The German Sleeper and Dining Car Company (''Deutsche Schlafwagen- und Speisewagengesellschaft'', later the ''Deutsche Service-Gesellschaft der Bahn'' or ''DSG'') was a subsidiary of

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 ...

with its headquarters in

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, that emerged from the

Mitropa Mitropa was a catering company best known for having managed sleeping car, sleeping and dining cars of different German railways for most of the 20th century. Founded in 1916, the name "Mitropa" is an abbreviation of ''Mitteleuropa'' (German la ...

infrastructure left in

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

in 1949. It existed until 1994 when it was combined with the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

Mitropa to form ''

AG''.

History

The DSG provided its own sleepers until 1974 and its own

dining car A dining car (American English) or a restaurant car (British English), also a diner, is a passenger railroad car that serves meals in the manner of a full-service, sit-down restaurant. These cars provide the highest level of service of any rai ...

s until 1966 and also ran the DB's half-diners, buffet, snack bar and couchette cars, the US troop trains in Germany, the German ferries of the

Vogelfluglinie The (German) or (Danish) is a transport corridor between Copenhagen, Denmark, and Hamburg, Germany. As the Danish and German names (literally: '' bird flight line'') imply, the corridor is also an important bird migration route between arcti ...

and the

restaurants A restaurant is an establishment that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in app ...

and bars on many stations in the Federal Republic of Germany (including the West Berlin restaurants at Bahnhof Zoo). In addition there were

club car Club Car is an American company that manufactures electric and gas-powered golf carts and small utility vehicles for personal and commercial use. It is currently owned by Platinum Equity after being acquired in 2021. Before that, the company wa ...

s, that were frequently hired by firms and other excursion companies and the "InterCity Hotels" that appeared in the 1980s. The coaching stock used stemmed mainly from the pre-war period and the 1960s. In the 1970s self-service dining cars (''Quick-Pick'') were introduced experimentally. In trains without dining cars the so-called minibar came into use. These were small, mobile sales trolleys from which passengers could purchase hot and cold drinks, hot sausages, pre-packed sandwiches, snacks and confectionery. The coaches were stocked at their home station and could be replenished during longer halts or at the destination station by sales staff at the respective DSG depot. Legally the DSG and

were merged just like the Deutsche Bundesbahn and Deutsche Reichsbahn. However, in view of the considerable assets owned by MITROPA the DSG was absorbed into MITROPA. That made it the only West German company, apart from a Rheingau

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merchants, to be absorbed by an East German firm.

Corporate design

Up to 1971 the DSG continued to use the pre-war Mitropa insignia of a stylised "M" with the head of an eagle above a four-spoked wheel in an oval border (colloquially known as a ''Gefriergans'' or "frozen goose"). The decor of the DSG's own coaches was also based initially on the old Mitropa ones, including the style of signwriting designed for Mitropa ("Schulpig font" by Karl Schulpig). The base colour of the coaches varied during the 1950s from RAL 3003 ruby red to the darker RAL 3004 purple red.

Logo

In 1971 a more modern logo appeared in the form of a square cloverleaf. This was displayed on the DSG's own sleepers. The more recent coaches went into the sleeping car fleet during the 1970s and were given "Trans Euro Nacht" inscriptions to international standards. Initially they had the purple red basic livery and were only later repainted in cobalt blue. The DSG used the cloverleaf logo until their union with Mitropa (Ost).

Sources

* Fritz Stöckl: ''Speisewagen: 100 Jahre Gastronomie auf der Schiene''. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1987. * Ernst, Friedhelm u.a.: ''Vom F-Zug zum Intercity'', EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1982 {{ISBN, 3-88255-751-6 Foodservice companies Deutsche Bundesbahn