In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' or ''Reichsbahndirektionen (RBD/Rbd)''. Their organisation was determined by the railway company concerned or by the state railway and, in the German-speaking lands at least, they formed the intermediate authorities and regional management organisations within the state railway administration's hierarchy. On the formation of the
Deutsche Bahn AG
(, ; 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 ...
in 1994 the system of railway divisions (''Eisenbahndirektionen'') in Germany was discontinued and their tasks were transferred to new "business areas".
Germany
State railway divisions
Incorporation into the state government
The first railway divisions of the various German state railways (known as ''
Länderbahnen
The ''Länderbahnen'' (, ; sing. ) were the various state railways of the German Confederation and the German Empire in the period from about 1840 to 1920, when they were merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn after the First World War.
The state ...
''), usually reported to a specific government ministry. For example, in
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, ...
they came under the 'Ministry for Trade, Industry and Public Works" and, from 1878, the "Ministry of Public Works" which had been split off from it. In 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 ...
the railway operating divisions came under the "State Ministry of Transport". By contrast the
Royal Saxon State Railways
The Royal Saxon State Railways () were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918. From 1918 until their merger into the Deutsche Reichsbahn the title 'Royal' was dropped and they were just called the Saxon State ...
reported to the Saxon finance ministry.
In Bavaria the five railway operating divisions (''Eisenbahnbetriebsdirektionen'') initially worked under the "General Division for Royal Transportation", in 1886 they reported to the "General Division of the
Royal Bavarian State Railways
The Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.Bay.Sts.B.'') was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German ...
" and from 1906 to the "State Ministry of Transport".
As a small state, Baden ran its railway operations from just one central headquarters and it was not until 1882 that there was a railway division in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
. Hitherto, the responsibility for national railway construction was allocated to its Home Office and operations, by contrast, to the Foreign Office. In between times, the "Department of Waterway and Road Construction" and, later on, the "Department of Post and Railways" were responsible.
Internal organisation
As the organisation of railway operations progressed, railway divisions were usually subject to state control with regard to finances. In particular this covered the fares structure (standard fare rates and special fares for specific areas), the retention or handing over of financial takings and the guarantee of additional resources to compensate for losses or for the construction of railway structures such as stations, new lines or electrification.
Within these prescribed boundaries the divisions ran the traffic operations on the routes allocated to them. Internally they frequently had departments assigned to "Finance and Staff", "Timetables, Fares and Operating Procedures" and "Construction, Maintenance and Vehicles".
Sub-divisions
Beyond that, a railway division could have several traffic operating offices, main workshops or
locomotive depots at various locations, that were each allocated to specific lines.
It was also sometimes the case that in a city or at a railway hub, several traffic operating offices of different railway divisions were represented next to one another, especially in the capital city of
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 ...
.
For example, the "Royal Berlin Division of the State Railways" was divided into eleven external "traffic operating offices" (''Betriebsämter'') for the routes shown:
* Three in Berlin: a)
Stadtbahn
(; German for 'city railway'; plural ) is a German word referring to various types of urban rail transport. One type of transport originated in the 19th century, firstly in Berlin and followed by Vienna, where rail routes were created that co ...
and
Ringbahn
The Ringbahn (German for circle railway) is a long circle route around Berlin's inner city area, on the Berlin S-Bahn network. Its course is made up of a pair of tracks used by S-Bahn trains and another parallel pair of tracks used by various ...
, b)
Berlin-Sommerfeld, c)
Berlin-Dresden
* Two in
Breslau: a)
Breslau-Sommerfeld, b) Breslau-
Halbstadt
* Two in
Stettin
Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...
: a)
Berlin-Stettin, b) Stettin-Stralsund
* One each in
Görlitz
Görlitz (; ; ; ; ; Lusatian dialects, East Lusatian: , , ) is a town in the Germany, German state of Saxony. It is on the river Lusatian Neisse and is the largest town in Upper Lusatia, the second-largest town in the region of Lusatia after ...
,
Stralsund
Stralsund (; Swedish language, Swedish: ''Strålsund''), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Stralsund (German language, German: ''Hansestadt Stralsund''), is the fifth-largest city in the northeastern German federal state of Mecklen ...
,
Kottbus
Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian s ...
and
Guben
Guben (Polish language, Polish and Sorbian languages, Sorbian: ''Gubin'') is a town on the Lusatian Neisse river in Lower Lusatia, in the States of Germany, state of Brandenburg, in eastern Germany. Located in the Spree-Neiße Districts of German ...
Following its restructuring on 1 April 1895 the Berlin division had:
*nine operating inspectorates (''Betriebsinspektionen'')
*three engineering inspectorates (''Maschineninspektionen'')
*thirteen workshop inspectorates (''Werkstätteninspektionen'')
*a telegraph inspectorate (''Telegrafeninspektion'') and
*four traffic inspectorates (''Verkehrsinspektionen'').
In addition to the president, the workforce comprised 15 members of the board, 10 assistants, an accounts director, an accounts manager and 580 office workers.
Prussia
In Prussia the administrations of the larger state railways were reorganised into independent divisions that were referred to as "Royal Railway Divisions" (''Königliche Eisenbahndirektionen'' or ''KED'' for short. Later they were simply called railway divisions (''Eisenbahndirektionen'' or ''ED'') within the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
. Prussia's vast railway network had the largest number of railway divisions and they had widely differing structures. The railway divisions reported directly to the Ministry for Trade, Industry and Public Works until 1878, when it was broken up and the divisions reported to the newly formed Ministry for Public Works. In addition to the railways, it was responsible for the construction of canals and country roads, thus it was a sort of transport ministry.
= Divisions
=
As at 1907, after the management reform of 1895 and its merger with the Hessian State Railways, the Prussian state railways had the following divisions:
The divisions created as a result of the restructuring of 1895 in
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, ...
were, in the main, adopted by their successor administrations: the
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the re ...
, 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 ...
and the
Deutsche Reichsbahn in East Germany
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 ...
.
Bavaria
The state-run regional administrations which formed part of the
Royal Bavarian State Railways
The Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.Bay.Sts.B.'') was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German ...
were initially referred to as "railway offices" (''Bahnämter'') and "main railway offices" (''Oberbahnämter''). The latter were located in
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
,
Bamberg
Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...
,
Ingolstadt
Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...
,
Kempten
Kempten (; ) is the largest town of Allgäu, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. The population was about 68,000 in 2016. The area was possibly settled originally by Celts, but was later taken over by the Romans, who called the town ''Cambodunum''. K ...
,
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
,
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
,
Regensburg
Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...
,
Rosenheim
Rosenheim () is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the Rosenheim (district), district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn ...
,
Weiden and
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 ...
. Until 1886, they were subordinated to the "General Division of Royal Transportation" (''Generaldirektion der königlichen Verkehrsanstalten'') and from 1886 to 1906 to the "General Division of the Royal Bavarian State Railways" (''Generaldirektion der königlich bayerischen Staatseisenbahnen''). From 1906 'railway operating divisions' (''Eisenbahnbetriebsdirektionen'') were created, that reported to the "State Ministry for Transport" (''Staatsministerium für Verkehrsangelegenheiten''). They included the divisions of Augsburg,
Ludwigshafen
Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...
/Rhine, Munich, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Regensburg and Würzburg, that, apart from Bamberg (which became part of Nuremberg) were taken over by the Reichsbahn in 1920.
Saxony
In Saxony there were initially several organisationally separate "state railways", based in Dresden, in
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
and briefly it would seem in
Chemnitz
Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...
.
On 1 August 1848 the "Royal Division of the
Saxon-Bohemian State Railway" (''Königliche Direction der Sächsisch-Böhmischen Staatseisenbahn'') was founded. Shortly afterwards it was retitled to the "Royal Division of the Saxon-Bohemian and
Saxon-Silesian State Railways" (''Königlichen Direction der Sächsisch-Böhmischen und Sächsisch-Schlesischen Staatseisenbahnen''), from 14 December 1852 to the "Royal State Railway Division" (''Königlichen Staatseisenbahn-Direction''), from 1 October 1853 to the "Royal Division of the Eastern State Railways" (''Königliche Direktion der östlichen Staatseisenbahnen'') and finally on 1 July 1869 it was combined with the Leipzig division to become the "Royal General Division of the Saxon State Railways" (''Königlichen Generaldirection der sächsischen Staatseisenbahnen'').
On 1 April 1847 in Leipzig the "Royal Division of the
Saxon-Bavarian State Railway" (''Königliche Direction der Sächsisch-Bayerischen Staatseisenbahn'') was founded; on 1 October 1853 it became the "Royal Division of the Western State Railway" (''Königlichen Direktion der westlichen Staatseisenbahn''). It was disbanded on 1 July 1869 and merged with Dresden.
Other state railways
The other state railway divisions were:
* Hesse:
** The "Grand Duchy Division of the
Upper Hessian State Railway" in
Giessen
Giessen, spelled in German (), is a town in the Germany, German States of Germany, state () of Hesse, capital of both the Giessen (district), district of Giessen and the Giessen (region), administrative region of Giessen. The population is appro ...
** The "
Main-Neckarbahn Division" in
Darmstadt
Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
.
* Württemberg: "Railway Division of the
Württemberg state railways" in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
* Baden: "General Division of the
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways
Grand Duchy of Baden had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (''Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen or G.Bad.St.E.''), which was founded in 1840. At the time when it was integrated into the Deutsche ...
" in
Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...
* Oldenburg: "
Grand Duchy railway division" in
Oldenburg Oldenburg may also refer to:
Places
* Mount Oldenburg, Ellsworth Land, Antarctica
*Oldenburg (city), an independent city in Lower Saxony, Germany
**Oldenburg (district), a district historically in Oldenburg Free State and now in Lower Saxony
* Ol ...
.
* Alsace-Lorraine: "Imperial General Division of the
railways in Alsace-Lorraine" at
Strasbourg
Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...
, for the railway in Alsace-Lorraine and the Wilhelm-Luxemburg railway.
* Mecklenburg: "
Grand Ducal General Railway Division" (GGED) in
Schwerin
Schwerin (; Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch dialect, Mecklenburgisch-Vorpommersch Low German: ''Swerin''; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Zwierzyn''; Latin: ''Suerina'', ''Suerinum'') is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Germ ...
(from 1889)
Deutsche Reichsbahn
In 1920 the successor to all the German state railways, 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 ...
was founded and, in 1924 the
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the re ...
(to 1945/1949) took over most of the divisions of the German ''
Länderbahnen
The ''Länderbahnen'' (, ; sing. ) were the various state railways of the German Confederation and the German Empire in the period from about 1840 to 1920, when they were merged into the Deutsche Reichsbahn after the First World War.
The state ...
'', which then acted as intermediate authorities within the Reichsbahn structure. During the 1930s, a few of the smaller Reichsbahn divisions were allocated to larger divisions or split between several divisions.
The Reichsbahn divisions (''Reichsbahndirektionen'', ''RBD'' or ''Rbd'') were responsible for traffic operations, locomotive running and all specialist functions that were not reserved by the Ministry, by a senior management department (''Oberbetriebsleitung'', later ''Generalbetriebsleitung''), a central office or special "lead divisions". In the case of the latter, the specific functions of several ''RBD''s were carried out by one of them. These were primarily workshop functions (especially those of the Reichsbahn repair shops, the
''Reichsbahnausbesserungswerke'', which counted as "offices"), i. e. these lead divisions commanded and oversaw the activities of all workshops in the repair shops of its area of business, the remaining, local ''RBD''s having nothing to do with those workshops.
Each ''RBD'' was usually divided into five specialist departments, that corresponded to the railway departments of the Reich Transport Ministry and the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft.
Reichsbahn divisions
The individual divisions were given identification letters. Even the abbreviations of stations and other operating points within the division began with the divisional letter as recorded in the Reichsbahn's official list of railway operating points (
DV100/DS100).
In 1927, the
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the re ...
was divided into 24 Reichsbahn divisions, to which were added the six, initially separate, divisions of the
Bavarian Group Administration
{{unreferenced, date=October 2024
The Bavarian Group Administration or ''Gruppenverwaltung Bayern'' was a largely autonomous railway administration within the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railways) between the two world wars. It was formed ...
(''Gruppenverwaltung Bayern'') and two divisions from the wider German-speaking world:
*A
Reichsbahndirektion Altona (later Hamburg)
*B
Reichsbahndirektion Berlin
*
Reichsbahndirektion Breslau
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
*D
Reichsbahndirektion Dresden
*
Reichsbahndirektion Elberfeld
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
(later Wuppertal)
*U
Reichsbahndirektion Erfurt
*E
Reichsbahndirektion Essen/Ruhr
*F
Reichsbahndirektion Frankfurt/Main
*L
Reichsbahndirektion Halle (Saale)
*H
Reichsbahndirektion Hannover
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
*R
Reichsbahndirektion Karlsruhe
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
*
Reichsbahndirektion Kassel
*K
Reichsbahndirektion Köln
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
*
Reichsbahndirektion Königsberg (Pr.)
*
Reichsbahndirektion Magdeburg (disbanded on 1 October 1931, to ''RBD'' Halle/Saale, Berlin, Altona and Hannover), but see below!
*
Reichsbahndirektion Mainz
*
Reichsbahndirektion Münster
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
(Westf.)
*
Reichsbahndirektion Oldenburg
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
(dissolved on 1 January 1935, to ''RBD'' Münster and Hannover)
*
Reichsbahndirektion Oppeln
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
*
Reichsbahndirektion Osten (in Frankfurt/Oder)
*W
Reichsbahndirektion Schwerin
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
*
Reichsbahndirektion Stettin
*T
Reichsbahndirektion Stuttgart
*S
Reichsbahndirektion Trier
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
(from 1935 ''RBD'' Saarbrücken)
The
Bavarian Group Administration
{{unreferenced, date=October 2024
The Bavarian Group Administration or ''Gruppenverwaltung Bayern'' was a largely autonomous railway administration within the Deutsche Reichsbahn (German Imperial Railways) between the two world wars. It was formed ...
(dissolved at the end of 1933) of the Deutsche Reichsbahn included the:
*
Reichsbahndirektion Augsburg Reichsbahndirektion Augsburg (RBD Augsburg) was a Deutsche Reichsbahn railway division within the Bavarian Group Administration in southern Germany.
The area covered by this division included the province of Swabia in Bavaria and extended into Upp ...
*
Reichsbahndirektion Ludwigshafen/Rhein (dissolved on 1 April 1937, to ''RBD''s Mainz und Saarbrücken)
*M
Reichsbahndirektion München
*N
Reichsbahndirektion Nürnberg
*
Reichsbahndirektion Regensburg Reichsbahndirektion Regensburg (RBD Regensburg) was a Deutsche Reichsbahn railway division within the Bavarian Group Administration in southern Germany with its headquarters at Regensburg, Bavaria.
The area covered by this Reichsbahndirektion, divi ...
*
Reichsbahndirektion Würzburg
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
(dissolved on 1 January 1931, to RBD Nuremberg)
The railway lines of the
Sudetenland
The Sudetenland ( , ; Czech and ) is a German name for the northern, southern, and western areas of former Czechoslovakia which were inhabited primarily by Sudeten Germans. These German speakers had predominated in the border districts of Bohe ...
were allocated to the neighbouring railway divisions of Breslau, Dresden and Regensburg. In 1939, after the annexation of former German imperial and Polish territories into the
German Reich
German ''Reich'' (, from ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty entirely from a continuing unitary German ''Volk'' ("na ...
, two new Reichsbahn divisions were formed:
*
Reichsbahndirektion Danzig for the
Reichsgau
A (plural ) was an administrative subdivision created in a number of areas annexed by Nazi Germany between 1938 and 1945.
Overview
The term was formed from the words (realm, empire) and , the latter a deliberately medieval-sounding word wi ...
of
Danzig-West Prussia
*
Reichsbahndirektion Posen für the Reichsgau of
Wartheland
The Reichsgau Wartheland (initially Reichsgau Posen, also Warthegau) was a Nazi Germany, Nazi German ''Reichsgau'' formed from parts of Second Polish Republic, Polish territory Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, annexed in 1939 during World War ...
Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR (East Germany)
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 ...
in
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 ...
after the
war
War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
added four more divisions to those on its national territory taken over from its predecessor organisation. These took over the responsibility formerly discharged by the divisions in the former eastern territories and by those now in the
Federal Republic of 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 constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...
, keeping the identification letters. The Deutsche Reichsbahn in the GDR continued to refer to them as "Reichsbahn divisions" until its merger into the
Deutsche Bahn AG
(, ; 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 ...
in 1994.
Each Reichsbahn division was headed by a President, who reported to the Ministry of Transport. The Reichsbahn division was subordinated to a Reichsbahn office, local departments to the main functional branches of engineering, wagon maintenance, railway infrastructure, safety and communications, and departments with special tasks to the district. The Reichsbahn division itself was split into groups, run by a group head, and into functional departments (e.g. planning, personnel and training, ledger keeping and statistics). The boundaries of the Reichsbahn divisions took account of the railway network and the territorial structure of the GDR.
GDR Reichsbahn divisions
List of divisions in the Reichsbahn in East Germany:
* Reichsbahndirektion Berlin
* Reichsbahndirektion Cottbus (from 1 October 1945 for
RBD Osten)
* Reichsbahndirektion Dresden
* Reichsbahndirektion Erfurt
* Reichsbahndirektion Greifswald (from 10 October 1945 for
RBD Stettin)
* Reichsbahndirektion Halle
*H Reichsbahndirektion Magdeburg (from 18 August 1945 for
RBD Hannover)
* Reichsbahndirektion Schwerin
* Reichsbahndirektion Wittenberge (from 15 August to 30 September 1945 replaced
RBD Hamburg)
Deutsche Bundesbahn
On the creation of 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 former ''Reichsbahndirektionen'' were renamed ''Bundesbahndirektionen'' (federal railway divisions).
Their area of operations was broadly the same as the former Reichsbahn divisions with the exception of areas which lay in the
GDR
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 ...
and the eastern European countries.
Following the law creating the Bundesbahn the railway divisions were subordinated to the 20-strong governing body of the Bundesbahn, whose members were selected by the federal government. According to the Bundesbahn law, the governing body decided on the presidents of the railway divisions in agreement with the board, as well as the establishment, transfer, dissolution or significant organisational changes to a railway division or a central office of the Deutsche Bundesbahn and any major changes to its districts.
The law also specified that organisational changes had to be carried out with the agreement of the state authorities affected. The final authority was the Federal Minister of Transport.
Bundesbahn divisions
In 1993 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 ...
was divided into the following divisions (in brackets the identification numbers of the traffic operating departments, the construction and engineering departments had this number plus 50):
* Bundesbahndirektion Hamburg
1* Bundesbahndirektion Hannover
3* Bundesbahndirektion Essen
0* Bundesbahndirektion Köln
5* Bundesbahndirektion Frankfurt
1* Bundesbahndirektion Saarbrücken
5* Bundesbahndirektion Karlsruhe
4* Bundesbahndirektion Stuttgart
9* Bundesbahndirektion Nürnberg
2* Bundesbahndirektion München
0
At that time the following divisions had been dissolved and absorbed by other remaining divisions:
* Bundesbahndirektion Augsburg (dissolved on 1 Juni 1971, to BD München)
2* Bundesbahndirektion Mainz (dissolved on 30 April 1972, to BDs Karlsruhe, Frankfurt and Köln)
9* Bundesbahndirektion Münster (dissolved on 31 December 1974, to BDs Essen and Hannover)
1* Bundesbahndirektion Wuppertal (dissolved on 31 December 1974, to BDs Köln and Essen)
8* Bundesbahndirektion Kassel (dissolved on 31 December 1974, to BD Frankfurt)
5* Bundesbahndirektion Regensburg (dissolved on 1 June 1976, to BDs München and Nürnberg)
6
In addition there were departments like the Bundesbahn central offices in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
and
Minden
Minden () is a middle-sized town in the very north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the largest town in population between Bielefeld and Hanover. It is the capital of the district () of Minden-Lübbecke, situated in the cultural region ...
(Westf.) and other central departments, whose ambit covered several divisions.
On the creation of
Deutsche Bahn AG
(, ; 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 ...
in 1994 all the divisions were scrapped and their tasks transferred to new business areas.
Tabular overview
In the following table all the former German railway divisions are listed, together with their affiliations over time. For some of the railway divisions in this table earlier formation dates are given; these are usually the divisions of the former private railway companies.
; Legend
: Time periods:
: 1 = ''Länderbahnen'' to 1866 (In 1866 several states were annexed by Prussia)
: 2 = ''Länderbahnen'' 1866–1895 (In 1895 there was a management reform in the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
)
: 3 = ''Länderbahnen'' 1895–1920 (In 1920 the ''Länderbahnen'' were taken over by 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 ...
)
: 4 = Deutsche Reichsbahn (Gesellschaft) 1920–1945/49 (In 1945/49 Germany was divided)
: 5 = Deutsche Bundesbahn/Deutsche Reichsbahn (GDR) 1949–1994 (In 1991–1994 the DB and DR merged into the
Deutsche Bahn AG
(, ; 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 ...
)
Länderbahn abbreviations:
* Bad =
Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways
Grand Duchy of Baden had its own state-owned railway company, the Grand Duchy of Baden State Railways (''Großherzoglich Badische Staatseisenbahnen or G.Bad.St.E.''), which was founded in 1840. At the time when it was integrated into the Deutsche ...
* Bay =
Royal Bavarian State Railways
The Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.Bay.Sts.B.'') was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German ...
* Bra =
Duchy of Brunswick State Railway
The Duchy of Brunswick State Railway (''Herzoglich Braunschweigische Staatseisenbahn'') was the first Länderbahnen, state railway in German Confederation, Germany. The first section of its Brunswick–Bad Harzburg railway line between Braunschweig ...
(from 1870 part of the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
)
* D-H = Danish-Holstein (King Christian VIII Baltic Sea Railway)
* GOE =
Grand Duchy of Oldenburg State Railways
The Grand Duchy of Oldenburg Railway (''Großherzoglich Oldenburgische Eisenbahn or GOE'') was the railway company that was run as a state railway for the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg (''Großherzogtum Oldenburg''), part of the German Empire.
History ...
(G.O.E., 1867–1920)
* Hann =
Royal Hanoverian State Railways (from 1866 part of the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
)
* Kurh =
Bebra-Hanau railway (Kurhessian State Railway) (from 1866 part of the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
)
* MFF =
Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway
The Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Friedrich-Franz Railway (''Großherzoglich Mecklenburgische Friedrich-Franz-Eisenbahn'' or ''M.F.F.E.'') was the state railway company in Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Mecklenburg-Strelitz. After its second nationalisat ...
* Nas =
Nassau State Railway The Nassau State Railway () took over the privately built railway lines on the Rhine and Lahn rivers in the Duchy of Nassau from the ''Nassau Rhine and Lahn Railway Company'' in 1861 and extended them further. It was taken over by the Prussian State ...
(from 1866 part of the
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
)
* Pr =
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the state of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
* Sä =
Royal Saxon State Railways
The Royal Saxon State Railways () were the state-owned railways operating in the Kingdom of Saxony from 1869 to 1918. From 1918 until their merger into the Deutsche Reichsbahn the title 'Royal' was dropped and they were just called the Saxon State ...
* Wü =
Royal Württemberg State Railways
The Royal Württemberg State Railways (''Königlich Württembergische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.W.St.E.'') were the state railways of the Kingdom of Württemberg (from 1918 the ''People's State of Württemberg'') between 1843 and 1920.
Early ...
* DB =
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 ...
* DR =
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 ...
* DRG =
Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft
The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'' (), also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the re ...
Austria
Former Austro-Hungary
The organisation in
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
dates from a decree of 24 February 1882. According to that a "Royal Imperial Division for State Railway Operations" in Vienna was subordinated to the Trade Ministry and was assigned a state railway governing body. Below that were main railway operating offices (''Oberbahnbetriebsämter'') which were made responsible for overseeing the traffic operations, construction, railway maintenance and train services within a given district.
In
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
, central management of operations was in the hands of a division in
Pest with a director at its head, who had sub-directors appointed to run the various functional branches. The latter exercised a degree of independence of management within their area of business and acted on the board of directors as experts in their own right. Operations, construction, track maintenance and train services for the various operating districts (of 150–600 km in size) were entrusted to operating and traffic managers (like the railway operating offices in Prussia).
Meyers Konversations-Lexikon
or was a major encyclopedia in the German language that existed in various editions, and by several titles, from 1839 to 1984, when it merged with the .
Joseph Meyer (publisher), Joseph Meyer (1796–1856), who had founded the publishing hous ...
– 1888
Annexed Austria
After the annexation of
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
in 1938 into the German Reich the territory operated by the
BBÖ
The Austrian Federal Railways ( , formally or () and formerly the or ''BBÖ'' ), now commonly known as ÖBB (), is the national railway company of Austria, and the administrator of Liechtenstein's railways. The ÖBB group i ...
was allocated to the following Reichsbahn divisions:
*
Reichsbahndirektion Linz
*
Reichsbahndirektion Villach
In Germany and Austria, the running of railway services for a railway administration or the regional network of a large railway company was devolved to railway divisions, variously known as ''Eisenbahndirektionen (ED), Bundesbahndirektionen (BD)'' ...
*
Reichsbahndirektion Wien
Austria
* Eisenbahndirektion Wien / from August 1945 "General Division of the Austrian State Railways" (ÖstB), later "General Division of the Austrian Federal Railways" (ÖBB) and "Bundesbahndirektion" (federal division).
* Eisenbahndirektion Linz, later "Bundesbahndirektion"
* Eisenbahndirektion Villach, later "Bundesbahndirektion"
* Eisenbahndirektion Innsbruck, later "Bundesbahndirektion"
Poland
German Ostbahn
After the invasion of Poland the Deutsche Reichsbahn (DRB) organised the railway routes in the so-called ''Generalgouvernement'' on 1 November 1939 into the "General Division of the Eastern Railway" (''Generaldirektion der Ostbahn'') (GEDOB) with its headquarters in
Kraków
, officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...
(Krakau). The majority of the staff of the
Deutsche Ostbahn came from Germany; Polish citizens were only permitted to be employed in the lower ranks. The rolling stock on the Ostbahn came from the former
Polish State Railways
The Polish State Railways ( , abbr.: PKP S.A.) is a Polish state-owned holding company (legally a sole-shareholder company of the State Treasury) comprising the rail transport holdings of the country's formerly dominant namesake railway oper ...
(PKP).
*
Generaldirektion der Ostbahn
**Präsident
Adolf Gerteis
Literature
*Hansjürgen Wenzel: ''Kriegsende und Eisenbahnorganisation'', in: ''Eisenbahn-Kurier'' 5/95, S. 44–49.
*Michael Reimer, Volkmar Kubitzki: ''Eisenbahn in Polen 1939–1945 – Die Geschichte der Generaldirektion der Ostbahn.''
See also
*
History of rail transport in Germany
The history of rail transport in Germany can be traced back to the 16th century. The earliest form of railways, wagonways, were developed in Germany in the 16th century. Modern German rail history officially began with the opening of the steam-pow ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Railway Divisions in Germany
History of rail transport in Germany