The ''Van Beethoven'' was an international train linking the Dutch capital

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

and the West German capital

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. The train was named after the Bonn-born composer

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. The ''Van Beethoven'' was the successor of the '' TEE Rhein–Main'' on the same route and schedule. The route of the ''Rhein–Main'' was shortened to Amsterdam - Bonn in the autumn of 1971, thus ending the relation with the

Main Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name *Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...

eventually resulting in renaming the TEE to ''Van Beethoven''. Travellers wanting to go to

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 ...

in the evening could proceed from Bonn using the TEE Saphir arriving in Frankfurt eight minutes later than the former ''Rhein-Main''. On request of German members of parliament the route was extended to

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

in 1976, resulting in an arrival around 1:30 a.m. In 1978, 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 ...

decided to reinstate the Amsterdam Frankfurt service with timed connections to Nürnberg arriving at a decent time (23:58). On 26 May 1979, the ''Van Beethoven'' was converted in a two-class InterCity. The ''Van Beethoven'' was continued as international service until 1983 and afterwards served several different routes in Germany until the end of 2002. La Légende des TEE p. 328.

References

Works cited

* * * {{Trans Europ Express trains International named passenger trains Named passenger trains of Germany Named passenger trains of the Netherlands Trans Europ Express Railway services introduced in 1973 Ludwig van Beethoven