straße (the Reichenberger Kiez ), an underpass was constructed under the railway site. Opened to

2190-450: The countryside of the Spreewald and Lower Lusatia and the towns of Königs Wusterhausen , Lübben , and Lübbenau , officially opened on 31 December 1867. Although founded by a private company, owned by industrialist and "rail king" Bethel Henry Strousberg , the service was nationalised on 28 March 1882. The new line proved an immediate success with the public. After only a few months, it

2263-708: 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

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2336-407: 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 a period of great turmoil in German history". The company

2409-659: 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

2482-615: 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

2555-501: 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

2628-407: The front of the building, which still stood at that time, as the filming location for the fictional East Berlin "Marx-Engels-Platz 59". 52°29′56″N 13°25′52″E  /  52.499°N 13.431°E  / 52.499; 13.431 August Orth August Friedrich Wilhelm Orth (25 July 1828, Windhausen - 11 May 1901, Berlin ) was a German architect and designer. He was the son of

2701-456: 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,

2774-422: The head of their technical office in 1868. He then opened his own architectural firm. His most important client was the railway magnate, Bethel Henry Strousberg . He designed and built two of his homes: the Palais Strousberg on Wilhelmstraße in Berlin, and his family estate, Schloss Zbirow , in Bohemia . He also designed buildings at the Zentralvieh- und Schlachthof  [ de ] (slaughterhouse), for

2847-496: The historical name, much like with the similarly doomed Anhalter Bahnhof . In addition to this, the road that runs alongside the western side of Görlitzer Park, was renamed Wiener Straße in 1873, because the first trains connecting Berlin and the Austrian capital Vienna left from Görlitzer Bahnhof. Likewise, the neighbouring squares Spreewaldplatz and Lausitzer Platz were named after the areas of countryside once accessible from its platforms. The 1966 film Funeral in Berlin used

2920-494: 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

2993-465: 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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3066-431: The local network too. Ultimately though, it was the deepening crisis in political relations between East and West that sealed the station's fate, and made its position as a Western station operating an Eastern line untenable. It therefore came as no surprise when the GDR decided to close Görlitzer Bahnhof to passenger trains on 29 April 1951. Although the complete absence of the railway on the 1954 Berlin city map suggests

3139-466: 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

3212-412: 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

3285-456: 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

3358-403: The newer trends. In 1854, he passed the examination for construction manager. Unable to find work immediately, he chose instead to pursue his artistic studies, at the Prussian Academy of Arts . He attempted to establish himself as an architect by entering competitions. In 1855, he submitted a design for a prince's palace then, in 1856, won the Schinkel Prize  [ de ] , for designing

3431-417: 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

3504-405: 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

3577-414: The park, over the Landwehrkanal and then comes to an end over Elsenstraße in Treptow , just before the original line would have met the ring of the S-bahn. The historic building itself lives on in existing local names. In 1926, the local U-Bahn station Oranienstraße was renamed as Görlitzer Bahnhof to indicate the neighbouring mainline terminus but despite the latter's demise the U-bahn stop maintains

3650-401: The park, the tunnel was largely destroyed, although its remains were incorporated into the design. The only obvious physical remains of the station site are the two goods sheds, an old office building, the railway bridge and the remnants of the underpass visible in a crater in the centre of the park. Nevertheless, it is possible to follow part of the old railway route on foot, as it leads out of

3723-565: 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,

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3796-475: 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

3869-434: The public in 1910, this connected Oppelner Straße on the northern side with Liegnitzer Straße to the south. This was officially known as the ‘Görlitzer Tunnel’, although it would later also acquire the nickname "Harnröhre“ (Urethra). During World War II , the Allied aerial bombardments of 3 February 1945, which left 3,255 dead or missing and over 119,000 homeless in the surrounding Kreuzberg district, caused severe damage to

3942-424: 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

4015-537: 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

4088-482: The site lay mostly empty. Although the station stood abandoned and the site lay undeveloped for over thirty years, the area was never dormant. Since the closure in 1951, the land and buildings were used variously for coal storage, as a scrapyard, an auto garage, and for other small enterprises. Furthermore, the northern goods side of the station site remained in active use by the Deutsche Reichsbahn for transporting freight between West and East Berlin, and for this reason

4161-420: 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

4234-493: The station was subsequently demolished and cleared, it actually remained relatively undisturbed in its bombed-out state for ten years after the closure. The arrival of the Wall in 1961, however, quashed any hopes of a reconstruction. Over the following decade or so all the remaining station buildings were demolished, beginning with the large platform hall in 1962 and the main reception area in 1967. The remaining public buildings – which included two towers, various waiting rooms and

4307-439: The station. Nevertheless, by June, a mere month after the surrender of Berlin, a makeshift Görlitzer Bahnhof was back in service. The revival proved temporary, however. From 25 September 1946 all its long-distance trains were redirected to Schlesischer Bahnhof (renamed Ostbahnhof in 1950) on the central Stadtbahn. Furthermore, over the next few years the ongoing expansion of the electric S-Bahn system would supersede its role in

4380-419: 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

4453-402: 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

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4526-448: 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

4599-412: 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

4672-611: 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

4745-411: Was accommodating 70,000 travellers a day and during the whole of 1880, approximately 1.5 million people used Görlitzer Bahnhof. Its popularity had a stimulating effect on the surrounding area, with shops and cafés springing up in the neighbouring streets, helping to establish it as one of the liveliest in the city. Aside from the transport of people, the line also served as a vital trade route connecting

4818-532: 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

4891-406: 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

4964-417: Was developed into Görlitzer Park in the early 1990s, it was a waste ground partly accessible by the public. This vacancy led to the site being occupied during the summer of 1989 by the Mutoid Waste Company , an anarchist art commune from London. The location was chosen in part because of its proximity to the Wall. On one memorable occasion the scrap metal artists created a "Peace Bird" contraption which featured

5037-428: 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

5110-424: 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 the German railways, which had previously been run by

5183-541: 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

5256-711: 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

5329-472: 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

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