Gumbinnen – Goldap railway line
Construction of the Gumbinnen – Goldap railway began in 1907 and was not completed until 1927.
history
In 1860 the city of Gumbinnen ( Russian: Gussew ) was connected to the rail network when the last section of the Prussian Eastern Railway from Königsberg (Prussia) (Kaliningrad) to Eydtkuhnen (1938 to 1946: Eydtkau, Russian: Chernyshevskoje ) was completed.
The decision soon matured to establish a connection from Gumbinnen to the touristically attractive Rominter Heide ( Russian Krasny Les , Polish Puszcza Romincka ). The funds were only made available for this in 1904 and in 1907 the first section of the route from Gumbinnen to Tollmingkehmen (1938 to 1946: Tollmingen, in Russian Tschistyje Prudy ) was built. In Tollmingkehmen, the railway line crossed the Goldap – Stallupönen railway line, which was built in 1901 .
It should only take a year before the second section of the route from Tollmingkehmen to Szittkehmen (1938 to 1946: Wehrkirchen, Polish Żytkiejmy ) went into operation and the goal of connecting the Rominter Heide could be achieved.
In the south of the Rominter Heide, Kaiser Wilhelm II had the Rominten hunting lodge built. It was in a preferred area for imperial and Prussian state hunts. Reichsjägermeister Hermann Göring later sought out the Rominter Heide as a target for his hunting ventures.
This was reason enough to build a railway line that was named "Kaiserbahn". It led from the district town of Goldap to Szittkehmen, where it merged with the Gumbinnen railway line. It was completed in three sections: in 1923 from Goldap to Dubeningken (1938 to 1945: Dubeningen, Polish Dubeninki ), 1926 from Dubeningken to Blindgallen (1938 to 1945: Schneegrund, Polish Błąkały ) and in 1927 from Blindgallen to Szittkehmen.
In 1941 a freight railway to Bachanowo was opened, a planned extension to Sudauen was not carried out.
Before 1945, the 90.1 kilometer long route was under the authority of the Reichsbahndirektion Königsberg (Prussia) . It went through the districts of Gumbinnen , Stallupönen (1938 to 1945: Ebenrode) and Goldap .
Current condition
The railway line was not put back into service after being destroyed in the war and has been dismantled on both Russian and Polish territory. On both sides of the border ruins of former viaducts over the Rominte remind of the former railway line at Olchowatka (Großwaltersdorf / Walterkehmen) in Russia and in Poland at Stańczyki (Staatshausen), Kiepojcie (Eszergallen), Barcie (Thewelkehmen) and Jurkiszki (Jörkischken); three of these bridges are double viaducts and were built in 1917/1918. For example, a bridge over a stream at Jemeljanowka (Schackummen / Eichkamp) , over a road at Kalinino (Mehlkehmen / Birkenmühle) and several road bridges over the railway line have been preserved.
literature
- Ryszard Stankiewicz and Marcin Stiasny: Atlas Linii Kolejowych Polski 2014 . Eurosprinter, Rybnik 2014, ISBN 978-83-63652-12-8 , pp. A11-12
- Siegfried Bufe (Ed.): Railways in West and East Prussia. Egglham 1986, ISBN 3-922138-24-1 .
- German course book. Complete edition of the Reichsbahn course books; Issue from January 21, 1940 of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, Oberbetriebsleitung East Berlin. Reprint 1st edition. 1988.
- Dieter Zeigert : Disappeared tracks. The "Kaiserbahn" Goldap-Szittkehmen. Fragments of the East Prussian railway history . 2nd edition, ed. from the district community Goldap / Ostpreußen eV, Stade 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-034548-7 .
Web links
- The Gumbinnen – Tollmingkehmen – Szittkehmen railway line. In: Contributions to East Prussian railway history. Retrieved February 28, 2015 .
- The Goldap-Szittkehmen circuit. In: Goldap-Szittkehmen-Tollmingkehmen-Goldap railway cycle path. Retrieved March 20, 2015 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Gumbinnen district: The railway, by Reichsbahnrat Walther
- ↑ a b History of the Goldap district
- ↑ a b Dieter Zeigert: Disappeared tracks. The "Kaiserbahn" Goldap-Szittkehmen. Stade 2011, ISBN 978-3-00-034548-7 .