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Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway
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Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway
Grand Duchy of Baden had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen or G.Bad.St.E.), which was founded in 1840. At the time when it was integrated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1920, its network had an overall length of about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi).
Baden was the second German state after the Duchy of Brunswick to build and operate railways at state expense. In 1833 a proposal for the construction of a railway from Mannheim to Basel was put forward for the first time by Mannheim businessman, Ludwig Newhouse, but initially received no support from the Baden state government. Other proposals too by, for example Friedrich List, were unsuccessful at first. Not until the foundation of a railway company in the neighbouring French province of Alsace, for the construction of a line from Basel to Strasbourg in 1837, did any serious planning begin for the building of a railway in Baden in order to avoid the loss of trade routes to Alsace. At an extraordinary meeting of the state parliament, the Baden legislature passed three laws on 29 March 1838 for the construction of the first route between Mannheim and the Swiss border at Basel, as well as a stub line to Baden-Baden and a branch to Strasbourg. The construction of the railway line was to be funded by the state, something that had been championed especially by Karl Friedrich Nebenius. In September 1838 work started.
The Ministry of the Interior was responsible for the construction of the railway, setting up for that purpose its own authority, the 'Railway Construction Division'. Later the railway construction authorities were incorporated into the 'Water and Road Construction Division'. Responsibility for the operation of the railway was, by contrast, given to the Foreign Ministry because it took over the running of the Postal Division, that from then on became the 'Post and Railway Division'. Not until the merger of the Baden Post Office into the Reichspost in 1872 did a separate railway administration emerge in Baden: the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways.
The first route, called the Baden Mainline (Badische Hauptbahn), was built in sections between 1840 and 1863. The first, 18.5 km long, section between Mannheim and Heidelberg was taken into service on 12 September 1840. Other sections followed: to Karlsruhe in 1843, Offenburg in 1844, Freiburg im Breisgau in 1845, Schliengen in 1847, Efringen-Kirchen in 1848 and Haltingen in 1851. The branches to Kehl and Baden-Baden were opened as early as 1844 and 1845 respectively. The extension of the main line through Basel territory required negotiations with the Swiss Confederation, during which differences of opinion over the best place for the junction of the Baden line to the Swiss network – Basel or Waldshut – led to delays.
In the state treaty of 27 July 1852 an accommodation was reached which enabled the construction and operation of a line on Swiss sovereign territory by the Baden State Railways.
The Baden railway lines were initially laid to the 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in). After it turned out that all her neighbouring states had opted for 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge rail, the Baden State Railways rebuilt all their existing routes and rolling stock to standard gauge within just one year during 1854/55.[citation needed]
The line reached Basel in 1855, Waldshut in 1856 and Konstanz in 1863. With that the 414.3 km long Baden main line was completed. After the all-important north–south axis as well as links to the Lake Constance region had been established by the Baden Mainline, the remaining network expansion plans concentrated on opening up the area of Pforzheim with the Karlsruhe–Pforzheim–Mühlacker route (opened 1859–1863), linking up the Odenwald and Tauberfrankens with the Baden Odenwald Railway (Heidelberg–Mosbach–Würzburg, opened 1862–1866) and forging a direct link from Karlsruhe to Konstanz, without the diversion via Basel, in the shape of the Black Forest Railway (opened 1866–1873).
Even when the Baden Mainline was being built, plans were already being formulated to link up with the Swiss railway network. This was not achieved until the bridge at Waldshut over the river Rhine, built by Robert Gerwig, was completed on 18 August 1859. Other links were made in 1863 at Schaffhausen, in 1871 at Konstanz and in 1875 at Singen. The Basel link line, which connected Baden station on the east of the Rhine with the Central station west of the Rhine, was opened in 1873. Today it is the most important railway connexion between Germany and Switzerland.
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Grand Duchy of Baden State Railway
Grand Duchy of Baden had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen or G.Bad.St.E.), which was founded in 1840. At the time when it was integrated into the Deutsche Reichsbahn in 1920, its network had an overall length of about 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi).
Baden was the second German state after the Duchy of Brunswick to build and operate railways at state expense. In 1833 a proposal for the construction of a railway from Mannheim to Basel was put forward for the first time by Mannheim businessman, Ludwig Newhouse, but initially received no support from the Baden state government. Other proposals too by, for example Friedrich List, were unsuccessful at first. Not until the foundation of a railway company in the neighbouring French province of Alsace, for the construction of a line from Basel to Strasbourg in 1837, did any serious planning begin for the building of a railway in Baden in order to avoid the loss of trade routes to Alsace. At an extraordinary meeting of the state parliament, the Baden legislature passed three laws on 29 March 1838 for the construction of the first route between Mannheim and the Swiss border at Basel, as well as a stub line to Baden-Baden and a branch to Strasbourg. The construction of the railway line was to be funded by the state, something that had been championed especially by Karl Friedrich Nebenius. In September 1838 work started.
The Ministry of the Interior was responsible for the construction of the railway, setting up for that purpose its own authority, the 'Railway Construction Division'. Later the railway construction authorities were incorporated into the 'Water and Road Construction Division'. Responsibility for the operation of the railway was, by contrast, given to the Foreign Ministry because it took over the running of the Postal Division, that from then on became the 'Post and Railway Division'. Not until the merger of the Baden Post Office into the Reichspost in 1872 did a separate railway administration emerge in Baden: the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways.
The first route, called the Baden Mainline (Badische Hauptbahn), was built in sections between 1840 and 1863. The first, 18.5 km long, section between Mannheim and Heidelberg was taken into service on 12 September 1840. Other sections followed: to Karlsruhe in 1843, Offenburg in 1844, Freiburg im Breisgau in 1845, Schliengen in 1847, Efringen-Kirchen in 1848 and Haltingen in 1851. The branches to Kehl and Baden-Baden were opened as early as 1844 and 1845 respectively. The extension of the main line through Basel territory required negotiations with the Swiss Confederation, during which differences of opinion over the best place for the junction of the Baden line to the Swiss network – Basel or Waldshut – led to delays.
In the state treaty of 27 July 1852 an accommodation was reached which enabled the construction and operation of a line on Swiss sovereign territory by the Baden State Railways.
The Baden railway lines were initially laid to the 1,600 mm (5 ft 3 in). After it turned out that all her neighbouring states had opted for 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge rail, the Baden State Railways rebuilt all their existing routes and rolling stock to standard gauge within just one year during 1854/55.[citation needed]
The line reached Basel in 1855, Waldshut in 1856 and Konstanz in 1863. With that the 414.3 km long Baden main line was completed. After the all-important north–south axis as well as links to the Lake Constance region had been established by the Baden Mainline, the remaining network expansion plans concentrated on opening up the area of Pforzheim with the Karlsruhe–Pforzheim–Mühlacker route (opened 1859–1863), linking up the Odenwald and Tauberfrankens with the Baden Odenwald Railway (Heidelberg–Mosbach–Würzburg, opened 1862–1866) and forging a direct link from Karlsruhe to Konstanz, without the diversion via Basel, in the shape of the Black Forest Railway (opened 1866–1873).
Even when the Baden Mainline was being built, plans were already being formulated to link up with the Swiss railway network. This was not achieved until the bridge at Waldshut over the river Rhine, built by Robert Gerwig, was completed on 18 August 1859. Other links were made in 1863 at Schaffhausen, in 1871 at Konstanz and in 1875 at Singen. The Basel link line, which connected Baden station on the east of the Rhine with the Central station west of the Rhine, was opened in 1873. Today it is the most important railway connexion between Germany and Switzerland.
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