Gerstungen station

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Barley
Reception building
Gerstunger reception building
Data
Design Separation station
Platform tracks 3
abbreviation UGT
IBNR 8011629
Price range 6th
opening 1849
Profile on Bahnhof.de Barley
location
City / municipality Barley
country Thuringia
Country Germany
Coordinates 50 ° 57 '54 "  N , 10 ° 3' 55"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 57 '54 "  N , 10 ° 3' 55"  E
Railway lines
Railway stations in Thuringia
i16 i16

The station Gerstungen is located in the same municipality in the Wartburgkreis on the western border of Thuringia . The station has achieved particular importance several times in its history as a border station between different states and railway administrations.

history

Site plan of the Gerstungen railway systems around 1860

In September 1849 Gerstungen received a railway connection. On September 25, 1849, the Thuringian Railway opened the last section of its "main line" from Eisenach to Gerstungen, three days earlier the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Nordbahn had put its route from Bebra to Gerstungen into operation.

The Thuringian Railway ended in the Thuringian railway station, the Friedrich-Wilhelms-Nordbahn in the Hessian railway station. These two stations, which were barely 100 meters away from each other, were connected by a continuous rail line, but constitutional treaties prevented unrestricted rail traffic. Travelers had to change trains or were even forced to look for accommodation in Gerstungen. Hostels and highly frequented restaurants were built near the train station . The freight traffic was also from that small states affected. Freight wagons had to be reloaded in Gerstungen, which resulted in unnecessary loss of time and often damage. The rolling stock of the railway companies should not be mixed up. Only military transports and special trains received special permits. Since the change of traction and reloading required a lot of staff, numerous railway workers settled near the station, so that the population of Gerstungen increased by over 500 people due to railway staff and their families.

With the establishment of the Reich in 1871, the Prussian State Railways received the order to standardize the rail networks in the Reich. This quickly led to the overcoming of small states on the rail network. In 1882 both railway companies were bought up by the Prussian State Railways and the Hessian railway station was closed. Gerstungen acquired special operational importance in 1898 as the main marshalling yard between Kassel and Weißenfels . Since the opening of the Gerstungen – Berka line on October 1, 1903, which was gradually extended to Vacha until 1905 , Gerstungen station has been a separation station . During the Second World War , the station was recorded as a strategic target and bombed in 1944, where adjacent houses were hit and several residents were killed. Moving trains were also attacked from the air in the Gerstungen – Eisenach section.

Border station

The ruins of the border station shortly before the demolition, March 2012

After 1945, Gerstungen station was severely affected by the division of Germany between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany . This initially affected numerous war returnees and refugees who were transferred to assembly camps via Herleshausen and Bebra.

Smuggling was already flourishing during the US occupation of Thuringia, and from July 1945 the locations near the border near Eisenach became the scene of escape from the Soviet occupation zone and the GDR due to their convenient location . The rail traffic to the western neighboring towns of Eisenach was therefore checked accordingly.

Passenger trains to Gerstungen were locked at Wartha station to prevent them from jumping off in the Hessian area around Herleshausen station. In 1952, passenger traffic to Eisenach was stopped. As an alternative, bus routes have been set up for passenger transport to Gerstungen.

The track systems were used for freight traffic (especially potash mining) and passing interzonal trains , whose border clearance on the GDR side already took place in the Wartha train station. Military trains of the occupying powers traveling to and from West Berlin passed the station without any controls.

On April 13, 1962, the Förtha – Gerstungen railway line was inaugurated, branching off the Werrabahn at Förtha station and bypassing the German area around Herleshausen. Inland traffic from Gerstungen towards Eisenach was resumed via Förtha . From September 28, 1963, the border clearance of the interzone trains was relocated from Wartha to Gerstungen, and the trains have been using the new route since then. The old route via Wartha was only used to a small extent for freight traffic. From 1963 to 1978, a pair of freight trains ran on the old route every day, it served to supply the border towns with fuel and industrial goods. In Gerstungen, part of the VEB (K) Thüringer Dachziegelwerke, was one of the largest brickworks in Thuringia, which was indispensable for the reconstruction after the war.

The Gerstungen border station was significantly rebuilt. In 1966/67, a separate section of the station was set up on the north side of the station to handle the interzonal trains. The old part of the station was redesigned to become a terminus and served the passenger trains to Eisenach. Both parts of the station were connected by a 150 meter long tunnel . There were extensive facilities for freight traffic between the two parts. A special feature were potash trains that came from the Philippsthal and Heringen area in Hesse and, due to the lack of a direct route to the remaining network of the Deutsche Bundesbahn , drove over the Gerstungen – Vacha railway line to the GDR and changed direction in Gerstungen before heading back to the Federal Republic of Germany to lead. A number of security measures, such as protective switches , prevented unauthorized persons from entering the trains or trains traveling towards the Federal Republic without authorization from the border authorities. In contrast to most of the other border stations between the GDR and the Federal Republic of Germany, no crossing between interzonal trains and domestic trains was possible, and boarding and alighting was generally not permitted on interzonal trains. While this fact was referred to separately in earlier DR foreign course books, in later years the stop in the train station was no longer shown. Five deaths are documented - three German citizens, a Gerstung citizen and another GDR citizen who died of stress-related heart failure during border controls or during interrogations in the station area.

A miniature replica of the Gerstung border station can be viewed at the Modellisenbahnfreunden Bremen eV (on the grounds of the Jacobs University in Bremen-Burg).

After the fall of the wall

The ruins of the water tower and engine shed shortly before demolition, March 2012

After the fall of the Berlin Wall , Gerstungen gradually lost its function as a border control station. The express trains stopping in Gerstungen were allowed to get on and off, and the number of trains across the border increased significantly. On March 3, 1990, Willy Brandt traveled to Thuringia on the D 455 and spoke to numerous residents during a stop at the Gerstung train station. For this purpose, a small speaker's platform was set up on the platform .

In September 1990, the express trains stopped in Gerstungen. In 1991 the Deutsche Bundesbahn extended its local trains from Bebra, which until then ended in the Hessian Obersuhl , to Gerstungen. In the direction of Eisenach, however, it was mostly still necessary to change trains until 1992, as there was still no track connection from the original station part in the direction of Hesse and the trains had to use the old border station. On May 25, 1991 the traditional line of the Thuringian Railway via Wartha went back into operation as a single track after 13 years of inactivity. Until its double-track completion on September 27, 1992, the local trains still used the bypass route via Förtha. This was no longer needed afterwards. On July 19, 1994, the Federal Railway Authority approved the closure of the line, which was dismantled in the following years.

On May 28, 1995, electrical operation between Bebra and Neudietendorf and thus also in Gerstungen station was started. On June 16, 1996, the Eisenach electronic signal box went into full operation. Since then, the entire section between Gerstungen and Gotha has been controlled from there, the local signal boxes went out of service. In Werratal Museum Gerstungen a separate showroom has been set up on the history of Gerstunger station. Historical railway technology and numerous photo documents are shown.

In May 2012, the demolition of the depot and the border station began to make room for a solar park. The former roundhouse and the water tower were also removed.

Todays situation

Cantus Verkehrsgesellschaft has been serving the RB6 line ( Bebra –Gerstungen– Eisenach ) Gerstungen every hour on weekdays and every 2 hours on weekends and public holidays since 2006 . The transport contract runs until 2031. The Gerstungen – Vacha line has been used exclusively for freight traffic from Gerstungen since 1952 . The entire station building has been owned by a catering company since July 2012. The former Mitropa is used as a ballroom. Access to the entrance hall is blocked by a wall, access to the train station is via the side parking areas.

Platforms

track Length in m Height in cm use
1 156 38 Direction Eisenach
2 156 38 Towards Bebra
3 156 38 Towards Bebra

Fulda – Gerstungen railway project

The railway project for the expansion / new line between Fulda and Gerstungen is an important part of the expansion of the long-distance network of Deutsche Bahn. As part of the Frankfurt – Erfurt corridor, it should connect the existing and already developed long-distance routes. Together with the expansion / construction of the Frankfurt – Fulda route, the project aims to enable additional capacity and reduced travel times on the Frankfurt – Fulda – Erfurt – Berlin corridor.

literature

  • Bernd Kuhlmann: Trains through the wall and barbed wire . GVE, Berlin 1998, ISBN 3-89218-050-4
  • Peter Bock: Interzonal Trains . Geramond, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-7654-7118-6
  • Bernd Kuhlmann: Station in West Thuringia. The DR border station Gerstungen. In: German-German border stations. The "outposts" of the Federal Railroad and Reichsbahn (= Bahn extra . Vol. 27, No. 5 = No. 144). GeraMond, Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3-86245-216-3 , pp. 34–43.

Web links

Commons : Bahnhof Gerstungen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerd Bergmann, Otto Mayer: The railway in the Wartburgland. The Thuringian Railway. Prussia's railway policy up to the turn of the century . In: Eisenacher Tourismus Information (ed.): Eisenacher writings on local history . Issue 35. Druck- und Verlagshaus Frisch, Eisenach 1987, p. 6-22 .
  2. ^ Gerd Bergmann, Otto Mayer: The railway in the Wartburgland. In: Eisenacher Tourismus Information (ed.): Eisenacher writings on local history . Issue 35. Druck- und Verlagshaus Frisch, Eisenach 1987, p. 35 .
  3. ↑ a b Bernd Kuhlmann, Trains through the Wall and Barbed Wire, pp. 30–33, GVE-Verlag 1998, ISBN 3-89218-050-4
  4. ↑ Jürgen Gruhle: Without God and Sunshine. tape 3 . (Old districts Eisenach, Heiligenstadt and Mühlhausen). Self-published, Nauendorf 2002, ISBN 3-8311-3801-X .
  5. ^ Harassment for trains and travelers . In: Süderländer Tageblatt . Edition of June 17, 2009. Plettenberg 2009, p.  4 - Plettenberg local edition .
  6. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn, foreign course book winter 1971/72
  7. ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn, Foreign Course Book 1984/85
  8. ^ Alfred Hüttner: Pictures from the construction of the route in 1961 . In: Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Gerstungen (Hrsg.): New Werra newspaper Gerstungen . 4 JG, number 20.Inform Verlag Langewiesen, Gerstungen 1996, p. 13 .
  9. ↑ http://www.mbf-bremen.de/gerstungen.html
  10. ^ Karlheinz Schmedding: On March 3, 1990, Willy Brandt spoke at the former Gerstungen border station . In: Paul-Joseph Raue (Hrsg.): Heimatblätter to history, culture and nature . tape 3 . JA Koch, printing and publishing house, Marburg 1993, ISBN 3-924269-95-5 , p. 125-126 .
  11. ↑ List of federally closed lines in the state of Thuringia that have been closed since 1994. (XLSX) Federal Railway Authority , accessed on October 23, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Bahn-Report , 4/2012, p. 61
  13. ↑ Thüringer Allgemeine, regional part Eisenacher Allgemeine from December 16, 2011, p. 2
  14. ↑ a b Station equipment for scaffolding. DB Station & Service AG, accessed on October 23, 2019 .