The Deutscher Eisenbahn-Verein (''German Railway Society'') or DEV was founded in November 1964 as the ''Deutscher Kleinbahn-Verein'' (''German Kleinbahn Society''). Its purpose was the preservation of a working branch line with all its installations as a living

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

. The term '' Kleinbahn'' was primarily a

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n concept that referred to light branch lines with lower traffic demands and of more lightweight construction than main lines or normal branch lines, hence the ''Kleinbahnen'' were mainly found in northern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

On 2 July 1966, museum railway services began on the narrow gauge section of line from Bruchhausen-Vilsen to Heiligenberg operated by the '' Verkehrsbetriebe Grafschaft Hoya'', about 35 km south of

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

, using the steam locomotive ''Bruchhausen'' and one coach. Setting aside a number of short-lived trials, this was the first museum railway in Germany.www.bahnen-und-busse.de
"Die Museumseisenbahn Bruchhausen-Vilsen ist die erste Museumseisenbahn Deutschlands und wird seit 1966 vom Deutschen Eisenbahn-Verein e. V. betrieben." - extract from ''www.bahnen-und-busse.de'' (German website of museum bus and railway lines) as at 16 September 2008. Since then the Lower Saxony Kleinbahn Museum (''Niedersächsisches Kleinbahn-Museum'') has emerged. At weekends from May to September and in December, regular services are run on the Bruchhausen-Vilsen– Asendorf route - predominantly with steam trains. Under the name ''Hoyaer Eisenbahn'', a connecting service is operated on the

Eystrup Eystrup is a municipality in the district of Nienburg, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the right bank of the Weser, approx. 15 km north of Nienburg, and 15 km south of Verden. Eystrup was the seat of the former ''Samtgemei ...

– Hoya–Bruchhausen-Vilsen– Syke route. In Bruchhausen-Vilsen station, standard gauge vehicles may be transferred to the narrow gauge section by means of rollbocks (''Rollböcken'') or

transporter wagon A transporter wagon, in railway terminology, is a goods wagon, wagon (International Union of Railways, UIC) or railroad car (US) designed to carry other railway equipment. Normally, it is used to transport equipment of a different rail gauge. ...

s (''Rollwagen'').

Vehicles

There were more than 90 vehicles in the museum's collection in 2006, both standard gauge and metre gauge, built between 1892 and 1957, the vast majority of which were operational. Amongst them were seven steam locomotives (including the former DR 99 5633 and a Lenz-Typ i), five diesel locomotives (including the former DB Class V 29), six railbuses (including a Wismar railbus, a Wismar (Frankfurt version) and one from the '' Franzburger Kreisbahn''), 28 passenger coaches, six luggage and mail vans and numerous goods wagons and works vehicles. The society even has some standard gauge vehicles.

Gallery

File:BRUCHHAUSEN Bruchhausen-Vilsen 16.10.10 (w5).JPG, Locomotive ''Bruchhausen'', identical to ''Hoya'' Image:BruchhausenVilsen3.jpg, ''Hoya'' at Bruchhausen-Vilsen station with goods wagon 53 image:Bruchhausen-VilsenBuffetwagen.jpg, Train with buffet car Image:BruchhausenVilsen4.jpg, Coach 4 image:BruchhausenVilsen17Detail.jpg, Coach 17: detail Image:BruchhausenVilsen17innenBuff.jpg, Inside coach 17 Image:BruchhausenVilsen2.jpg, Railbus T44 with wagon 2 at Bruchhausen-Vilsen Image:BruchhausenVilsenTriebwagenzug.jpg, Multiple-unit train, wagon 2 in the centre image:BruchhausenVilsen7.jpg, Multiple-unit train image:BruchhausenVilsenArbeitswagen.jpg, MOW vehicle SKL 1 Friedhelm File:147 GGw Bruchhausen-Vilsen 16.10.10 (w13).JPG, Goods wagon 147 image:BruchhausenVilsenBuff.jpg, Train with buffet car In the workshop attached to the museum, increasingly rare skills, such as the rivetting of steam locomotive boilers, are maintained. The operation and maintenance of the vehicles and installations is mainly carried out by volunteers.

Literature

* "Die Museums-Eisenbahn - Zeitschrift für Kleinbahn-Geschichte", the official organ of Deutscher Eisenbahn-Verein e.V. (DEV). ISSN 0936-4609 * Claas Rehmstedt: ''Die Fahrzeuge der Museums-Eisenbahn Bruchhausen-Vilsen–Asendorf''. Verlag Feld- und Schmalspurbahnen Karl Paskarb, Celle 2005. * Wolfram Bäumer: ''Mit Tempo 20 über Land. Bildführer durch das Kleinbahn Museum Bruchhausen-Vilsen''. DEV-Kleinbahn-Verlag, Bruchhausen-Vilsen 1995.

Film

* Susanne Mayer-Hagmann
Mit dem Zug durchs... Weserland. Deutschlands erste Museumsbahn wurde 1964 im niedersächsischen Bruchhausen-Vilsen gegründet.
. ARTE G.E.I.E./SWR, Deutschland, 2007, 43 Min.

References

External links

Official website of the DEV (German and English)

{{coord missing, Lower Saxony Railway museums in Germany Heritage railways in Germany Transport in Lower Saxony History of Lower Saxony Museums in Lower Saxony 1964 establishments in West Germany