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. Flag of the German Empire, 1871–1919: black-white-red Coat of arms The term German Empire commonly refers to Germany, from its foundation as a unified nation-state on January 18, 1871, until the abdication of Emperor Wilhelm II on November 9, 1918. ... Combatants Allies: • Serbia, • Russia, • France, • Romania, • Belgium, • British Empire and Dominions, • United States, • Italy, • ...and others Central Powers: • Germany, • Austria-Hungary, • Ottoman Empire, • Bulgaria Casualties Military dead: 5 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 8 million Full list Military dead: 3 million Civilian dead: 3 million Total: 6 million Full...

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). 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... Flag of Weimar Republic, 1919–1933 This article outlines political events from 1918 until the collapse of the Republic in 1933. ... Deutsches Reich was a German nation-state between 1871 - 1945 and was therefore the official name of Germany at that time. ... (help· info) (), is the German word for realm or empire, cognate with Scandinavian rike and Dutch rijk. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... German troops march into Austria on 12 March 1938. ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

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. 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a socialist country that existed from 1949 to 1990. ... The Deutsche Reichsbahn (German State Railways; abbreviated DR) was the national railway service of the German Democratic Republic (GDR). ... Plaque commemorating 5,000 kilometers of electrification. ... Logo of the Austrian Federal Railways, ÖBB ÖBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen - Austrian Federal Railways) is the national railway system of Austria. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

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. April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 1920 (MCMXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar) // Events January January 7 - Forces of Russian White admiral Kolchak surrender in Krasnoyarsk. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: PrÅ«sa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad... The Free State of Bavaria  (German: Freistaat Bayern), with an area of 70,553 km² (27,241 square miles) and 12. ... The Free State of Saxony (German: Freistaat Sachsen; Sorbian: Swobodny Stata Sakska) is at a land area of 18,413 km² and a population of 4. ... For other uses, see Baden (disambiguation). ... Mecklenburg-Schwerin was a Duchy (from 1815 a Grand Duchy) in northeastern Germany, formed by a partition of the Duchy of Mecklenburg. ... Hesse (German: Hessen) is one of Germanys sixteen federal states (Bundesländer) and has an area of 21,110 km² and just over six million inhabitants. ... Oldenburg (Low Saxon: Ollnborg) is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. ... Flag of Weimar Republic, 1919–1933 This article outlines political events from 1918 until the collapse of the Republic in 1933. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The history of Germany is, in places, extremely complicated and depends much on how one defines Germany. ...

1924: Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft

Among the provisions of the 1924 Dawes plan was a plan to indemnify the state railway completely for 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. 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Dawes Plan was presented in 1924 by the committee headed by Charles G. Dawes to the Reparations Commission of the Allied nations. ... Reparations refers to two distinct ideas: Reparations for slavery of groups or individuals War reparations: Payments from one country to another as compensation for starting a war under a peace treaty, such as those made by Germany to France under the Treaty of Versailles. ... February 12 is the 43rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1924 (MCMXXIV) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... August 30 is the 242nd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (243rd in leap years), with 123 days remaining. ... A holding company is a company that owns enough voting stock in another firm to control management and operations by influencing or electing its board of directors. ...

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. Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Prussia, 1701-1918 The word Prussia (Old Prussian: PrÅ«sa, German: Preußen, Polish: Prusy, Lithuanian: PrÅ«sai, Latin: Borussia) has had various (often contradictory) meanings: The land of the Baltic Prussians (in what is now parts of southern Lithuania, the Kaliningrad... A Polish map showing the territory known as the Polish Corridor The Polish Corridor was the name given to a strip of territory which was transferred from Germany to Poland by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. ... (help· info) is the capital city and a state of Germany. ... Alster Lake at dusk Hamburg is the second largest city in Germany and with Hamburg Harbour, its principal port. ... Hanover (German: Hannover []), on the river Leine, is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony (Niedersachsen), Germany. ... For the conurbation see Ruhr Area. ... Frankfurt am Main [ˈfraŋkfʊrt] is the largest city in the German state of Hessen and the fifth largest city of Germany. ... Wrocław. ...

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. A 100 Mark banknote issued by the German Reichsbank in 1908 (http://www. ... February 10 is the 41st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... A right-facing Swastika in decorative Hindu form For the town in Ontario, see Swastika, Ontario. ... Sovereignty is the exclusive right to exercise supreme political (legislative, judicial and/or executive) authority over a geographic region, group of people or oneself. ...

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). March 18 is the 77th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (78th in leap years). ... 1938 (MCMXXXVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... March 12, 1938: German troops march into Austria The general German term Anschluss [1] (literally meaning connection, but in this context translated as annexation in the sense of political union) often refers to Anschluss Österreichs — the inclusion of Austria in a Greater Germany in 1938. ... April 27 is the 117th day of the year (118th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 248 days remaining. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... Logo of the Austrian Federal Railways, ÖBB ÖBB (Österreichische Bundesbahnen - Austrian Federal Railways) is the national railway system of Austria. ...

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. September 7 is the 250th day of the year (251st in leap years). ... 1949 (MCMXLIX) is a common year starting on Saturday. ... Plaque commemorating 5,000 kilometers of electrification. ... East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR), German Deutsche Demokratische Republik (DDR), was a socialist country that existed from 1949 to 1990. ... For the 1920-1945 company of the same name, see Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft. ... Boroughs of West Berlin West Berlin was the name given to the western part of Berlin between 1949 and 1990. ... Germanys main train operator, the Deutsche Bahn AG (German Railway Corporation, also known as DB or DBAG) provides passenger and freight service via federally owned tracks. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ...

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

Literature

Note that the following sites are in German

• Verfassung des Deutschen Reiches (Artikel die Eisenbahnen betreffend)
• Gesetz betreffend den Staatsvertrag über den Übergang der Staatseisenbahnen auf das Reich
• Verordnung über die Schaffung eines Unternehmens "Deutsche Reichsbahn"
• Gesetz über die Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
• Satzung der Deutschen Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
• Gesetz zur Neuregelung der Verhältnisse der Reichsbank und der Deutschen Reichsbahn
• http://www.elektrolok.de/Baureihen/118-dr.htm

See also

• Transportation in Germany
• Rail transport in Germany
• History of rail transport in Germany
• German steam locomotive classification

// Rail transport Railways: total: 40,826 km, including at least 14,253 km electrified and 14,768 km double- or multiple-tracked (1998) Deutsche Bahn (DB) is the major German railway company. ... In Germany the Deutsche Bahn (formerly state-owned company) is the main provider of railway service. ... // Epoch 0 (1835-1870) German Railway history began December 7, 1835 with the Adler (Eagle) locomotive driving between Nürnberg and Fürth. ... In 1925, the Imperial German Railways (Deutsche Reichsbahn Gesellschaft or DRG) introduced a new system of steam locomotive classification. ...

External links

• Info in German