Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway
Encyclopedia
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The Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway is a two-track, electrified main line in the east of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt is a landlocked state of Germany. Its capital is Magdeburg and it is surrounded by the German states of Lower Saxony, Brandenburg, Saxony, and Thuringia.Saxony-Anhalt covers an area of...
. It is one of the oldest lines in Germany, opened in 1849 by the Magdeburg-Wittenberge Railway Company, which operated it until 1863, when it was taken over by 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...
. It was nationalised in 1879.
Route
The line starts at Magdeburg HauptbahnhofMagdeburg 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...
and then runs to the north, mostly between the 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...
and the B 189 highway. The line is used by regional trains and as far as Zielitz
Zielitz
Zielitz is a municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....
by Magdeburg S-Bahn trains. In the middle of the line is Stendal
Stendal station
Stendal is a railway station in the town of Stendal, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. The station lies on the Berlin-Lehrte railway, Hanover–Berlin high-speed railway, Magdeburg-Wittenberge railway, Stendal–Uelzen railway, Stendal-Tangermünde railway and Stendal–Niedergörne railway.-Train services:Stendal...
, where it connects with lines to 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...
, Hanover
Hanover
Hanover or Hannover, on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony , Germany and was once by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of Great Britain, under their title as the dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg...
, Tangermünde
Tangermünde
Tangermünde is a town in the district of Stendal, in the northeastern part of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Elbe river in the Altmark region.-History:Tangermünde can look back at an 1000-year history...
and Salzwedel
Salzwedel
Salzwedel of Altmarkkreis Salzwedel, and has a population of approximately 21,500. Salzwedel is located on the German Framework Road.-Geography:...
. Leaving Stendal, the line turns north. The line crosses the Elbe just before its end in Wittenberge
Wittenberge
Wittenberge is a town of twenty thousand people on the lower Elbe in the district of Prignitz , Brandenburg, Germany.-History:...
. The Elbe bridge is the longest railway bridge constructed in East Germany during its existence. In Wittenberge station
Wittenberge station
Wittenberge station is the railway station for the Brandenburg town of Wittenberge in Germany. About 5000 passengers use the station daily and it is served by around 100 trains per day.- Infrastructure :...
the line connects to the Berlin–Hamburg trunk line. The station was originally designed as a wedge station
Keilbahnhof
Keilbahnhof is the German word for a station located between branching tracks. There appears to be no direct English equivalent for this term, which appears in the route diagrams of German railway lines....
between the two lines, but was rebuilt during the upgrading of the Berlin–Hamburg line between 2000 and 2004.
History
Planning of the line began in 1838 with the opening of the Berlin-Potsdam Railway, which initiated the railway age in the Kingdom of PrussiaKingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
. A continuation of the line to the west was already planned, but without a precise route. The town of Stendal
Stendal
Stendal is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of Stendal District and unofficial capital of the Altmark. Its population in 2001 was 38,900. It is located some west of Berlin and around east of Hanover...
, which had no rail connection, sought a continuation of the line from Potsdam
Potsdam
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....
via 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....
and Stendal to Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. From Genthin there would also be a branch line 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....
. This plan was rejected in favour of a direct link between Berlin and Hamburg. At the same time, plans for a continuation of the Berlin-Potsdam Railway developed into a direct link to Magdeburg.
Magdeburg was developing into one of the first major railway junctions and by September 1846 there were already three lines: the Magdeburg-Leipzig railway from Leipzig, the Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburg Railway (Berlin-Potsdam-Magdeburger Eisenbahngesellschaft, BPME) from Berlin and the Magdeburg-Halberstadt Railway
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...
(Magdeburg-Halberstädter Eisenbahngesellschaft, MHE) from Halberstadt
Halberstadt
Halberstadt is a town in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt and the capital of the district of Harz. It is located on the German Half-Timbered House Road and the Magdeburg–Thale railway....
. However, the city was not connected to Hamburg, which was especially important for foreign trade. Then, at the initiative of the mayor of Magdeburg, August Wilhelm Francke, a route was defined. This route was adopted by the Prussian government on 29 September 1843 as the shortest and most economic line between Magdeburg and Wittenberg, connecting to the line to Hamburg. The Magdeburg-Wittenberg Magdeburg Railway Company was constituted as the designated operator in the following month. Approval for the construction of the line dependended mainly on minimising its impact on the Elbe levee
Levee
A levee, levée, dike , embankment, floodbank or stopbank is an elongated naturally occurring ridge or artificially constructed fill or wall, which regulates water levels...
s in Altmark
Altmark
The Altmark is a historic region in Germany, comprising the northern third of Saxony-Anhalt. As the initial territory of the Brandenburg margraves, it is sometimes referred to as the "Cradle of Prussia", as by Otto von Bismarck, a native from Schönhausen near Stendal.- Geography :The Altmark is...
. In order for the company to obtain a concession it had to develop concrete plans for the Elbe crossing and to make preparations for work to be carried out on the levees.
On 6 July 1845 the Prussian king Frederick William IV
Frederick William IV of Prussia
|align=right|Upon his accession, he toned down the reactionary policies enacted by his father, easing press censorship and promising to enact a constitution at some point, but he refused to enact a popular legislative assembly, preferring to work with the aristocracy through "united committees" of...
made a decree authorising the construction by the joint stock company with a capital of 4,500,000 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...
. The estimated construction costs totalled 4,483,000 thalers as follows:
- 3 million thalers for the section from Magdeburg to SeehausenSeehausen, AltmarkSeehausen is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated approx. 30 km north of Stendal.Seehausen is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde Seehausen ....
, - 83,000 thalers for the section from Seehausen to the Elbe levee,
- 1.4 million thalers for the Elbe bridge and connection in Wittenberge.
Construction, when it started in 1846, was found to be relatively straightforward. The chosen route had a maximum gradient of 1 in 210 and its shapest curve had a radius of 300 Prussian rods
Rod (unit)
The rod is a unit of length equal to 5.5 yards, 5.0292 metres, 16.5 feet, or of a statute mile. A rod is the same length as a perch or a pole. In old English, the term lug is also used.-History:...
(equivalent to about 1,130 metres). About 55 ½ percent of the line was level.
Only at each end of the line did construction prove to be problematic. In Wittenberge the construction of the bridge over the Elbe led to postponement of the opening of the entire line. In Magdeburg, the problem was integration with other lines. It was necessary for the line to connect to the west and the south, that is with the MHE and MLE lines. To achieve this, there were two possibilities: the first was for the line to cross the slopes
Glacis
A glacis in military engineering is an artificial slope of earth used in late European fortresses so constructed as to keep any potential assailant under the fire of the defenders until the last possible moment...
of the fortifications on the western edge of Magdeburg to the MHE station. This was a difficult route that had to cross a ring of hills around the fortifications. This route did not appear feasible as the military authorities prohibited cutting through the ridge. The alternative was to cut through the fortifications and build a station within the city.
The line ran from the north along the Elbe and through the city walls. Since there was insufficient room for the line to make a curve to return to the edge of the river, which was to the east, the riverbank had to be excavated to make room for the railway. A terminal station and associated facilities was built inside the city. A line was built to connect with the Magdeburg–Leipzig line.
Private railway era
The line was opened in the three phases. On 7 July 1849, the 99 km-long section from Magdeburg to Seehausen was opened. On 5 August 1849 this was followed by the eight km-long section to the Elbe levee. Since the Elbe bridge was under construction, passengers had to cross to Wittenberge by ferry. On 25 October 1851, a wooden, single-track bridge was opened to traffic. To avoid this low-level structure obstructing shipping, part of it was built as a swing bridgeSwing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
. During the construction of the Berlin–Hamburg line, the terminus had been designed to integrate with the line from Magdeburg. The station building was originally located between the junction of the two lines.
As well as a direct line from Magdeburg to Hamburg, the route was initially seen as a route between the coast and central and southern Germany. This service did not prove as profitable as initially suggested to shareholders. In addition, in 1855 a large part of the line had to be rebuilt as a result of several floods in Altmark. In 1863, the company was bought by 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...
. A direct connection did not exist between the two company’s lines and trains had to use a short piece of the Leipzig line.
In 1867, the MHE received a concession to build the Berlin–Lehrte railway (also known as the Lehrter Railway or Lehrter Bahn). A direct line already existed via Magdeburg, but the new route via Stendal was more direct and thus services would be quicker. The railway facilities in Stendal had to be rebuilt to make it easy for passengers to change trains. The Lehrter Railway runs south of the old town of Wittenberg from east to west, while the old line ran on the eastern edge of the town. The new Lehrter Railway has a connection with a relocated line from Wittenberge to the west of Stendal. This allowed two routes to share the new Stendal station. The diverted line to Wittenberge passes around the town along the north western boundary and then returns to its old route to the north. In addition to the Lehrter Railway, which opened through Stendal in 1871, the so-called America Line
America Line
The America Line is the unofficial name of a railway line in northern Germany which is mainly of regional importance today...
opened in 1873 from Stendal via Uelzen
Uelzen
Uelzen is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a Hanseatic town and an independent municipality....
to Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
.
In subsequent years operations in Magdeburg became increasingly unsatisfactory. The transfer of trains to the Leipzig railway was difficult and the Elbe river prevented the expansion of the rail facilities. Hence the old idea of a common route through the ring of forts was taken up again. As the urban area was growing and the area outside the walls were being settled, the fortifications were increasingly seen as a nuisance. There still had to be lengthy negotiations with the Prussian military before the railways were offered a suitable site along the northern and western moat. The line was built jointly by the MHE, BPME and MLE. The new 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...
was built as an island station (with the main station building between the tracks) because the three railway companies were still working separately. The eastern station tracks were built and operated by the MLE and the western tracks by the BPME and the MHE. The first train ran on 15 May 1873 to Burg
Burg 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...
; work continued, however, until 1893. During this period, in 1876, the MLE was taken over by the MHE. Three years later the MHE was nationalised.
Prussian state railways era
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia...
acquired other companies. The state railways established royal railway divisions
Railway divisions in Germany
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as Eisenbahndirektionen , Bundesbahndirektionen or Reichsbahndirektionen ...
, each called a Königlichen Eisenbahndirektion (KED). The Magdeburg-Wittenberge Railway came under the new Magdeburg KED. North of Stendal the line came under the Hanover KED.
A new Wittenberge Elbe bridge was built between 1883 and1884. Most of the old wooden bridge was dilapidated and was replaced by a wrought iron
Wrought iron
thumb|The [[Eiffel tower]] is constructed from [[puddle iron]], a form of wrought ironWrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon...
truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
. The swing bridge was retained, but was replaced in a second reconstruction by a steel structure between 1905 and 1910. At this time, a the bridge was widened to include a second track on its northern or eastern side. The southern track also adapted to permit road vehicles to cross, as there was no road bridge in Wittenberge.
After the founding of Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn
Deutsche Reichsbahn was the name of the following two companies:* Deutsche Reichsbahn, the German Imperial Railways during the Weimar Republic, the Third Reich and the immediate aftermath...
(German State Railways) in 1920, the divisions were rearranged. The Magdeburg–Stendal section was assigned to the newly established Hanover railway division (Reichsbahndirektion, RBD); the Stendal–Wittenberge section was assigned to the Hamburg RBD. In addition to local rail services in the Prussian Province of Saxony
Province of Saxony
The Province of Saxony was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1945. Its capital was Magdeburg.-History:The province was created in 1816 out of the following territories:...
, the line was also used by mainline services connecting Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Magdeburg, Wittenberge and Hamburg.
Towards the end of the Second World War, the Wittenberg Elbe bridge was blown up. By the autumn of 1945 Soviet
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....
pioneers had temporarily restored the southern track of the bridge. The bridge was reduced to a single track line as, as during the Soviet occupation the second track was removed as reparations
War 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. The northern track of the bridge was restored temporarily in 1947. Due to the lack of a rail track, however, only road traffic ran along this track. In 1950, the second track was re-commissioned and road traffic returned to the southern track.
The route was developed in the coming years as the most important north-south link in East German, bypassing Berlin. The second track was quickly restored. Because operations over the bridge, despite its two tracks, was restricted to a speed of 30 km/h, it became a bottleneck. In 1957, the superstructure of the bridge was replaced using its old pillars.
In 1969 the Magdeburg S-Bahn was established. This involved adapting all the lines's infrastructure as far as Zielitz
Zielitz
Zielitz is a municipality in the Börde district in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany....
, which was selected as the northern terminus, to support a mixed operation of S-Bahn
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
, regional, long-distance and freight traffic. Similarly, overhead lines were installed to support electric operations. North of the village of Zielitz, a four-track Zielitz station was built, letting S-Bahn trains reverse and freight trains continue without obstruction. Continuing towards Magdeburg a pair of tracks was built for the S-Bahn from the junction with the line from Oebisfelde, bypassing the Magdeburg-Rothensee marshalling yard. From Magdeburg-Neustadt the S-Bahn shared the common line with other train traffic. S-Bahn operations commenced on 29 September 1974.
Further electrification was carried out in the 1980s. Electric operations were extended to Stendal in 1982 and to Wittenberge in 1987. The East Germany Railways built a new bridge over the Elbe without obstructing operations. The new bridge was the longest railway bridge built during the existence of East Germany.
Current situation
Today the route the line is served by a Regional-Express service on line RE 7 and a RegionalbahnRegionalBahn
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...
service on line RB 30 from Magdeburg to Wittenberge. In the summer it is served by an 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...
pair of trains called Warnow (2238/2239) from Leipzig via Magdeburg, Wittenberge, Schwerin
Schwerin
Schwerin is the capital and second-largest city of the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The population, as of end of 2009, was 95,041.-History:...
and Rostock
Rostock
Rostock -Early history:In the 11th century Polabian Slavs founded a settlement at the Warnow river called Roztoc ; the name Rostock is derived from that designation. The Danish king Valdemar I set the town aflame in 1161.Afterwards the place was settled by German traders...
to Warnemünde
Warnemünde
Warnemünde is a sea resort and northmost district of Rostock in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, situated on the Baltic Sea in the northeast of Germany at the estuary of the river Warnow.- History :...
. Line S1 of the Magdeburg S-Bahn also operates between Zielitz and Magdeburg Hauptbahnhof .