Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway
Encyclopedia
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The first section of the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway was opened in 1838 as the Berlin-Potsdam Railway and was the first railway line in Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
. In 1846 it was extended to Magdeburg
Magdeburg
Magdeburg , is the largest city and the capital city of the Bundesland of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Magdeburg is situated on the Elbe River and was one of the most important medieval cities of Europe....
.
The first railway in Prussia
The Prussian Royal residence was located at PotsdamPotsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....
approximately 25 km west of Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, which at the beginning of the 19th century already had more than 200,000 inhabitants. The sceptical attitude of the King Friedrich Wilhelm III
Frederick William III of Prussia
Frederick William III was king of Prussia from 1797 to 1840. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel .-Early life:...
delayed the establishment of a railway, which were already being built in England. After the opening of the Bavarian Ludwig Railway showed that railways could be operated economically in Germany, it was decided to establish a railway in Prussia. The Prussian Railway Act of 3 November 1838 established the basis for operating private railway companies and also provided for the Prussian state to take them over after 30 years.
The Berlin-Potsdam Railway the first section of its line in autumn 1838 (the section between Potsdam and Zehlendorf
Zehlendorf (Berlin)
Zehlendorf is a locality within the borough of Steglitz-Zehlendorf in Berlin. Before Berlin's 2001 administrative reform Zehlendorf was a borough in its own right, consisting of the locality of Zehlendorf as well as Wannsee, Nikolassee and Dahlem...
on 22 September, the main line to Berlin on 29 October). The Potsdamer Bahnhof
Berlin Potsdamer Bahnhof
The Potsdamer Bahnhof is a former railway terminus in Berlin, Germany. It was located at Potsdamer Platz, about 1 km south of the Brandenburg Gate, and kick-started the transformation of Potsdamer Platz from an area of quiet villas near the south-east corner of the Tiergarten into the bustling...
opened in 1838 just outside the outside Potsdamer Tor (a gate in Berlins’s tax wall). In 1837, the Berlin-Potsdam Railway Company acquired land for the station from the Unity of the Brethren
Unity of the Brethren
The Unity of the Brethren is a Christian denomination whose roots are in the pre-reformation work of priest and philosopher Jan Hus, who was martyred in 1415.-History in Bohemia:...
in Berlin and Rixdorf
Neukölln (locality)
Neukölln is an inner-city locality of Berlin in the homonymous borough of Neukölln, including the historic village of Rixdorf and numerous Gründerzeit apartment blocks. The Ortsteil is densely settled a with a population of 154,127 inhabitants and is the most populated one of Berlin...
for 12,400 thalers
Prussian thaler
The Thaler was the currency of Prussia until 1857. From 1750, it was distinct from north German Reichsthaler unit of account in that it contained 1/14 of a Cologne mark of silver, rather than 1/12, and was minted as a coin...
. Its Potsdam station
Potsdam Hauptbahnhof
Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in German city of Potsdam. It is the southern terminus of S-Bahn line and, replacing the S7 on Friday and Saturday nights, the line .- Overview :...
was southeast of the city on the other bank of the Havel
Havel
The Havel is a river in north-eastern Germany, flowing through the German states of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Brandenburg, Berlin and Saxony-Anhalt. It is a right tributary of the Elbe river and in length...
river, where it also established a rail workshop. The first railway stations between Berlin and Potsdam were Zehlendorf (established in 1838), Schöneberg
Schöneberg
Schöneberg is a locality of Berlin, Germany. Until Berlin's 2001 administrative reform it was a separate borough including the locality of Friedenau. Together with the former borough of Tempelhof it is now part of the new borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg....
(1839) and Steglitz
Steglitz
Steglitz is a locality of the Steglitz-Zehlendorf borough in the south-west of Berlin, the capital of Germany. The locality also includes the neighbourhood of Südende.-History:...
(1839).
The Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway Company
The Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway Company (GermanGerman language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahngesellschaft) was founded 1845, receiving royal assent on 17 August 1845 and. It extended the Berlin–Potsdam line to Magdeburg and was later merged with the Berlin-Potsdam Railway to create the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway Company (German: Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahngesellschaft).
Although the Potsdam station was directly connected with central Potsdam by the Long Bridge (German: Lange Brücke), the extension of the railway towards Brandenburg over the Havel and on to Magdeburg was very difficult. Directly west of the Potsdam station the line had to cross the Havel and Neustädter Bay, requiring several bridges. In the same section it had to cross the Potsdamer Stadtkanal (Potsdam City Canal, located in the modern Dortustraße), requiring another bridge. The track in this whole section was laid on an embankment. The line from Potsdam Kiewitt (west of Neustädter Bay) to Magdeburg was opened on 7 August 1846, but the Havel crossing was not opened until 12 September 1846, completing the line from Berlin to Magdeburg.
The line had to cross the Havel again near Werder
Werder (Havel)
Werder , is a town in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Havel river in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, west of the state's capital Potsdam.Werder has a long and rich history and is a nationally recognized Erholungsort – a government designation given to...
to connect to Werder station on the shore. In order to reach the Elbe station from Magdeburg-Buckau the railway had to cross the Old Elbe, the Taube Elbe, the main Elbe
Elbe
The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Krkonoše Mountains of the northwestern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia , then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 km northwest of Hamburg...
rivers and the island between them containing the district of Werder. Until the completion of the main bridge over the Elbe, the Buckau Railway Bridge, a vertical lift bridge, in 1848 trains terminated at Magdeburg-Friedrichstadt station. By 1847, the trunk line had been largely converted to double track.
1870, the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway Company, together with the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company
Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company
The Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company was a railway in Prussia. It was nationalized in 1879.-History :The Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway Company received a concession on 14 January 1842 from the Prussian government to build the 58 km long railway line from Magdeburg–Oschersleben–Halberstadt...
and the Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company bought a 55 hectare site for the construction of Magdeburg central station
Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof
is the main railway station in the city of Magdeburg in the northern part of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.-Importance :The station is the main station of Magdeburg and along with Halle Hauptbahnhof the centre of long-distance rail transport in Saxony-Anhalt...
. The Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburger railway built its station at the western end of the station complex. It built a new line between Burg and Magdeburg, crossing the ridge of the Hohen Fläming in Moser and the Herrenkrug Railway Bridge and abandoning the old line from Burg via Niegripp, Hohenwarthe, Lostau and Gerwisch.
On 1 June 1874, a branch from Zehlendorf, the Wannsee Railway (later known as the Old Wannsee line) with stations at Schlachtensee and Wannsee was opened. In the same year, stations at Friedenau, Lichterfelde and Griebnitzsee
Potsdam Griebnitzsee railway station
Potsdam Griebnitzsee is a railway station in the western outskirts of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. The station is located in the east of the Babelsberg suburb of the city of Potsdam in the state of Brandenburg, and about outside the Berlin city boundary...
were opened for local services.
Nationalisation and upgrading from 1883
Following the opening of the Brandenburg City Railway in 1904 Brandenburg an der Havel developed as an important railway junction. In particular, a steel works was built there in 1913, providing the line with a high volume of freight. In 1928 the Berlin S-Bahn was extended from Wannsee to Potsdam. On 15 May 1933, the long distance trunk line between Berlin and Zehlendorf was also electrified. This allowed the so-called "banker trains " of the S-Bahn from the Wannsee line to change at Zehlendorf to the trunk line and then run without stopping until Potsdam station. In addition electric railcars operating on the long distance lines continued as steam hauled suburban trains along the direct route to Potsdam without going through Wannsee. Düppel station was opened in 1939 for local traffic.
On 22 December 1939 the worst railway accident in German history occurred at Genthin
Genthin
Genthin is a town in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe-Havel Canal, approx. 50 km northeast of Magdeburg, and 27 km west of Brandenburg....
station, with 278 people killed and another 453 people seriously injured. The night express D 180 (Berlin–Potsdam–Neunkirchen (Saar)
Neunkirchen, Saarland
Neunkirchen is a town and a municipality in Saarland, Germany. It is the largest town in, and the seat of the district of Neunkirchen. It is situated on the river Blies, approx. 20 km northeast of Saarbrücken. With about 50,000 inhabitants, Neunkirchen is Saarland's 2nd largest city...
ran at high speed, ignoring several signals, into an overcrowded D 10 express from Berlin to Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
. Visibility that night was very poor due to heavy drizzle and fog, so the D 180 train ran through a signal at danger at Belicke and ran into the D 10 at 100 to 110 km/h. The contemporary news media understated the death toll and gave only limited coverage of the accident.
The war-damaged Potsdam station closed in 1945 and the southern section of the S-Bahn was closed in 1945/1946 and never reopened.
Postwar
The badly damaged Herrenkrug bridge in Magdeburg was temporarily repaired and put back into operation on 12 March 1946. In order to supply reparationsWar reparations
War reparations are payments intended to cover damage or injury during a war. Generally, the term war reparations refers to money or goods changing hands, rather than such property transfers as the annexation of land.- History :...
to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
the second track was removed from sections of the line until 1948.
The section in West Berlin
In April 1945, the railway bridge over the Teltow CanalTeltow Canal
The Teltow Canal, also known as the Teltowkanal in German, is a canal to the south of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. The canal lies in both the states of Berlin and Brandenburg, and at points forms the boundary between the two...
was blown up and later the track between Griebnitzsee and Düppel was singled to provide reparations. As of 1 December 1945, therefore, only shuttles ran between Düppel and Zehlendorf.
As of 15 June 1948 this section was electrified, to reduce the significant costs of steam operations. The line was affected by the boycott of the S-Bahn by potential passengers from West Berlin after the building of the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
and the establishment of parallel bus routes. Trains often ran without a single passenger, although a driver and ticket collector were still required. Nevertheless, on 20 December 1972, the East Germany Railways established the new station of Zehlendorf Süd between Zehlendorf and Düppel near a new residential area in an attempt to increase passenger numbers.
After the West Berlin railway employees strike in late summer 1980, S-Bahn operations were closed on18 September 1980 on the Zehlendorf–Düppel section. The platform equipment were gradually dismantled and used elsewhere and the buildings collapsed over the years.
The Potsdam–Magdeburg main line in the German Democratic Republic
In 1952 border controls were installed in the formerly suburban station of Griebnitzsee. Due to the dismantling of the second track the capacity of the main line was greatly reduced. The opening of the Berlin outer ring in 1957 long distance trains between Berlin and Werder (Havel) shifted to the new route to Berlin, with a new Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (now Potsdam Pirschheide) taking over the functions of the former Potsdam station, which was now served only by local trains. After the establishment of the Berlin Wall the Griebnitzsee border control station on the main railway was expanded for transit between East and West Berlin, with substantial changes to track work.The restoration of the second track between Magdeburg and Werder was completed in 1976. In 1983 the second track was restored to the section between Werder and Berlin-Wannsee.
Developments since 1989
With the completion of the electrification of the Griebnitzsee–Brandenburg an der Havel–Biederitz section in December 1995, Intercity-Express trains could now take the direct route via Brandenburg instead of the now partially closed route through Bad Belzig and GüterglückGüterglück
Güterglück is a village and a former municipality in the district of Anhalt-Bitterfeld, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2010, it is part of the town Zerbst....
(the strategic railway known as the Kanonenbahn, the "Cannons Railway"). At the same time the line was upgraded for a top speed of 160 km/h. The bridges over the Havel and Neustädter Bay in Potsdam had to be replaced, one of them with a new 57-metre tied-arch bridge, completed on 10 May 1995. The other bridge, a 90-year old steel truss bridge had already been replaced.
After the opening of the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line in September 1998, long-distance traffic shifted to that route and the number of trains on the line through Brandenburg and Magdeburg fell heavily. After the Potsdam station was bombed and badly damaged in 1945 a minor building temporarily served as the main station building. Due to the reduced importance of the station during the Communist period the temporary station was able to handle the load. In 1999 the new Potsdam Hauptbahnhof
Potsdam Hauptbahnhof
Potsdam Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in German city of Potsdam. It is the southern terminus of S-Bahn line and, replacing the S7 on Friday and Saturday nights, the line .- Overview :...
was opened with six platforms (two for the Berlin S-Bahn) and a variety of shops. In the course of the work the former Potsdam freight yard was demolished.
The long distance service remaining now is a single daily Intercity
Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)
Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
train pair on the Cottbus
Cottbus
Cottbus is a city in Brandenburg, Germany, situated around southeast of Berlin, on the River Spree. As of , its population was .- History :...
–Berlin–Magdeburg–Hannover–Norddeich
Norddeich (Norden)
Norddeich is a village in the borough of Norden in north Germany with 1,734 inhabitants. It lies in northwestern East Frisia on the North Sea coast....
Mole route.
Goerz Railway
Branching off from Lichterfelde West station a rail connection was opened in 1905, to the Schönow district on theTeltow Canal and the industrial area on the canal. The operation on the Zehlendorf railway was originally carried out with horse-drawn carriages. From 1908 it began to use a fireless locomotiveFireless locomotive
A fireless locomotive is a type of locomotive designed for use under conditions restricted by either the presence of flammable material or the need for cleanliness...
. During World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
it used its first steam locomotive to serve the Goerz
Goerz (company)
C. P. Goerz was founded in 1886 by Carl Paul Goerz. Originally, it made geometrical drawing instruments for schools. From 1888 it made cameras and lenses. During the First World War, Goerz's main production was for the German and Austrian military. Goerz is known primarily for Anschuetz...
film supply factory. On the Goerz Railway passenger were also carried until this service was closed during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The route currently serves as a branch line for freight, including automotive parts bound for the Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
factory in Cologne
Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city , and is the largest city both in the Germany Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than ten million inhabitants.Cologne is located on both sides of the...
.
Relief line
From about 1900 there was a great need to relieve the railway lines in Berlin from an increase in freight traffic. The establishment of a bypass line around Berlin was also considered of strategic importance. Starting from Jüterbog on line runs via Seddin to Potsdam Wildpark station where the line joins the Berlin–Potsdam–Magdeburg Railway. A few kilometres further west, the route branches off in a northerly direction through Golm to WustermarkWustermark
Wustermark is a municipality of the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-History:It was established in 2002 through a merger of the five villages Buchow-Karpzow, Elstal, Hoppenrade, Priort and Wustermark....
and Kremmen
Kremmen
Kremmen is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is located 15 km west of Oranienburg and 38 km northwest of Berlin. It is known mostly for its castle Ziethen. The local church contains an organ built in 1817 by Tobias Thurley.-External links:...
. Since 1957 the northern part has been part of the Berlin outer ring and carried heavy traffic, especially freight trains. Also Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
(local) line RB 21 runs between Griebnitzsee and Wustermark hourly. Every two hours local trains run between Potsdam and Hennigsdorf
Hennigsdorf
Hennigsdorf is a town in the district of Oberhavel, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated north-west of Berlin, just across the city border, which is formed mainly by the Havel river.-History:...
.
The southern part is currently served by local trains on line RB 22 hourly. Freight trains generally use the Berlin outer ring.
Berlin outer ring
The 30 September 1956, the final section of the Berlin outer ring (German: Berliner Außenring, BAR) was completed, formng a ring around West BerlinWest Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
. This extended the existing outer freight ring (Güteraußenring, GAR) by adding a new section between Werder and Saarmund crossing the Templiner See
Templiner See
Templiner See is a lake in the state of Brandenburg, Germany. It stretches to the south and west from the centre of the city of Potsdam.The lake is some long, with a maximum width of and a surface area is...
.
During the Communist period, the Berlin outer ring was of considerable importance for the long-distance and freight traffic. Almost all long distance trains, except trains running between West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
and West Berlin via Griebnitzsee branched off the main Magdeburg–Brandenburg–Potsdam line in Werder on to the outer ring in order to bypass West Berlin to the south to reach East Berlin. The line was one of the busiest routes in the East German Railway network. Regional services were provided by the so-called Sputnik trains every hour between Werder and Berlin-Karlhorst. Some of these trains connected to Brandenburg an der Havel.
The opening of the Potsdam Hauptbahnhof (now Potsdam Pirschheide Station) in 1956 and the establishment of the Berlin Wall on 13 August 1961 meant that the Potsdam city station (now Potsdam Hauptbahnhof) lost most of its passengers. Only a limited service ran between Werder and Potsdam Babelsberg, and a few trains ran to Jüterbog.
With the opening of the border in 1989 and the renovation of the Berlin Stadtbahn in 1997 traffic flows changed substantially and by the BAR platforms on the upper part of Pirschheide station are now no longer served by passenger trains. The BAR is still heavily used by freight trains, both serving the Seddin marshalling yard (south of Potsdam) and for trains between western Germany and Poland.
Lehnin Light Railway
Between October 1899 and December 1965 (passenger) and October 1967 (freight), trains ran from Groß KreutzGroß Kreutz
Groß Kreutz is a municipality in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany.-References:...
station on the 12 km long light railway to Lehnin via Nahmitz.
The Brandenburg City Railway and the steel works in Brandenburg an der Havel
Significant volumes of freight formerly ran over the originally private Brandenburg City Railway to and from Brandenburg, which in turn connected near Brandenburg station to a formerly extensive network of sidings to the Philipp Weber iron and steel works and the city’s port.Light railways in Genthin and Güsen
Several branch lines were built from the railway stations of Genthin and Güsen there were that the Jerichower LandJerichower Land
Jerichower Land is a district in the north-east of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Neighboring districts are Anhalt-Bitterfeld, Salzlandkreis, the district-free city Magdeburg, Börde, Stendal, and the districts Havelland and Potsdam-Mittelmark in Brandenburg.- History :In 1816, the area of the district...
. From Genthin lines branched to Sandau
Sandau
Sandau is a town in the district of Stendal, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, approx. 5 km south of Havelberg. It is part of the Verbandsgemeinde Elbe-Havel-Land....
via Jerichow
Jerichow
Jerichow is a town in the Jerichower Land district, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Elbe, northwest of Genthin....
; from Güsen lines branched to Ziesar
Ziesar
Ziesar is a town in the Potsdam-Mittelmark district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is situated 25 km southwest of the town of Brandenburg....
and Jerichow. All of these branch lines were nationalised in 1949. They are all now closed for passenger traffic and except for short sections for freight traffic.
Burg bei Magdeburg
In Burg bei MagdeburgBurg bei Magdeburg
Burg bei Magdeburg is a town of about 24,700 inhabitants on the Elbe-Havel-Canal in Germany, northeast of Magdeburg. It is situated around a former weir, the Sachsenschleusen...
, the Tack and Co shoe factory was established in 1883, which by the Second World War was the largest shoe manufacturer in Europe. This meant that large quantities of cattle were required for the local slaughterhouse, which was opened in 1899.
The planned reconstruction of the trunk line
After the changeDie Wende
marks the complete process of the change from socialism and planned economy to market economy and capitalism in East Germany around the years 1989 and 1990. It encompasses several processes and events which later have become synonymous with the overall process...
there were initially plans to reopen the disused section of the trunk line between Berlin and Potsdam. As part of the construction of the new North-South main line for long-distance and regional trains, the tunnel under the Tiergarten
Großer Tiergarten
The Großer Tiergarten, simply known as Tiergarten, is an urban public park of Germany located in the middle of Berlin, completely in the homonymous locality...
includes structures allowing a connection at a later stage to the trunk line.
This project is not considered to be economically justified. The entire trunk line between the Gleisdreieck
Gleisdreieck (Berlin U-Bahn)
Gleisdreieck is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on a viaduct on the and the lines in the Kreuzberg district. The station has platforms elevated above ground level for both lines...
area and Zehlendorf station would have to be rebuilt. The route would have to be widened to fit in a double track line at the spacings now required. Furthermore, many of the road bridges would have to be rebuilt to allow sufficient vertical clearances for electric operation. Other railway bridges would also need to be renewed to overcome aging or inadequate clearances. The section between the Zehlendorf and Düppel stations would have to be rebuilt. In addition, there is limited potential additional traffic, with long-distance traffic now mostly transferred to the Hanover–Berlin high-speed line and regional traffic able to use the route via Wannsee to the Berlin Stadtbahn.