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Kanonenbahn
The Kanonenbahn (literally "Cannons Railway") is a former German military strategic railway between Berlin and Metz via Güsten, Wetzlar, Koblenz and Trier. Metz is in Alsace-Lorraine, which was annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War.
Other railways, such as the Glan Valley Railway (Glantalbahn), built mainly for military strategic reasons, were also colloquially known as the Kanonenbahn, but the link between Berlin and Metz is the best known of them.
Kanonenbahn is not an official name for the line. There are a number of other names for the line or sections of it:
Four different railway divisions were responsible for the supervision of the construction of sections of the line and used different names for the line. For example, the official tender for construction of the line in Eichsfeld described the line as the Berlin–Coblenz Railway. The initials "BCE" are found on benches and chairs in railway stations and various buildings on the line.
Strategic railways are lines built on military grounds without regard to the economics or the potential civilian traffic on the line in peace times. Certain design parameters such as minimum curve radius, maximum gradient and maximum load had to be met. It was planned as a double-track line with the aim to bypassing urban areas where possible.
The military expressed interest in a continuous railway at an early date. For example, as early as 1855 the private sector lobbied the Prussian Minister of Commerce, Trade and Public Works for a railway through the Moselle valley from Koblenz to Trier. It was claimed that such a line would carry gypsum, slate and iron ore. The president of Rhine Province wrote in response two weeks later on 31 August 1855 that the War Ministry has repeatedly stressed the military importance of a railway from Koblenz to Trier and supported the immediate building of such a line, which would form a natural extension a railway line from Berlin via Halle, Kassel, Gießen, Wetzlar to Koblenz, running to the south western periphery of the kingdom of Prussia. It would at the same time provide a direct connection between the central Rhine, the most remote part of Prussia, the old Prussian provinces and the centre of the state (Berlin). However, it would be more than 15 years before the project was completed.
No later than 1871, preliminary studies were carried out of the route of the line, selecting a route that for the most part had little or no civilian importance for traffic and which bypassed urban areas. Private plans for the railway’s construction were rejected with state funding available from the French reparations. On 12 June 1872, the Verein für die Gründung einer directen Eisenbahn von Berlin nach Frankfurt am Main ("Association for the establishment of a direct railway from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main") applied to the Prussian Minister of Trade, Commerce and Public Works for a concession for a railway line. This request was rejected only 14 days later on the grounds that the government was planning a direct connection between the eastern and western railways networks and that the government intended to take into account the need for a line from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. In 1872 surveyors and engineers had already staked out the planned line on the Lollar–Wetzlar section.
On 18 December 1872 the Prussian government presented a plan for the construction of the Berlin–Wetzlar railway to the Prussian House of Representatives. An act “for the issuing of a bond in the amount of 120 million Thalers to extend, complement and improve the equipment of the state railway network of 11 June 1873”, known as the Kanonenbahngesetz (“Cannons Railway Act”) authorised the construction of the railway using French reparations and authorising bonds to be raised for the line.
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Kanonenbahn
The Kanonenbahn (literally "Cannons Railway") is a former German military strategic railway between Berlin and Metz via Güsten, Wetzlar, Koblenz and Trier. Metz is in Alsace-Lorraine, which was annexed by Germany after the Franco-Prussian War.
Other railways, such as the Glan Valley Railway (Glantalbahn), built mainly for military strategic reasons, were also colloquially known as the Kanonenbahn, but the link between Berlin and Metz is the best known of them.
Kanonenbahn is not an official name for the line. There are a number of other names for the line or sections of it:
Four different railway divisions were responsible for the supervision of the construction of sections of the line and used different names for the line. For example, the official tender for construction of the line in Eichsfeld described the line as the Berlin–Coblenz Railway. The initials "BCE" are found on benches and chairs in railway stations and various buildings on the line.
Strategic railways are lines built on military grounds without regard to the economics or the potential civilian traffic on the line in peace times. Certain design parameters such as minimum curve radius, maximum gradient and maximum load had to be met. It was planned as a double-track line with the aim to bypassing urban areas where possible.
The military expressed interest in a continuous railway at an early date. For example, as early as 1855 the private sector lobbied the Prussian Minister of Commerce, Trade and Public Works for a railway through the Moselle valley from Koblenz to Trier. It was claimed that such a line would carry gypsum, slate and iron ore. The president of Rhine Province wrote in response two weeks later on 31 August 1855 that the War Ministry has repeatedly stressed the military importance of a railway from Koblenz to Trier and supported the immediate building of such a line, which would form a natural extension a railway line from Berlin via Halle, Kassel, Gießen, Wetzlar to Koblenz, running to the south western periphery of the kingdom of Prussia. It would at the same time provide a direct connection between the central Rhine, the most remote part of Prussia, the old Prussian provinces and the centre of the state (Berlin). However, it would be more than 15 years before the project was completed.
No later than 1871, preliminary studies were carried out of the route of the line, selecting a route that for the most part had little or no civilian importance for traffic and which bypassed urban areas. Private plans for the railway’s construction were rejected with state funding available from the French reparations. On 12 June 1872, the Verein für die Gründung einer directen Eisenbahn von Berlin nach Frankfurt am Main ("Association for the establishment of a direct railway from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main") applied to the Prussian Minister of Trade, Commerce and Public Works for a concession for a railway line. This request was rejected only 14 days later on the grounds that the government was planning a direct connection between the eastern and western railways networks and that the government intended to take into account the need for a line from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. In 1872 surveyors and engineers had already staked out the planned line on the Lollar–Wetzlar section.
On 18 December 1872 the Prussian government presented a plan for the construction of the Berlin–Wetzlar railway to the Prussian House of Representatives. An act “for the issuing of a bond in the amount of 120 million Thalers to extend, complement and improve the equipment of the state railway network of 11 June 1873”, known as the Kanonenbahngesetz (“Cannons Railway Act”) authorised the construction of the railway using French reparations and authorising bonds to be raised for the line.
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