The ''Goethe'' was an

express train An express train is a type of passenger train that makes few or no stops between its origin and destination stations, usually major destinations, providing faster service than local trains that stop at many or all of the stations along their ...

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 seven large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. It is located in the 10th arrondissement, not far southeast from the Ga ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, with Frankfurt Hbf in

Frankfurt 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 ...

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

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

and 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 ...

Deutsche Bahn (, ; abbreviated as DB or DB AG ) is the national railway company of Germany, and a state-owned enterprise under the control of the German government. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). DB was fou ...

(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 polymath who is widely regarded as the most influential writer in the German language. His work has had a wide-ranging influence on Western literature, literary, Polit ...

, 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 The ''European Rail Timetable'', more commonly known by its former names, the ''Thomas Cook European Timetable'', the ''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' or simply ''Cook's Timetable'', is an international Public transport timetable, timetab ...

'' (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,

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 ...

, 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 train categories in Europe, classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to InterRegio, regional train, r ...

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. The term is used both generically and also as a specific train type. In Germany and Austria it is also referred to colloquially as a ''D-Zug'', a short form of ''Durchgangszug'' ...

'' 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.''

'' (May 1985 edition), pp. 370, 376, 476, 524. Thomas Cook Publishing. On 31 May 1987, it was included in the then-new

EuroCity EuroCity (EC) is an international Train categories in Europe, train category and brand for European inter-city rail, inter-city trains that cross international borders and meet criteria covering comfort, speed, food service, and cleanliness. E ...

(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 ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

It was replaced in June 2007 by an ICE3 service, unnamed and initially requiring a change of train in

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; Rhenish Franconian: ''Sabrigge'' ; ; ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of cities and towns in Germany, city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken has 181,959 inhabitants and is Saarland's administrative, commerci ...

."Newslines: Summer international changes" (May 2007). ''

Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable The ''European Rail Timetable'', more commonly known by its former names, the ''Thomas Cook European Timetable'', the ''Thomas Cook Continental Timetable'' or simply ''Cook's Timetable'', is an international timetable of selected passenger r ...

'', 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.

References

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Bibliography

* * * {{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

See also

References

Notes

Bibliography