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The Malbergbahn - also known as ''Malbergbahn Bad Ems - was a''
Construction work on the hotel and funicular began as early as November 1886. On 5 June 1887, the Malbergbahn was ceremoniously put into operation. In 1926, the concession was transferred from the ''Malbergbahn'' AG company to the hotel for a period of 25 years. When the contract was not renewed in 1951, the railway became the property of the Bad Ems municipal utilities. Until the day it was shut down, the railway was well-frequented and consistently well-utilised. The hotel,
File:Kabelbaan_bad_Ems.jpg, link=Datei:Kabelbaan_bad_Ems.jpg, Car in the valley station in 1978
File:Bad_Ems_06_2008_014.jpg, link=Datei:Bad_Ems_06_2008_014.jpg, Car in the valley station in the year 2008
File:Bad_Ems_06_2008_005.jpg, link=Datei:Bad_Ems_06_2008_005.jpg, Valley station in the year 2008
File:BE_Malbergbahn_12.JPG, link=Datei:BE_Malbergbahn_12.JPG, Rotting car in the mountain station in 2013
File:BE_Malberg_station_2.JPG, link=Datei:BE_Malberg_station_2.JPG, Mountain station in 2013
File:2018_Malbergbahn_Bad_Ems_Talstation_(01).jpg, link=Datei:2018_Malbergbahn_Bad_Ems_Talstation_(01).jpg, Renovated car in the valley station in 2018
File:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(03).jpg, link=Datei:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(03).jpg, Car in the mountain station in 2019
File:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(05).jpg, link=Datei:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(05).jpg, Car in the mountain station in 2019
File:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(08).jpg, link=Datei:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(08).jpg, Mountain station in 2019
File:Malbergbahn_2019_334.jpg, link=Datei:Malbergbahn_2019_334.jpg, Route of the railway in 2019
File:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(10).jpg, link=Datei:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(10).jpg, Route of the railway in 2019
File:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(06).jpg, link=Datei:Malbergbahn_2019_334_(06).jpg, Mountain station with car in 2019
The Malbergbahn - also known as ''Malbergbahn Bad Ems - was a'' funicular
A funicular ( ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep grade (slope), slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to ...
, that operated between Bad Ems
Bad Ems () is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a spa on the river Lahn. Bad Ems was the seat of Bad Ems collective municipality, which has been merged i ...
and the hotel at the Malberg Hohen from 5 June 1887 to 1979. On 7 December 1981, two years after the decommissioning, was the funicular made into a technological monument
A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
. It had no accidents during its operational period.
In 1979, on the opposite side of the Lahn
The Lahn () is a , right (or eastern) tributary of the Rhine in Germany. Its course passes through the States of Germany, federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia (23.0 km), Hesse (165.6 km), and Rhineland-Palatinate (57.0 km).
...
, was the Kurwaldbahn opened.
History
In 1872, the city of Bad Ems decided to build a hotel on the 350-meter-high Hohen Malberg to compensate for the absence of numerous foreign spa guests. To provide access to the site, the construction of a "funicular with a water counterbalance system" (water balance railway
A water balance railway is a funicular, aerial tramway or cable railway that uses the weight of water to move its carriages.
History
The oldest water balance railway was probably the '' Prospect Park Incline Railway,'' opened in 1845 at the Ni ...
) was decided upon, and for this purpose, the ''Malbergbahn'' AG was founded in 1885. The operating company was registered in the commercial register in Cologne
Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...
on 3 December 1886 under the name MAG.
Construction work on the hotel and funicular began as early as November 1886. On 5 June 1887, the Malbergbahn was ceremoniously put into operation. In 1926, the concession was transferred from the ''Malbergbahn'' AG company to the hotel for a period of 25 years. When the contract was not renewed in 1951, the railway became the property of the Bad Ems municipal utilities. Until the day it was shut down, the railway was well-frequented and consistently well-utilised. The hotel, café
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...
, and zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...
located on the mountain could only be reached on foot or by the railway.
When TÜV
TÜVs (; short for , ) are internationally active, independent service companies from Germany and Austria that test, inspect and certify technical systems, facilities and objects of all kinds in order to minimize hazards and prevent damages. T ...
Rheinland identified serious defects in the railway due to its age in 1979, and the city was financially unable to fix them, operations were initially suspended as a temporary measure. On 7 December 1981, the Malbergbahn was declared an industrial monument. By then, it had suffered significant vandalism
Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property.
The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The t ...
and was superficially renovated
Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, o ...
in 1999. On 20 June 2000, the Bad Ems city council decided not to restore the railway to operation.
One of the railway's carriages is now located at the mountain station, which is no longer accessible due to the risk of collapse. The other carriage remains at the valley station and has since been restored.
Since 1982, a support association with around 150 members has been working to preserve and restore the Malbergbahn to operation.
Since 2014, the valley station and the carriage located there have been renovated and are now used as a café. In 2019, the Bad Ems city council decided to sell the mountain station to an investor.{{Cite web , last=Cetto , first=Michaela , date=2019-06-07 , title=Bad Emser Rat entscheidet: Bergstation der Malbergbahn wird jetzt verkauft , url=https://www.rhein-zeitung.de/lokales/rhein-lahn-zeitung/bad-emser-rat-entscheidet-bergstation-der-malbergbahn-wird-jetzt-verkauft_arid-1985550.html , access-date=2025-02-16 , website=www.rhein-zeitung.de , language=de , archive-date=2025-02-16 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250216150639/https://www.rhein-zeitung.de/lokales/rhein-lahn-zeitung/bad-emser-rat-entscheidet-bergstation-der-malbergbahn-wird-jetzt-verkauft_arid-1985550.html , url-status=live
Technology
The Malbergbahn was awater balance railway
A water balance railway is a funicular, aerial tramway or cable railway that uses the weight of water to move its carriages.
History
The oldest water balance railway was probably the '' Prospect Park Incline Railway,'' opened in 1845 at the Ni ...
with a Riggenbach rack system, which served as the brake rail for braking and regulating the vehicle speed. When the vehicles were stationary, it also functioned as a parking brake
In road vehicles, the parking brake, also known as a handbrake or emergency brake (e-brake), is a mechanism used to keep the vehicle securely motionless when parked. Parking brakes often consist of a pulling mechanism attached to a Wire rope, ...
. The dual-track line had a track gauge
In rail transport, track gauge is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have Wheelset (rail transport), wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many different track gauges ...
of 1,000 millimetres (meter gauge) and was 520 metres long. It overcame a height difference of 260 metres with a maximum gradient of 54.5 percent (545 ‰). The maximum speed was 7 km/h until 1963, after which it increased to 12 km/h, with an average speed of 5.4 km/h. The traction cable was made of six pre-formed strands, each consisting of 19 wires on a fibre core. The railway was powered by hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
, with the operational water pumped from the valley to a storage reservoir on the mountain.
Gallery
The gallery shows the condition before and after the partial restoration.See also
*List of funicular railways
This is a list of funicular railways, organised by place within country and continent. The funiculars range from short urban lines to significant multi-section mountain railways.
A funicular railway is distinguished from the similar incline elev ...
References