The ''Führersonderzug'' (from

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

: "

Führer ( ; , spelled or ''Fuhrer'' when the umlaut is not available) is a German word meaning "leader" or " guide". As a political title, it is strongly associated with the Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Nazi Germany cultivated the ("leader princip ...

's special train") was

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

's personal train. It was named ''Führersonderzug "Amerika"'' in 1940, and in January 1943, was renamed the ''Führersonderzug "Brandenburg"''. The train served as a headquarters until the Balkans Campaign. Afterwards, the train was not used as Führer Headquarters (''Führerhauptquartier)'', however Hitler continued to travel on it throughout the war between Berlin,

Berchtesgaden Berchtesgaden () is a municipality in the district Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, in southeastern Germany, near the border with Austria, south of Salzburg and southeast of Munich. It lies in the Berchtesgaden Alps, south of Berchtesgaden; th ...

, the ''

Wolfsschanze The ''Wolf's Lair'' (german: Wolfsschanze; pl, Wilczy Szaniec) served as Adolf Hitler's first Eastern Front military headquarters in World War II. The headquarters was located in the Masurian woods, near the small village of Görlitz in Ost ...

'' and his other military headquarters.

Usage

Before the first permanent ''Führer'' Headquarters ''

Felsennest The ''Felsennest'' ("Rocky Eyrie" in English) was the codename for one of several Führer Headquarters used by Adolf Hitler during the course of World War II. It was located near Bad Münstereifel, in the western part of Germany. It was much mor ...

'' was used in May 1940, the ''Führersonderzug'' served as a mobile headquarters. Hitler and his entourage used this train to visit various fronts and theaters of war. For safety, a front train and rear train were used to prevent any possible attack. The train was originally named ''Führersonderzug "Amerika"'', purportedly because Hitler wanted to pay homage to the European

conquest of the Americas During the Age of Discovery, a large scale European colonization of the Americas took place between about 1492 and 1800. Although the Norse had explored and colonized areas of the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short ter ...

. After Germany declared war on the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, on 31 January 1942 the train was renamed to the ''Führersonderzug "Brandenburg"''. In late April 1945, Hitler ordered his aide and adjutant Julius Schaub to travel to Austria to destroy the ''Führersonderzug''.

Components

The exact of the train are not known; documentation for each journey was destroyed after the trip to prevent it being used to plan an attack. Some details were revealed by the departure information ''"Bln 2009"'', when the train departed the ''Anhalter Bahnhof'' in Berlin on 23 June 1941, arriving at

on 24 June 1941; The individual 10-16 components (

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the ...

and

railway cars A railroad car, railcar ( American and Canadian English), railway wagon, railway carriage, railway truck, railwagon, railcarriage or railtruck (British English and UIC), also called a train car, train wagon, train carriage or train truck, is ...

) in order were:Raiber, Richard, ''Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No. 19'', p. 2. * Two locomotives ('' Deutsches Reichsbahn'' K5E ''

Kriegslokomotive ''Kriegslokomotiven'' (german: for "war locomotives", singular: ''Kriegslokomotive'') or ''Kriegsloks'' were locomotives produced in large numbers during the Second World War under Nazi Germany. Their construction was tailored to the economic circ ...

'') * a special ''Flakwagen'' armoured anti-aircraft train flatbed car with two anti-aircraft guns, most often a pair of quadruple 20mm ''Flakvierling'' batteries, one at each end of the car. It also had the quarters for the officers and men from the Luftwaffe ''9 Regiment General Göring'' that manned the guns''.'' Goering's trainset flak cars used anti-aircraft cannons. * a baggage car * the ''Führerwagen'', used by Hitler * a ''Befehlswagen'' (command car), including a conference room and a communications center * a ''Begleitkommandowagen'', for the accompanying twenty-two-man security force ('' SS-Begleit-Kommando'' and '' Reichssicherheitsdienst'' detachment) * a dining car * two cars for guests * a ''Badewagen'' (bathing car) * another dining car * two sleeping cars for personnel * a ''Pressewagen'' ( press car) for press chief,

Otto Dietrich Jacob Otto Dietrich (31 August 1897 – 22 November 1952) was a German SS officer during the Nazi era, who served as the Press Chief of the Nazi regime and was a confidant of Adolf Hitler. Biography Otto Dietrich was born in Essen, he served ...

, and staff * another baggage car * another ''Flakwagen''

indicates that the ''Flakwagen'' never had to be used when Hitler was travelling. The "Pressewagen" was to receive and release press reports, not for journalists.

Other ''Sonderzüge''

There were other special trains (''Sonderzüge'' in German) used by prominent German officials;Raiber, Richard, ''Guide to Hitler's Headquarters, After The Battle, No.19'', pp. 48–51.''Der Kommandant Führerhauptquartier''
from ''Das Bundesarchiv'' (German, www.bundesarchiv.de) * ''Ministerzug'' (Ministers' Train), used by

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...

and

Heinrich Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

* ''Sonderzug "Afrika"'' (also called "''Braunschweig''"), used by the chief of the Armed Forces High Command ('' Oberkommando der Wehrmacht , OKW)'') * ''Sonderzug "Asien"'' (also called "''Pommern''"), used by

Hermann Göring Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German politician, military leader and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which ruled Germany from 1933 to 1 ...

* ''Sonderzug "Atlantik"'' (also called "''Auerhahn''", "

capercaillie ''Tetrao'' is a genus of birds in the grouse subfamily known as capercaillies. They are some of the largest living grouse. Taxonomy The genus ''Tetrao'' was introduced in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of hi ...

"), used by the supreme commander of the Navy (''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...

'') * ''Sonderzug "Atlas"'' (also called "''Franken''"), a command train used by the Armed Forces Operations Staff (''Wehrmachtführungsstabes'') * ''Sonderzug "Enzian"'' (" gentian"), a command train used by the chief of the Intelligence branch of the ''

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

'' (''Nachrichtenwesens der Luftwaffe'') * ''Sonderzug "Ostpreußen"'' (also called "''Sonderzug 4''"), used by the Army General Staff (''

Oberkommando des Heeres The (; abbreviated OKH) was the high command of the Army of Nazi Germany. It was founded in 1935 as part of Adolf Hitler's rearmament of Germany. OKH was ''de facto'' the most important unit within the German war planning until the defeat at ...

, OKH)'') * ''Sonderzug "Robinson 1"'', used by the chief of the Command Staff of the ''

'' * ''Sonderzug "Robinson 2"'', used by the chief of the General Staff of the ''

'' * ''Sonderzug "Steiermark"'' (also called "''Heinrich''" and "''Transport 44''"), used by

* ''Sonderzug "Westfalen"'', used by

* ''Sonderzug "Württemberg"'', used by the Army General Staff (''Gen. St.d. H. – Generalstabs des Heeres'')

Notes

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