The ''Goethe'' was an

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes a small number of stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, allowing faster service than local trains that stop at most or all of the stations alo ...

that, for most of its existence, linked

Paris-Est The Gare de l'Est (; English: "Station of the East" or "East station"), officially Paris-Est, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Gare ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, with Frankfurt Hbf in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

, Germany. Introduced in 1970, it was operated by the SNCF and the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remaine ...

/ Deutsche Bahn (DB). The train was named after the German author and philosopher

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as t ...

, who lived in

. Initially, the ''Goethe'' was a first-class-only

Trans Europ Express The Trans Europ Express, or Trans-Europe Express (TEE), was an international first-class railway service in western and central Europe that was founded in 1957 and ceased in 1995. At the height of its operations, in 1974, the TEE network compri ...

(TEE). It originally was scheduled to operate westbound in the morning and eastbound in the late afternoon and evening. However, at the start of the summer 1972 timetable period, on 28 May, the schedule was reversed, with the ''TEE Goethe'' now scheduled to leave Paris at 8:00 and Frankfurt at 16:15."Summer services, 1972" (changes taking effect). '' Cooks Continental Timetable'' (May 1–27, 1972 edition), p. 466; also pp. 67, 465. London: Thomas Cook Publishing. On 31 May 1975, it was discontinued, replaced by an unnamed two-class express train running on a similar schedule over the same route.'' Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' (June 1975 edition), pp. 6, 94. Peterborough, UK: Thomas Cook Publishing. On 27 May 1979, the name ''Goethe'' was revived for a different route, between

Dortmund Hbf Dortmund Hauptbahnhof is the main railway station in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The station's origins lie in a joint station of the Köln-Mindener Eisenbahn and Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn which was built north of the city cen ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and Frankfurt Hbf, again as a TEE.'' Thomas Cook International Timetable'' (May 27–June 30, 1979 edition), p. 6. This second ''TEE Goethe'' was discontinued on 29 May 1983, reclassified as ''IC Goethe'', a two-class

InterCity InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...

train.''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' (May 29–June 30, 1983 edition), pp. 6, 161–162, 370, 376. The ''Goethe'' name continued in use for this route through 1 June 1985. During the same period, from 1975, the Paris–Frankfurt express/''

Schnellzug A ''Schnellzug'' is an express train in German-speaking countries, where it refers to trains that do not stop at all stations along a line. The term is used both generically and also as a specific train type. In Germany and Austria it is also ref ...

'' running on approximately the former ''Goethe'' schedule had continued to operate, without name, and was reclassified as an InterCity (IC 156/157) in June 1984.''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' (May 1–June 2, 1984 edition), pp. 161–162, 473. Subsequently, on 2 June 1985, the name ''Goethe'' was restored to that train and itinerary.'' Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' (May 1985 edition), pp. 370, 376, 476, 524. Thomas Cook Publishing. On 31 May 1987, it was included in the then-new EuroCity (EC) network (with train nos. EC 56/57)''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' (May 31–June 30, 1987 edition), pp. 472–473. Thomas Cook Publishing. and from 1997 to 1999 it was extended to

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...

It was replaced in June 2007 by an ICE3 service, unnamed and initially requiring a change of train in Saarbrücken."Newslines: Summer international changes" (May 2007). '' Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable'', p. 539; also pp. 65, 557, 590. Thomas Cook Publishing. *When this train was created as TEE, this train was composed only by SNCF material, the Mistral 56 coaches, a SNCF dining car with own electricity with integrated generating set, and Mistral 56 coaches where electricity powered with a red generating van, with powerful generating set( 600 V 3 phase ) source: les Trans Europ Express, Maurice Mertens.

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* * * {{EuroCity trains EuroCity International named passenger trains Named passenger trains of France Named passenger trains of Germany Named passenger trains of the Czech Republic Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1970 Railway services discontinued in 2007

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