Förtha – Gerstungen railway line
| Förtha (Kr Eisenach) –Gerstungen | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Route number (DB) : | 6294 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Course book section (DB) : | 631 (1991) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Route length: | 15.8 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 20 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Förtha – Gerstungen line was a single-track main line in the GDR ( Thuringia ). It existed from 1962 to 1992 to bypass the Herleshausen - Wommen section of the Halle – Bebra railway line in western Germany (in Hesse ) .
history
As a result of the increased cordoning off of the inner-German border in August 1961, the GDR Transport Minister Erwin Kramer announced an action plan at an emergency meeting on September 18, 1961 with the aim of immediately building a new rail link between the Gerstungen and Förtha stations. The reason for this was the fact that the Halle – Bebra line between Eisenach and Gerstungen crossed the inner-German border several times, which became more and more of a problem with increasing border security and finally the construction of the wall. The order of the GDR Minister of Transport envisaged a 13.3 kilometer long single-track new line as well as a parallel 9.8 kilometer road as well as a railway connecting curve of 0.9 km at Förtha, which, with massive use of manpower, technology and material from October 1961 to April 1962 were erected. The land acquisition required for this took place through confiscation and was legitimized with reference to the GDR Defense Act .
construction
The preparations and clearing work began on September 20, 1961, the earthworks on October 1, 1961. The project planning companies for the entire project, the design and surveying company of the Deutsche Reichsbahn (EVDR) and the state-owned company (VEB) Straßenwesen Erfurt, had to carry out the project planning work within run less days. Around 6000 construction workers from all districts of the GDR were deployed to build the route . In order to prevent attempts to escape , the workers were accommodated in the hinterland. Although the state security and other security forces continuously monitored the construction work, minor acts of sabotage such as cut communication and power cables, compressed air lines and destroyed car tires were reported. 33 construction workers were able to flee to the west during this time. A construction machinist from the Dresden district , who was arrested on the run near Sallmannshausen and sentenced to 16 months in prison, had less luck . The Eisenach local newspaper reported on the case in detail in order to encourage the population to be more vigilant.
For the superstructure of the bridge over the Werra near Gerstungen, the superstructure of the Werra bridge near Frankenroda of the closed Treffurt-Mihla railway line was reused. From December 12, 1961, the Werra ice drifted into a dramatic flood at the bridge construction site . Drift ice hindered the construction work for several days and tore a pontoon of the temporary bridge from its anchorage. The pontoon could be intercepted, but at the same time the flood threatened to flood large areas of this construction site.
Project data
The construction project comprised the construction of seven concrete bridges and viaducts as well as numerous earth embankments and land cuts, some of them through massive rock.
The final balance of building materials shows:
- 3.6 million cubic meters of earth for railway and road embankments
- 3.2 million cubic meters of rock for railway and road embankments
- 30,000 tons of ballast for the track bed
- 80,000 tons of road gravel
- 45,000 tons of gravel
- 12,250 cubic meters of concrete for bridges and viaducts
- 719 tons of steel construction
- 157 tons of reinforcing steel
- 6250 sleepers
- 14,858 meters of track
- 2776 precast concrete elements
Furthermore, the railway technology of three signal boxes was upgraded.
The construction machines used were:
- 600 tippers
- 180 dumpers
- 110 excavators
- 86 tracked vehicles
- 38 flatbed vehicles
- 50 drilling rigs
15 locomotives and a construction train were provided for rail transport. The bridges were built with ten building cranes and three special cranes (Derrick type) .
business
On April 13, 1962, the train service began. The line was laid out on a single track and was partly very steep. Approximately in the middle of the line, at km 8.3, there was a double-track crossing station on Dietrichsberg .
Despite the steep inclines and the risk of landslides, the GDR had the advantage of having unhindered access to the important Gerstungen train station . From 1963 this was the border station to the Federal Republic of Germany. Among other things also were Kalitransporte from Dippach for processing by Dorndorf for potash plant VEB unit Dorndorf (Rhon) enabled. The mine in Dippach also belonged to this company. After the end of potash mining in Dippach and Abteroda , the connection line from Marksuhl to the Elte junction became superfluous as early as 1967; a second track on the Werra Railway led directly from the Marksuhl station to the Elte junction without any further points. However, it was briefly put into operation again during construction work in the early 1980s. Cross-border freight traffic was still partly routed through the Thuringian Railway between Gerstungen, Wartha and Eisenach until August 1, 1978 due to the more favorable incline . Only then was all traffic handled via Förtha.
Decline and shutdown after the fall of the Wall
With the reopening of the line in the Werra Valley as a result of German reunification , the line quickly lost its importance from 1991. As early as the spring of 1991, the route via Herleshausen was once again open to traffic, on September 26, 1992 the second track was put back into operation, making the route via Förtha superfluous. On September 27, 1992, the train service on the line was therefore stopped and the track dismantled in 1993. The approval of the line closure by the Federal Railway Authority took place on July 19, 1994 with effect from September 25, 1994. Today, not much is reminiscent of the line - besides the tracks, most of the bridges have already been dismantled down to the pillars and abutments, ruins of the signal box buildings and telecommunications booths still exist. The route is still clearly visible.
Long-distance transport
In 1963, the Wartha border station was closed. Since then, the interzonal trains and the transit trains to West Berlin, monitored by the transport police, have operated from the new Gerstungen border station, which is strictly guarded by the GDR border troops, via Förtha to Eisenach.
Up to the 1973/74 annual timetable, the passenger trains were mainly driven by class 01.5 steam locomotives (some with a leader locomotive ) to and from Bebra . The freight trains were always hauled by the Deutsche Bundesbahn to and from Gerstungen. According to the Railway Border Convention, which was concluded in 1972, all trains in Gerstungen were transferred to Deutsche Bundesbahn locomotives from 1973 .
In 1970, Chancellor Willy Brandt's special train traveled the route on the occasion of the summit meeting with Willi Stoph in Erfurt .
After the GDR borders were opened , the first IC Johann Sebastian Bach ran from Frankfurt / Main to Leipzig on May 27, 1990 .
Relics
Remains of the railway line and Werra bridge near Gerstungen (2009)
Pillar of the flood bridge near Gerstungen (2009)
Road viaduct near Förtha - eastern bridgehead (2008)
literature
- Manfred Lückert : With steam to the GDR - Bebra – Gerstungen – Eisenach – Gotha – Erfurt railway (1951–1963) . Verlag Rockstuhl , Bad Langensalza 2005, ISBN 978-3-937135-76-2 , p. 48 .
- Dieter Schuster-Wald: Interzone traffic between Bebra and Eisenach . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1996, ISBN 3-88255-420-7 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Gerd Bergmann, Otto Mayer: The railway in the Wartburgland . In: District commission for research into the history of the local labor movement in the district leadership of the SED, Pedagogical District Cabinet and Eisenach information (ed.): Eisenacher Schriften zur Heimatkunde . Issue 35. Druck- und Verlagshaus Frisch, Eisenach 1987, p. 47-49 .
- ↑ (From the courtroom) His intentions failed . In: Eisenacher Current Newspaper . April 5, 1962, p. 3 .
- ^ Rainer Lämmerhirt : The Werratal Railway 1907-1969, Rockstuhl Verlag, Bad Langensalza, ISBN 9783938997949 , page 85
- ^ Alfred Hüttner: Pictures from the construction of the route in 1961 . In: Verwaltungsgemeinschaft Gerstungen (Hrsg.): New Werra newspaper Gerstungen . 4th year, no. 20 . Inform Verlag Langewiesen, Gerstungen 1996, p. 12-14 .
- ↑ Reiner Schruft: Förtha - Gerstungen. Retrieved June 20, 2018 .
- ↑ Disused routes in Germany. In: Lists and statistics on line closures. Federal Railway Office, November 21, 2018, accessed on May 29, 2019 .
- ↑ Reiner Schruft: Förtha - Dietrichsberg. Retrieved June 20, 2018 .
- ↑ Reiner Schruft: Dietrichsberg - Gerstungen. Retrieved June 20, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Ralf Roman Rossberg : limit on German rails 1945-1990 . 2nd Edition. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1991, ISBN 3-88255-829-6 , p. 157 .