Johann Culemeyer (16 October 1883 - 20 January 1951) was a German

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

. Culemeyer was born in Hanover in 1883 and, in 1936, he became a director of the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the Weimar Republic, German national Rail transport, railway system created after th ...

and in that capacity was responsible for the construction, procurement and running of road vehicles, railway wagons and heavy transporters. As early as 1931, he had designed a transportation system which was subsequently named after him, the "Culemeyer heavy trailer".http://www.berth.eu/waggon_de.html as at 31 January 2009 This heavy road trailer enabled the transportation of goods wagons on the road. These trailers initially had four axles with 16 solid rubber wheels. From 1935, a six-axle, 24-wheel version was also produced. Under the

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan or a political, commercial, religious, or other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the public or a more defined target group ...

''Die Eisenbahn ins Haus'' ('The Railway to Your Door') goods wagons were brought to factories and other places that did not have their own railway links from the nearest loading station. It was patented on 29 November 1931 under the name ''Fahrbares Anschlussgleis'' ('Rail Link on Wheels') and demonstrated to the public for the first time on 24 April 1931 at the

Anhalter Bahnhof The Anhalter Bahnhof is a former train station, railway terminus in Berlin, Germany, approximately southeast of Potsdamer Platz. Once one of Berlin's most important railway stations, it was severely damaged in World War II, and finally closed fo ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. In the

Deutsche Bundesbahn Deutsche Bundesbahn (, ) or DB () was formed as the state railway of the newly established West Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained the state railway of West Germany u ...

the trailers were hauled by ''Kaelble'' tractors; the

Deutsche Reichsbahn (GDR) The Deutsche Reichsbahn (, ) or DR was the operating name of state owned railways in East Germany, and after German reunification until 1 January 1994. In 1949, occupied Germany's railways were returned to German control after four years of ...

East Germany East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...

used '' Tatra'' tractors. Whilst ''Culemeyer'' heavy trailers have been largely superseded on the roads by lorries, in some factories and firms they are still used occasionally. On 4 November 1976 a private road belonging to the management of the former Reichsbahn authority ('' VdeR'') in

Berlin-Marienfelde Marienfelde () is a Boroughs and neighborhoods of Berlin, locality in southwest Berlin, Germany, part of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg borough. The former village, incorporated according to the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, today is a mixed industrial a ...

(

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park call ...

) was named after Johann Culemeyer. The road is open to public traffic and is a cul-de-sac with several industrial sites along it, including the ''Berliner Werk der Converteam Deutschland'' that in 1984 moved there as the AEG-Stromrichterfabrik. In the vicinity, there is also the ''Schwechtenstrasse'', named after the architect of the Anhalter Bahnhof. Culemeyer died in 1951 in

Nordholz Nordholz is a village and a former municipality in the district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Wurster Nordseeküste. It is situated approximately 25 km north of Bremerhaven, and 1 ...

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is a town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has a footprint o ...

, in north Germany.

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:de:Johann Culemeyer {{DEFAULTSORT:Culemeyer, Johann Businesspeople from Hanover 1883 births 1951 deaths German railway mechanical engineers Engineers from Hanover