Odenwald Railway (Baden)
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The Odenwald Railway (German: ''Odenwaldbahn'') (sometimes referred to as the Baden Odenwald Railway to distinguish it from the Hessian line of the same name) was the name given to a
Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...
railway line in southwestern Germany built from between 1862 and 1866. It ran from
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
via
Neckargemünd Neckargemünd (; ) is a town in Germany, in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies on the Neckar, 10 km upriver from Heidelberg at the confluence with the river Elsenz. This confluence of the two rivers is ...
and
Meckesheim Meckesheim is a village in south western Germany. It is located between Heidelberg and Sinsheim in the Rhein-Neckar district in the state of Baden-Württemberg. History In 772 and 822 Meckesheim was mentioned for the first times as ''Heim des ...
through the Little Odenwald mountains to
Waibstadt Waibstadt (; ) is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipal administration union "Waibstadt", which consists of Epfenbach, Helmstadt-Bargen, Neckarbischofsheim, Neidenstein, Reich ...
,
Mosbach Mosbach (; South Franconian: ''Mossbach'') is a town in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the seat of the Neckar-Odenwald district and has a population of approximately 25,000 distributed in six boroughs: Mosbach Town, Lohrbach, ...
,
Osterburken Osterburken () is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 28 km southwest of Tauberbischofsheim, 50 km northeast of Heilbronn, 90 km east of Heidelberg, 60 km southwest of Wür ...
and Lauda to
Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...
in Bavaria.


History

The plans in the mid-19th century to build a railway network in the
Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...
, initially focused on the construction of the Baden Mainline as a north–south route through the Upper Rhine Valley from
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
to
Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
as well as a connection through the
Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...
area to
Constance Constance may refer to: Places * Constance, Kentucky, United States, an unincorporated community * Constance, Minnesota, United States, an unincorporated community * Mount Constance, Washington State, United States * Lake Constance (disambiguat ...
. However, northeastern Baden continued to be ignored. Therefore, from the 1850s, ever louder demands were raised for a connection to the rail network from the poor areas in southern
Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the Germany, German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße Route, Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried' ...
, in the Bauland and in the
Tauber The Tauber () is a river in Franconia (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length. The name derives from the Celtic word for water (compare: Dover). Course It flows through Rothenburg ob der ...
valley (mockingly known as ''Badisch Sibirien'', Baden Siberia, because of its small population, cold winters and isolation from the rest of Baden). While a railway line through the area was expected to be only marginally profitable, if at all, railway construction was seen, with its transport benefits, to be an investment that would promote development in this area. The
Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...
also had an interest in the construction of a railway between the Palatinate and
Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (, ) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities). History After ...
, since such a railway would connect the Bavarian heartland with the then Bavarian Palatinate, bypassing
Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...
. However, Bavaria wanted a route along the
Main river The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...
via Wertheim,
Miltenberg Miltenberg () is a town in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the Miltenberg (district), like-named district and has a population of over 9,000. Geography Location The old ...
,
Amorbach Amorbach () is a town in the Miltenberg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany, with some 4,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the small river Mud, in the northeastern part of the Odenwald. ...
and Eberbach, while Baden preferred a more southerly route via Mosbach. After lengthy negotiations, the two countries agreed in 1862 on a route through Mosbach. The agreement also included the construction of a railway bridge over the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
at
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
, so that the direct railway reached the Palatinate from Würzburg. The Baden Odenwald Railway was opened in two stages: from Heidelberg via Neckargemünd, Meckenheim Neckarbischofsheim,
Aglasterhausen Aglasterhausen is a municipality in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Aglasterhausen is first mentioned in the records of the Bishop of Worms in 1143. It had its own nobility as early as the middle ...
and
Neckarelz Neckarelz is a suburb of Mosbach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Geography Neckarelz is in northern Baden-Württemberg, between the Odenwald and Kraichgau, at the confluence of the Neckar and Elz rivers. On the other side of the Neckar, are the ...
to Mosbach on 23 October 1862 and from Mosbach to Würzburg via Osterburken and Lauda on 25 August 1866. The construction of the second section was delayed as a result of the fighting in Tauberbischofsheim during the
War of 1866 The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...
. The routing of the Odenwald Railway on the section between Neckargemünd and Mosbach is peculiar. Instead of running through the Neckar valley via Eberbach it took the hillier and thus operationally problematic route through the
Elsenz Elsenz () is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany; it has its origins in Lake Elsenzsee and the Kreuzberghof Forest, passing through Sinsheim and flowing into the Neckar in Neckargemünd. See also *List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg A list ...
and Schwarzbach valleys via Meckenheim, Neckarbischofsheim and Aglasterhausen. This route was chosen because the
Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine () was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The grand duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 as the Grand Duchy of Hesse (). It assumed the name ...
reached to the river Neckar between Neckargemünd and Eberbach, so that a railway would have had to run through Hesse, which was not considered desirable. Shortly after its completion, the Odenwald Railway was connected by two routes with the Württemberg railway network, from Meckenheim via
Sinsheim Sinsheim (; ) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the Rhine Neckar Area of the state Baden-Württemberg about southeast of Heidelberg and about northwest of Heilbronn in the district Rhein-Neckar. Geography Overview Sinsheim consists o ...
to
Jagstfeld Bad Friedrichshall () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated at the confluences of the Jagst and of the Kocher into the Neckar, some north of Heilbronn. Bad Friedrichshall arose by the ...
(''westliche Gabelbahn'', ”Western Fork Railway”, opened 1868/1869) and from Jagstfeld to Osterburken (''Östliche Gabelbahn'', ”Eastern Fork Railway”, opened in 1869). Following the completion of the Odenwald Railway, the
Tauber Valley Railway The Tauber Valley Railway (German: ''Taubertalbahn'') is a single-tracked, unelectrified, standard gauge railway between Wertheim and Crailsheim in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It runs alongside the Tauber to Weikersheim, ...
(''Taubertalbahn'') was opened between 1867 and 1869 to Wertheim and
Bad Mergentheim Bad Mergentheim (; Mergentheim until 1926; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Märchedol'') is a town in the Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of around 23,000. An officially recogniz ...
in order to develop the Tauber Valley.


Further development

As already anticipated during the construction of the line, traffic on the Odenwald Railway was only light. It did not meet expectations either in transport or political terms. However, the combination of the line with new railway lines that were subsequently built created transport linkages that became more important that the connection of the Palatinate and Lower Franconia. As a result, the individual sections of the Odenwald Railway developed very differently:


Heidelberg–Neckargemünd

This section is now considered to be part of the
Neckar Valley Railway The Neckar Valley Railway, or Neckar Valley Main Line () is a railway line from Heidelberg via Eberbach (Baden), Eberbach and Mosbach to Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld station, Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld in southwestern Germany. Today it is adminis ...
(Heidelberg–
Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...
) opened in 1879 and serves passengers and freight between the Palatinate and the Stuttgart area. The line is duplicated and has been electrified since 1972. Since 2003, the section has been part of the
Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn ''(S-Bahn RheinNeckar)'' forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen. The S-Bahn operates over of route in the states of ...
. With S-Bahn services on the Homburg
Kaiserslautern Kaiserslautern (; ) is a town in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfurt am Main, 666 kilometers (414 m ...
–Mosbach (–
Osterburken Osterburken () is a town in the Neckar-Odenwald district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 28 km southwest of Tauberbischofsheim, 50 km northeast of Heilbronn, 90 km east of Heidelberg, 60 km southwest of Wür ...
) and Heidelberg–Eberbach routes as well as regional services on the Heidelberg–Mosbach–Neckarelz–Heilbronn and Heidelberg–Meckenheim–Heilbronn routes, this section is well served by local passenger services.


Neckargemünd–Meckenheim

Operationally, this section forms part of the Neckargemünd–Bad Friedrichshall-Jagstfeld railway ("Western Fork Railway") to Jagstfeld. Along with the Neckar Valley Railway, it creates a second connection between Heidelberg and Heilbronn. In addition trains runs to Eppingen. The route has been duplicated and electrified since 2009. S-Bahn trains run to Eppingen (S 5) and Aglasterhausen (S 51).


Meckenheim–Neckarelz

After the opening of the Neckar Valley Railway this section very quickly lost importance because through trains now usually ran on the Neckar Valley Railway. Of all the sections of the Odenwald Railway this had the least volume of traffic and was downgraded to a minor line. With the destruction of the Neckar bridge in
Obrigheim Obrigheim (; South Franconian: ''Owweringe'') is a town in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the ...
in 1945, the Meckenheim–Obrigheim section became a branch line, the bridge over the Neckar was not rebuilt because little traffic was affected. As demand between Aglasterhausen and Obrigheim was very low and the maintenance of two tunnels on this section was costly, this section was shut down in 1971 and dismantled in the following years. The Meckenheim–Aglasterhausen section, which follows the Schwarzenbach, became known as the ''Schwarzbachtalbahn'' (Schwarzenbach Valley Railway). Around 1980,
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 ...
announced the closure of the line completely. This would have meant that Krebsbach Valley Railway (''Krebsbachtalbahn''), which had existed since 1902 and branches off at Neckarbischofsheim Nord and runs to Hüffenhardt, would have had no connection to the rest of the rail network. So In 1982, the state-owned South-West German Railway Company (''Südwestdeutsche Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'', SWEG), which had operated the Krebsbach Valley Railway since 1963, took over operations between Meckenheim and Aglasterhausen. In August 2009, during the second phase of the expansion of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn the track was acquired by
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 ...
, electrified and upgraded for S-Bahn operations. Passenger operations on the Krebsbach Valley Railway were closed, as it could not, according to the SWEG, be operated profitably any longer. The Heidelberg–Meckenheim–Aglasterhausen connection is now operated as line S 51.


Neckarelz–Osterburken

This stretch now only has regional importance as part of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn. The route is duplicated and has been electrified since 1975.


Osterburken–Würzburg

Together with the Stuttgart–Heilbronn–Osterburken line, this line connects Stuttgart and Würzburg and thus forms the major north–south link between the regions of Stuttgart and Heilbronn via Würzburg to the North Sea ports. The route is duplicated and has been electrified since 1975. This is the section of the lines that has the greatest significance. Long-distance trains run on this section. Since it is very winding and thus does not allow very high speeds, it lost its significance after the Second World War—especially as a result of the construction of high-speed railway lines—so, in 2001, the last remaining long-distance service, the ''Rennsteig''
InterRegio The InterRegio, often shortened to IR, is a train categories in Europe, train category for mainly domestic train services in use in some European countries, with Swiss Federal Railways operating the most dense network. InterRegio trains are semi ...
service was stopped. However, the Osterburken–Würzburg line is still used for many freight trains on north–south routes. Local transport had a rather low priority. Thus, in the 1970s between Osterburken and Lauda stops at all stations were temporarily abandoned due to the sparse population. From the turn of the millennium, services were reactivated at some of them, such as
Rosenberg (Baden) Rosenberg (Baden) is a Franconian town in the Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 26 km northeast of Mosbach. It belongs to the European metropolitan region of Rhine-Neckar. Geograp ...
, Eubigheim and Boxberg / Wölchingen, which are significant for school transport, and they are served on weekdays by a few
Regionalbahn The ''Regionalbahn'' (; lit. Regional train; abbreviated ''RB'') is a train categories in Europe, type of Regional rail, local passenger train (stopping train) in Germany. It is similar to the Regionalzug (R) and Regio (Swiss railway train), R ...
trains.


Notes


References

* * * {{Authority control Railway lines in Baden-Württemberg Railway lines in Bavaria Railway lines opened in 1862