Großheringen – Saalfeld railway line

		from Halle (Saale)
	-0.831	Abzw Saaleck
	0.247	Abzw Großheringen Gho
		according to Bebra
		Saale bridge Großheringen (275 m)
		of large herring
	1.685	Abzw Großheringen Ghs
		von Zeitz (1897–1945)
	8.140	Camburg (Saale)
	15.239	Dornburg (Saale)
		von Crossen (Elster) (1905–1969)
	19.618	Porstendorf
	22.661	Jena- Zwatzen
	25.545	Jena hall station
	27.115	Jena paradise
		Weimar – Gera main station
		from Weimar

	32.340	Jena-Göschwitz ( wedge station )

		to Gera Hbf
	33.400	Saaletalbrücke Jena ( federal motorway 4 )
	36.224	Rothenstein (Saale)
	39.200	Awanst Schöps
	41.758	Kahla (Thür) (formerly Bf)
	45.300	Grosseutersdorf (1944–1945)
	46.400	Awanst REIMAHG (1944–1945)
	47.354	Orlamünde
		to Oppurg
	51,372	Zeutsch
	55.125	Uhlstädt (formerly Bf)
	60.420	Kirchhasel (until 1993)
	63.000	Rudolstadt Gbf
	64,543	Rudolstadt (Thür)
	68.740	Rudolstadt-Schwarza
		to Bad Blankenburg (1884–2000)
		Schwarza Saale Bridge (114 m)
		from Arnstadt
		from Leipzig-Leutzsch
	74,550	Saalfeld (Saale)
		according to Probstzella

The Großheringen – Saalfeld railway line (also: Saalbahn or Saalebahn ) is an electrified, double-track main line in Thuringia , which was originally built and operated by the Saal-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft . It leads along the Saale from Großheringen to Saalfeld . Until the opening of the Ebensfeld – Leipzig high-speed line at the end of 2017, it was part of the German north-south main connection between Berlin , Leipzig , Nuremberg and Munich .

The term Saalbahn, based on the Saal-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , which also gave the Jena Saalbahnhof its name, is hardly used. In the colloquial language of the people along the route, the name Saalebahn is more common, analogous to the river name. Saaleisenbahn can also be found as a route name in literature.

history

Since 1850 there have been efforts of local railway committees in the Saale valley to build a railway line. The university town of Jena , in particular , strove to be connected to the emerging railway network. However, the different interests of the small Thuringian states affected prevented the plans from being implemented for a long time. Only after the state treaty of October 8, 1870 between Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach , Saxony-Meiningen , Saxony-Altenburg and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt , was the newly founded Saal-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft granted the concession to build and operate a railway line on April 3, 1871 Large herring issued via Jena, Rudolstadt to Saalfeld.

The route is based on a design by Oberbergrats Carl Grote from Hanover. He envisaged two versions for the north-south direction through Thuringia: from Halle up the hall via Jena, Rudolstadt and further over the Thuringian Forest to Nuremberg; and from Leipzig via Zeitz , Lobeda to Rudolstadt. In 1840 the railway pioneer Friedrich List worked together with the industrialist Joseph Meyer on building the railway through Thuringia. The latter tried as early as 1837 to implement a central German railway network by subscribing to shares, but failed because the governments involved refused to grant concessions. In 1846 he published the program for a German central railway network , but his plans stalled due to the revolutions of 1848/1849 , as he was jailed as a supporter for a press offense. The execution of the Werra Railway was withdrawn from him , which led to the construction of the Saale Railway being delayed.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place near Rothenstein on October 23, 1871 . During the construction period major difficulties arose when crossing the Saale near Schwarza . Before the bridge was built, the river had to be straightened. Groundwater made the foundation work of the bridge piers difficult. A first test train from Jena to Rudolstadt crossed the bridge on January 24th, 1874. On April 30th, 1874, the entire line was officially opened. In Großheringen , three months later, on August 14, 1874, the line of the Saal-Unstrut Railway Company via Sömmerda to Straussfurt was opened. This line was operated by the Nordhausen-Erfurt Railway Company . About a decade later, two branch lines were connected to the Saale Railway , namely the Rudolstadt-Schwarza – Bad Blankenburg line and then the line from Orlamünde to Pößneck . The hall flood from 24./25. November 1890 (10.1 meters above normal) six dams broke, and four bridges and culverts were destroyed. The water was up to 25 cm above the upper edge of the rail and put a considerable strain on the substructure. The railway pioneer regiment No. 1 from Berlin with 50 men, as well as 600 other workers, were used for the repair on site. Rail operations on the entire line were only resumed on December 20, 1890.

Platforms of the Jena Saalbahnhof

In the beginning it was only a route of regional importance which connected the Thuringian trunk line in Großheringen , running from Bebra via Erfurt to Weißenfels , with the north-south route from Weißenfels via Gera in Saalfeld. Due to economic failures and under Prussian pressure, the Prussian law of July 16, 1895 sold the Saalbahn for 16,532,028 marks to Prussia and assigned it to the Royal Railway Directorate in Erfurt . It was not until 1899 that the connecting railway east was put into operation near Großheringen, which allowed Großheringen to be bypassed. As a result, the trains coming from Weißenfels drove directly to Saalfeld via the 25 kilometers shorter Saalbahn (than via Gera). Even after the double-track expansion began in 1903, the Saalbahn became one of the most important north-south routes in Germany , together with the subsequent route to Probstzella and the Franconian Forest route to Lichtenfels, which continued on the Bavarian side . Between 1936 and 1939, among other things, the long-distance express railcars , which connected Berlin with Munich and Stuttgart, ran on the Saalbahn and achieved an average speed of 95 km / h. From 1935 to mid-1941, the line was electrified, thus connecting the central and southern German networks.

Railway bridge on the east connecting line (2017)

After the Second World War , in 1946, the Soviet military administration had all components for electrical operation and the second track dismantled as part of the reparation payments . Due to the division of Germany , the line lost its importance as a north-south railway in the following four decades, but remained important for the Saale valley with Saalfeld as an important marshalling yard . At that time there was one of eight railway border crossings in Probstzella , which is why the Saalbahn was also used by interzonal trains. From 1981 the line could be used again on two tracks, previously a northern section of the line to Camburg had been electrified in 1967. With the reunification of Germany in 1990, the Saalbahn once again became an important long-distance rail link between central and southern Germany. It was completely electrified again until 1995 and renovated until 2005. As of December 2017, the high-speed line from Ebensfeld to Leipzig, running west via Erfurt, has taken over the long-distance transport function of the curved and therefore slower Saalbahn. In 2007, an ICE took 53 minutes for the 85-kilometer Naumburg – Saalfeld section, which corresponds to an average travel speed of 96 km / h.

The name Saalbahn is also historical and has hardly any meaning today. In the colloquial language of the people along the route, the name Saalebahn is more common, analogous to the river name.

Route

The historic Saalbahn has its starting point at Großheringen station and crosses the Ilm with the connecting railway west . The east connection line begins at the Saaleck junction at 55.89 kilometers on the Halle – Bebra line, crosses the Saale and joins the west connection line at the Großheringen Ghs junction after 2.2 kilometers. As far as Rudolstadt-Schwarza, where the Saale is crossed, the route runs on the orographic left side of the river. The federal highway 88 runs parallel to the railway line from Camburg to Schwarza and the federal highway 85 from Schwarza to Saalfeld . The difference in altitude between Großheringen and Saalfeld is 99 meters, the maximum slope gradient 1: 200 (5 ‰). Since the line follows the course of the Saale, there are eighty curved tracks, the smallest radius of which is 450 meters, which means that the maximum speed of 120 km / h is comparatively low. For trains with tilting technology , on the other hand, speeds of up to 160 km / h are possible in so-called arc-fast operation.

literature

Werner Drescher: The Saalbahn - The history of the railway between Großheringen, Jena and Saalfeld . EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2004, ISBN 3-88255-586-6 .

Web links

Commons : Großheringen – Saalfeld railway line - collection of images, videos and audio files

Course, operating points and permissible speeds on the OpenRailwayMap
Operating points and pictures of the Saalbahn

Individual evidence

↑ Hans-Joachim Kirsche: Railway Directorate Erfurt 1882-1993. Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-933254-76-4 , p. 50
^ Carl Grote: "Railway System for Germany", Göttingen, 1834
↑ ^a ^b ^c 100 years of the Saalebahn from Großheringen to Saalfeld ; In: Thuringia - regional history sheets of the federal state team Thuringia eV; Mainz; April 1974, 22nd year, issue 13, p. 61ff

[1] Hans-Joachim Kirsche: Railway Directorate Erfurt 1882-1993. Verlag Bernd Neddermeyer, Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-933254-76-4 , p. 50

[2] Carl Grote: "Railway System for Germany", Göttingen, 1834

[lb-3] 100 years of the Saalebahn from Großheringen to Saalfeld ; In: Thuringia - regional history sheets of the federal state team Thuringia eV; Mainz; April 1974, 22nd year, issue 13, p. 61ff