Berlin electric trams
The Berliner Elektro Straßenbahnen Aktien-Gesellschaft (BESTAG for short) was an operator of electric trams that existed between 1899 and 1920 and emerged from the electric trams operated by Siemens & Halske in Berlin . That is why it was popularly known as the Siemensbahn . The tram line between Gesundbrunnen and Pankow , opened by Siemens & Halske in 1895, was the first electric tram in what was then Berlin . In 1896 a second route was opened from Friedrichstadt to the grounds of the Berlin trade fair in Treptower Park . By 1916, further routes to French-Buchholz and Rosenthal were added, as well as the connection of both subnetworks through the Lindentunnel . In 1919 the city of Berlin, in whose majority ownership the shares of the company were located, converted the company into a municipal operation ; In December 1920, the merger with the Great Berlin Tram (GBS) and the Urban Tram (SSB) to the Berlin Tram (BSt) followed. The lines from Pankow to Buchholz and Rosenthal are still part of the Berlin tram network , but the other lines built and operated by BESTAG have been closed.
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history
Beginnings
In the early 1890s, the rural community of Pankow, which had been connected to Berlin via a horse-drawn tram of the Great Berlin Horse Railway (from 1898: Great Berlin Tram [GBS]) since 1874, expressed its interest in a horse-drawn railway connection to Gesundbrunnen. An offer from Siemens & Halske provided for an electric train. In April 1893 the two sides signed a contract. The city of Berlin, after hesitating for the first time, approved the construction in May 1894. While construction on the Pankow side was already beginning at this time, there was still resistance on the Berlin side to the construction of the overhead lines; the necessary approval of the police chief was only given on March 19, 1895 and was valid for 50 years. The opening of this first electric Berlin tram line from the intersection of Prinzenallee and Badstrasse to Pankow was on September 10, 1895. The 3.35 km long route, 900 meters of which was in Berlin, was largely double-track and led from Gesundbrunnen over Prinzenallee, Wollankstrasse , Breite Strasse and Damerowstrasse at the corner of Mendelstrasse. Because of the narrow streets, the return trip took place from Breite Straße via Spandauer Straße (today Wilhelm-Kuhr-Straße) and Kreuzstraße to Wollankstraße. The car sequence was ten minutes. Payment boxes were used on working days , and on Sundays the fare was collected by conductors . The vehicles received their traction current from the overhead contact line via a hoop pantograph - a technology developed by Siemens engineer Walter Reichel in 1887. GBS, however, used roller pantographs for the electrification of its route network .
The second line was created independently of the Pankower Line on the occasion of the trade exhibition in Treptower Park, the concession for this was granted on April 23, 1896. The first section from Görlitzer Bahnhof via Wiener Straße , Wiener Brücke , Lohmühlenstraße, Am Schlesischen Busch , Köpenicker Landstraße (today Am Treptower Park ) and Bulgarische Straße to the corner of Neue Krugallee in Treptow went into operation a week earlier . The originally planned route via Ritterstrasse and Reichenberger Strasse could not be implemented because GBS also installed an electric railway there. One month later it was extended via Grünauer Strasse (now Ohlauer Strasse), Kottbusser Ufer (now Paul-Lincke-Ufer ), Britzer Strasse (now Kohlfurter Strasse), Wassertorplatz , Wassertorstrasse, Alexandrinenstrasse to Hollmannstrasse (no longer available today). The following section up to the planned terminal in Behrenstrasse had to be provided with an underline for aesthetic reasons . It was opened in two stages. First, from July 13, 1896, it went from Hollmannstrasse via Lindenstrasse , Markgrafenstrasse, Schützenstrasse to Mauerstrasse and Leipziger Strasse . The further route along Mauerstrasse and Behrenstrasse up to the corner of Wilhelmstrasse followed with the introduction of the winter timetable on October 3, 1896. The cars initially drove every six minutes, on Sundays every three minutes. In October 1896 the distance from Behrenstrasse to Görlitzer Bahnhof was changed to five minutes, and between Görlitzer Bahnhof and Treptow to 15 minutes.
| course | Wagon sequence |
Length (in km) |
|---|---|---|
| Pankow, Damerowstraße at the corner of Mendelstraße - Pankow, church - Mittelstraße and Friedrichstraße | 10 min | 6.2 |
| Pankow, church - Mittelstrasse corner Friedrichstrasse | 10 min | 5.4 |
| Behrenstrasse corner Wilhelmstrasse - Görlitzer Bahnhof - Wiener Brücke - Treptow, town hall | 10 min | 9.3 |
| Behrenstrasse at the corner of Wilhelmstrasse - Görlitzer Bahnhof - Wiener Brücke | 10 min | 6.0 |
In order to increase the profitability of the Pankower line, Siemens & Halske tried to extend it into the inner city of Berlin. The license to extend the line to the intersection of Mittelstrasse and Friedrichstrasse was granted on April 12, 1898. Since the larger arterial roads were already served by the lines of the Great Berlin Tram, the new route snaked through several side streets to the end point in Dorotheenstadt . From Prinzenallee it went over Bellermannstraße, Grüntaler Straße, Badstraße, Hochstraße, Wiesenstraße, Hussitenstraße, Feldstraße, Gartenstraße, Elsässer Straße (today Torstraße ), Artilleriestraße (today Tucholskystraße), Ebertbrücke , Prinz-Friedrich-Karl-Straße (today Geschwister- Scholl-Strasse), Georgenstrasse, Prinz-Louis-Ferdinand-Strasse (today Planckstrasse) and Charlottenstrasse to Mittelstrasse. Commissioning took place in three stages. On May 20, 1899, it went to the corner of Gartenstraße and Elsässer Straße, on October 21, 1899 to Georgenstraße and Prinz-Louis-Ferdinand-Straße and on December 16, 1899 to Mittelstraße and Friedrichstraße. The short section to Prinzenallee was served by a second line until March 22, 1902 and then by a shuttle car.
Foundation of BESTAG and network expansion
The Berliner Elektro Straßenbahnen AG was founded on July 1, 1899, and the two lines passed into their ownership on July 31, 1899. The license was transferred on June 20, 1900. The takeover of the lines already in operation was determined retrospectively to July 1, 1899; the routes still to be opened should become the property of BESTAG at the time of opening of operations. Siemens & Halske itself remained operator of the two lines until 1911.
In April 1900, the train line between Behrenstrasse and Wiener Brücke and between Mittelstrasse and Pankow, Kirche was reduced to five minutes. The cars going to Treptow, Rathaus or Damerowstrasse ran every ten minutes. Between 1902 and 1905 the wagon sequence between Görlitzer Bahnhof and Treptow was extended to 20 minutes at times.
In 1901 the city of Berlin acquired the largest part of the share capital of six million marks and from 1903 was finally the sole owner of the company. The BESTAG had thus de facto become a municipal tram company. With the purchase, the city wanted to prevent a takeover by GBS, which would have been able to further expand its position of priority. In the same year it switched the section between Behrenstrasse and Hollmannstrasse to overhead line operation.
From 1905, the expansion continued in both sub-networks. It started with the commissioning of a route from Pankow via Schönholzer Strasse and Lindenstrasse (today Grabbeallee) to Bismarckplatz (today Pastor-Niemöller-Platz) in Niederschönhausen on May 8, 1905. The cars that had previously ended at the Pankow Church now drove over the New line. Two days later, a connecting line from Bismarckplatz to the Kaiserweg intersection (today Friedrich-Engels-Straße) and Platanenweg went into operation, and every second car on the line approached it every 20 minutes.
The terminus in Behrenstraße was given up on March 15, 1906 and moved back to Mauerstraße. The cars now turned over a block bypass that led from Mauerstraße through Kanonierstraße (today Glinkastraße ) and Behrenstraße back to Mauerstraße.
On July 22, 1907, the company signed a contract with the French-Buchholz community to take over the community's own horse-drawn tram . In addition to taking over the route and the operating rights, the contract includes a commitment to electrify the 3.3-kilometer-long line and to build a connecting route along Damerowstrasse to the start of the route at Pankow-Heinersdorf station . Completion took place on December 19, 1907. The newly established line ran every 35 minutes between Badstrasse and Prinzenallee to French-Buchholz, church, with a journey time of 29 minutes. The shuttle car in Prinzenallee was set up for this. On February 15, 1911, like the other Pankower lines, it was extended to Mittelstrasse and the distance between cars was reduced to 20 minutes. The section in Bellermannstrasse was shut down at the same time.
The Treptower line was relocated from September 1, 1911 between Wiener Brücke and Köpenicker Landstrasse. The new line ran along Graetzstraße (today Karl-Kunger-Straße) and Bouchéstraße, the section in Lohmühlenstraße and Am Schlesischen Busch was given up. BESTAG set up a sweeping system in Graetzstrasse for the wagons that had previously ended at Görlitz train station.
The Niederschönhaus branch was extended again on June 23, 1914. The single-track route led from the terminus Platanenweg via Wittenauer Straße (today Friedrich-Engels-Straße) and Lübarser Weg (today Quickborner Straße) to Rosenthal station on the Heidekrautbahn . The wagons that had previously ended at Platanenweg drove to Rosenthal every 20 minutes, the line to Bismarckplatz kept its route and only ran to Platanenweg during rush hour. In 1915, a siding to Gutshof Rosenthal was built at the terminus, which existed until 1917 and was used to transport potatoes to Berlin.
Connection of the sub-networks and dissolution
| course | Wagon sequence |
Length (in km) |
|---|---|---|
| Buchholz, Church - Buchholz, Blankenburger Weiche Pankow, Damerowstraße at the corner of Mendelstraße - Pankow, Church - Lindentunnel - Görlitzer Bahnhof - Wiener Brücke - Treptow, Graetzstraße | 20 min | 19.6 |
| (Buchholz, Blankenburger Weiche -) Pankow, Damerowstraße at the corner of Mendelstraße - Pankow, church - Lindentunnel - Görlitzer Bahnhof - Wiener Brücke - Treptow, Graetzstraße | 20 min | 17.6 |
| Rosenthal - Niederschönhausen, Platanenstrasse - Niederschönhausen, Bismarckplatz - Mittelstrasse at the corner of Friedrichstrasse | 20 min | 11.9 |
| (Niederschönhausen, Platanenstraße -) Niederschönhausen, Bismarckplatz - Mittelstraße and Friedrichstraße | 20 min | 9.5 |
| Behrenstrasse - Görlitzer Bahnhof - Wiener Brücke - Treptow, town hall | 10 min | 9.9 |
Although the inner-city terminus of both subnets were only a few hundred meters apart, a connection was not easily possible. The boulevard Unter den Linden , which was subordinate to the German Emperor and Prussian King , had to be crossed at a suitable point. In 1894, a surface crossing at the municipal opera house went into operation, and the emperor forbade the erection of an overhead line when electrification was due to take place shortly thereafter . Since the crossing with accumulator vehicles and later with sub-line vehicles turned out to be insufficient, the GBS was allowed to provide the section in 1907 with a single contact line. Further crossings of the street Unter den Linden, both on the surface and through tunnel projects, were rejected by both the Kaiser and the Berlin police chief. Instead, it was planned to cross under the boulevard at the level of the existing track system. The city of Berlin, which also wanted its tram lines to be connected, then took over the planning for the new four-track tunnel. This should be used equally by the lines of the SSB and BESTAG as well as the GBS and their branch lines.
Construction lasted from mid-1914 to December 1916 and was briefly interrupted by the effects of the First World War. On December 17, 1916, the western part of the tunnel was opened, which meant the connection of both subnetworks of BESTAG. The lines coming from Buchholz or Damerowstrasse were led from Prinz-Friedrich-Karl-Strasse over Universitätsstrasse and Dorotheenstrasse through the western part of the tunnel to Behrenstrasse, where they continued over Markgrafenstrasse in the direction of Graetzstrasse. The Behrenstrasse – Graetzstrasse line was then discontinued.
Further plans included new lines from Treptow and Neukölln to Johannisthal . BESTAG had already had the tracks laid in Plesser Strasse and on Neuköllnische Brücke, but the implementation did not take place as a result of the First World War.
On September 20, 1919, the stock corporation was deleted from the commercial register and converted into a communal company. The Great Berlin Tram experienced the same thing on that day. This created the prerequisites for a merger of BESTAG, GBS and SSB to form the Berliner Straßenbahn (BSt). This step was taken on December 13, 1920.
Further development after 1920
In the spring of 1921, the lines were given the former BESTAG numbers, whereby the lines ending in Buchholz and Damerowstraße were combined into one:
- Line 16: Behrenstraße - Treptow, town hall
- Line 116: Buchholz, Kirche - Pankow, Damerowstraße - Treptow, Graetzstraße
- Line 30: Mittelstrasse - Niederschönhausen, Bismarckplatz
- Line 130: Mittelstraße - Rosenthal
In the same and in the following year, the lines and vehicles were converted for operation with roller pantographs . However, rising inflation made the operation of the BSt increasingly difficult, so that it shortened or discontinued several lines in the course of 1923. By September 9, 1923 at the latest, the “tram-free day”, a large part of the former BESTAG routes ceased to be used by regular traffic. This mainly affected the routes laid out in side streets for concession reasons. Specifically, this concerned the section from Bellermannstrasse to Prinz-Louis-Ferdinand-Strasse with the exception of Hussitenstrasse, the western part of the Linden Tunnel including the connecting route in Behrenstrasse and Markgrafenstrasse, the Mauerstrasse loop, the section from Hollmannstrasse to Kottbusser Brücke, a short section in Grünauer Straße and the remaining section from Wiener Brücke to Treptow. A section in the Wassertorstraße, the loop Mauerstraße and the connection from Gartenstraße to Prinz-Louis-Ferdinand-Straße went back into operation soon afterwards, the other parts of the route remained without traffic and were dismantled at the beginning of the 1930s at the latest. In Treptow, the route in Bouchéstrasse was abandoned and what was left of it was used as a sweeping system; instead, the railways took the route over the already laid tracks in Plesser Strasse and a route built by the former southern Berlin suburban railway in Elsenstrasse to Köpenicker Landstrasse.
The BVG abandoned the remaining inner-city routes built by BESTAG after the end of the Second World War ; traffic over the Landwehr Canal was also no longer possible due to the destruction of the Vienna Bridge. The canal also formed the border between the American and Soviet sectors . At the Wollankstrasse S-Bahn station , the Soviet and French sectors bordered one another. The cross-border traffic was stopped at this point on January 15, 1953 and the tram traffic in the eastern Wollankstrasse was abandoned, a short section has served as a turning triangle for a long time since then . Since then, Rosenthal and Buchholz have been connected to the city center via Berliner Straße and Schönhauser Allee .
The tram route in the western Wollankstrasse and the Prinzenallee was shut down on May 2, 1960, the connection of the Wiener Brücke over the Wiener Strasse followed on March 1, 1961, the short section in the Grünauer Strasse on September 29, 1963. On the eastern side Until December 13, 1959, trams were still running on Bulgarische Strasse. The remaining route sections in Treptow were finally given up by the Berlin transport companies on July 14, 1973.
business
Signal boards
| target | colour |
|---|---|
| Prinzenallee and Badstrasse | White yellow |
| Pankow, church | White / Red (until 1916) Red / Yellow (from 1916) |
| Pankow, Damerowstrasse at the corner of Mendelstrasse | red |
| Buchholz, Blankenburger turnout | Yellow / ocher |
| Franz.-Buchholz, Church (until 1914) Buchholz, Church (from 1914) |
yellow |
| Niederschönhausen, Bismarckplatz | blue |
| Niederschönhausen, Platanenstrasse | Blue / Yellow (1907) White / Blue (1909/10) Blue (1910/15) Blue / Yellow (1916/19) |
| Rosenthal | Yellow / Blue (until 1916) Blue / White (from 1916) |
| Mittelstrasse and Friedrichstrasse | White |
| Behrenstrasse | White |
| Schützenstrasse and Friedrichstrasse | White |
| Hollmannstrasse | green |
| Kottbusser Bridge | Blue White |
| Görlitz train station | White (until 1907) Blue (from 1909) |
| Treptow, Graetzstrasse | Blue (until 1916) red / yellow (from 1916) |
| Treptow, town hall | red |
In the early years up to around 1904/05, the lines used colored signal boards for identification. The Behrenstrasse – Treptow line had green signboards, the Behrenstrasse – Görlitzer Bahnhof and Mittelstrasse – Pankow lines had white signs. After that, only the individual terminal stops were marked with different destination signs, but not the lines. There were one- and two-tone signs, the latter usually being divided diagonally from bottom left to top right.
Line numbers were sometimes given in the timetable booklets, but their use was subject to frequent changes.
The Berlin tram introduced line numbers on the former BESTAG lines in the spring of 1921.
Rates
BESTAG initially charged different tariffs for the two parts of the company, which were combined in the 1916 connection.
The 10-pfennig standard tariff was applied on the Pankow lines from the opening. This was also retained after the takeover of the Buchholz tram. With the extension of the Buchholzer line to Mittelstrasse, a fare of 15 pfennigs was charged for the entire route of this line, the sections from Mittelstrasse to Damerowstrasse and from Badstrasse to Buchholz cost 10 pfennigs. The same scheme was used for the extension to Rosenthal: The entire route cost 15 Pfennig, the sections Mittelstrasse-Platanenstrasse and Badstrasse-Rosenthal cost 10 Pfennig.
On the Treptower lines, due to the length, a tiered tariff was applied, which initially provided a fare of 30 pfennigs for the entire route when it opened. The winter timetable of the same year, which came out with the extension to Behrenstrasse, then stipulated a total price of 25 pfennigs with sections of 20, 15 and 10 pfennigs. This tariff was also replaced by a 10-pfennig standard tariff in May 1898.
No information is available on the tariff system from December 1916 to 1919. After the introduction of the transport tax, the Zweckverband Groß-Berlin signed new collective agreements with most of the tram operators in mid-1919, which usually provided for a standard tariff of 12.5 pfennigs, including BESTAG. The single ticket now cost 15 pfennigs, double tickets 25 pfennigs, and trading cards for eight journeys cost 1.00 marks. Due to inflation, the standard tariff was increased to 20 pfennigs in the same year (double tickets at 35 pfennigs, trading cards at 1.40 marks). After 1920, this already standardized tariff was applied to most of the Berlin tram lines.
stretch
With the exception of the Bismarckplatz – Rosenthal and Pankow-Heinersdorf – Buchholz train station, as well as the section in Wollankstraße described above, the BESTAG lines were consistently double-tracked. In 1916 the length of the single-track lines was 7.22 kilometers, that of the double-track lines 19.60 kilometers, for a total of 26.82 kilometers. The track length for this point in time is given as 48.98 kilometers. The current was drawn from the overhead line using a hoop pantograph , as used by the city trams. In contrast, GBS and its subsidiaries used pantographs . The operating voltage was 500 to 550 volts .
At several points in the network, there were points of contact between the routes operated by BESTAG and GBS as well as SSB, and occasionally also to share the routes operated by the other operator. While the affected bodies did not cause any operational problems with the SSB, things looked different when BESTAG and GBS met. The tracks were used jointly on shorter sections, whereas in Lindenstrasse and Markgrafenstrasse there were four-track systems for separate operations until around 1905. The overhead line on these sections was mainly set up in such a way that mixed operation could take place between the two types of pantograph. Occasionally, such as in Charlottenstrasse, two overhead lines were also tensioned, a slightly higher tension for roller pantographs and a lower one for hoop pantographs.
The power supply was the responsibility of one of the two operators at the intersections, with the contact lines in front of and behind the respective intersections being interrupted with section separators. The cars of the company that did not supply the electricity to the intersection in question drove through it with the drive switch off .
The following tables provide an overview of the routes operated by other companies (left) by BESTAG and the routes operated by BESTAG on which routes operated by third-party operators operated from time to time. Above all, the GBS had to divert several lines from 1914 in order not to hinder the construction of the north-south railway (today's U6).
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vehicles
Development of the rolling stock
Until the unification in December 1916, different vehicle types were used on both parts of the company, which were not exchanged with one another. The car numbers 1 to 9 were also temporarily assigned to both sub-networks.
The eight railcars, with which electric tram traffic was started in 1895, had an output of 15 kilowatts. The car body rested on a relatively small chassis and had four approximately square windows on each side. The box was closed by a lantern roof . Car 1 or Car 8 was retired in 1897/98, the others were given the new car numbers between 141 and 148 between 1911 and 1916. By 1920, all vehicles with the exception of cars 142 and 143 were retired, the latter were from 1921 as work cars A22 and A23 bis In use in 1923.
The Pankower railcar 9 was a loner. The car was similar in structure to the railcars of the Treptower series 1–30, but was intended for mixed use with batteries and overhead lines . Due to the mass of the batteries, it was equipped with two very short, two-axle bogies . The vehicle was used for test purposes on the Pankow branch and was handed over to Budapest in 1899 . According to other information, the Pankow branch comprised nine identical railcars from the beginning. According to this, the Pankow railcar 9 was to have received the number 149 by 1916 and was used as the A35 work car from 1920 to 1923. There are reports that this work car had four axles, so it is believed that the vehicle returned from Budapest after some time or never went there.
In 1899 the Pankow fleet was enlarged by 32 railcars as well as 20 identical sidecars and summer sidecars with central aisles. The vehicles in turn had open platforms. The railcars were converted to sidecars in 1924 and were used together with the identically constructed sidecars until 1929. The summer cars were taken out of service as early as 1925.
The Treptow part of the business initially had a larger and more diverse fleet of vehicles. In order to cope with the rush of visitors to the trade exhibition, sidecars were used from the start. In addition to 30 closed railcars, ten identical sidecars, seven summer railcars, 19 summer sidecars and 16 used horse-drawn tram cars were to be found. The platforms of these vehicles were open. The railcars were initially designed for mixed operation with overhead and underground lines. Two summer railcars were sold to the United States in 1899 . The other summer railcars received closed side walls between 1901 and 1903. The summer sidecars were equipped with a central aisle at the same time. The horse-drawn tram cars were in use until 1908 and were then taken out of service. The converted railcars were used as work cars from 1916 onwards, their whereabouts are unclear. The remaining cars were taken over by the Berlin tram and retired between 1925 and 1927.
In 1907, BESTAG took over three horse- drawn tram cars from the French-Buchholz community as electric sidecars. The vehicles came used from Hamburg and were retired in 1911.
In 1911 the company procured eight Maximum motor coaches for the Pankow part of the company from the Falkenried vehicle workshops and ten matching sidecars for the Treptow part of the company. The trams of the city of Berlin have been using identical vehicles since 1908. The most noticeable differences were in the structure of the bogies of the railcars. The maximum railcars received the Berlin standard platforms in 1924 and were run as TDS 08/24 from 1934 . The last vehicles in the series were taken out of service in 1969 and some of them were included in the recycling program . The sidecars were converted to railcars in 1924 and were given the type designation T 08/24 in 1934 . The vehicles that remained in West Berlin after 1949 were withdrawn from regular service in 1951, and three railcars were used as work cars until 1962. BVG-Ost handed over its two railcars to Cottbus and Dessau in 1959 .
With the opening of the Linden tunnel and the connection of both parts of the company, BESTAG acquired ten seven-window railcars in 1916. The wagons had completely enclosed platforms. As a result of the war, a delivery of a further ten railcars was not made until 1921 under the direction of the Berlin tram. They were given the type designation TF 21 S in 1934 . BVG-West converted its nine railcars into work cars in 1955/56; the last ones were retired in 1967. BVG-Ost delivered seven of its eleven railcars to Plauen , Strausberg , Karl-Marx-Stadt and Magdeburg , the other four were retired by 1959. Motor car 4304 was also the first standard gauge vehicle in Karl-Marx-Stadt, it drove there as a work motor car with the number 1076. One motor car is located in the German Museum of Technology in Berlin . Another vehicle is in the Schmöckwitz depot ; it was badly damaged in a fire in 2008.
Table overview
The following table gives an overview of the motor coaches and sidecars used at BESTAG. The vehicles are sorted by their first wagon number and not by year of construction. In addition, the manufacturer and information on the career after 1920 are given. In the operating part column, a distinction is made between the Pankow and Treptow operating parts. This entry is omitted for the railcars delivered in 1916, as they operated continuously from the start.
| Construction year | Manufacturer | Numbers (up to 1920) |
Operating part |
Numbers (from 1920) |
Whereabouts | image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Railcar | ||||||
| 1895 | Van der Zypen & Charlier | 1-8 | Pankow | 1916 redrawn in Tw 141-148; 1920 conversion of Tw 142 and 143 to A22 and A23; Retired in 1923; the rest of them retired by 1920 |
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| 1895 | Van der Zypen & Charlier (?) | 9 | Pankow | 4 × test car for mixed overhead line and accumulator operation; Delivered to Budapest in 1899 ; |
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| 1896 | Van der Zypen & Charlier | 1-30 | Treptow | 4230-4253 | 1924 conversion of Tw 4246 + 4252 to Bw 1775 + 1776; Retired in 1925/27 |
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| 1896 | Goerlitz | 31-37 | Treptow |
Summer car ; 1898/99 Tw 36 + 37 sold to the USA; 1901/03 Tw 31–35 with closed windows; 1916 to 1918 as a work car |
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| 1899 | Falkenried | 101-132 | Pankow | 4254-4285 | 1924 conversion to Bw 1777–1808; Retired in 1929 |
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| 1911 | Falkenried | 133-140 | Pankow | 5432-5439 | Maximum railcar; 1927 redrawn in Tw 5315 II -5322 II ; No. 5316 II +5318 II to BVG-Ost, retired in 1969 (Reko No. 5126 + 5127); remaining to BVG-West, retired in 1955 |
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| 1916 (1921) |
Falkenried |
220-229 (230-239) |
4286-4295 4296-4305 |
1921 reorder of 10 Tw by the BSt; nine twos for BVG-West, from 1955/56 as work cars (H18, H19, A391 – A397), retired until 1967; Tw 224 received as HTw 223 in the monument hall of the DTMB ; eleven tw to BVG-Ost; Tw 4292, 4299 1959 to Magdeburg (ABw 718, 719); Tw 4301 1957 to Plauen (Tw 55 II ); Tw 4302, 4305 1957 to Strausberg (Tw 2 II , 8 II ), Tw 2 II 1966 retired; Tw 8 II as Tw 4305 back to Berlin in 1980 and damaged in fire in 2008; Tw 4303, 4304 to Karl-Marx-Stadt (Tw 1076, Bw 938) |
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| sidecar | ||||||
| 1896 | Falkenried | 38-56 | Treptow | 1666-1684 | Summer car; 1901 provided with a central aisle; Retired in 1925 |
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| 1896 | Falkenried | 57-66 | Treptow | 1685-1694 | 1924 renumbered in Bw 1715-1724; Retired in 1925 |
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| Falkenried | 67-82 | Treptow | Horse-drawn carriage; Taken over from Hamburg in 1896; Sold in 1908 | |||
| 1911 | Falkenried | 83-92 | Treptow | 1715-1724 | 1924 conversion to Tw 3251 II –3260 II ; Tw 3252 II (ex 84) loss of war; Tw 3257 II +3260 II to BVG-Ost; No. 3257 II (ex 89) 1956 to Cottbus (No. 41), retired in 1968; Tw 3260 II (ex 92) 1959 to Dessau (Tw 38 III ), retired in 1964; others to BVG-West; Tw 3254 II , 3258 II +3259 II (ex 86, 90, 91) 1951 to A364, A358 (1952 = A408), A365, 1961/62 retired; the rest of them retired in 1951 |
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| 1899 | Falkenried | 150-169 | Pankow | 1695-1714 | Sidecar suitable for Tw 101–132; Retired by 1929 |
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| 1880 | 170-172 | Pankow | ex Franz-Buchholz; Retired in 1911 |
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| 1899 | Falkenried | 200-219 | Pankow | 1725-1744 | Summer car; Retired in 1925 |
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Depots
The trams were maintained at a total of five depots, three were in the Pankower, two in the Treptow operating section. With the exception of the depot in Brehmestrasse, all systems existed when the BSt took over in 1920.
Brehmestrasse depot
The oldest depot of the Siemensbahn was located on Brehmestrasse and was reached via a branch line from Wollankstrasse. It had a four-track wagon hall, with tracks 2 and 4 being directly connected, but the other two tracks only had a transfer platform . The floor of the hall was a meter and a half below the tracks that rested on iron supports. Behind the hall there was a workshop on the one hand and a two-track open-air parking facility on the other. The operating rooms were connected to the side of the hall.
There was also a power station on the site to supply the railway with electricity. Steam and dynamo machines were available as a reserve in duplicate. The compound steam engines passed the generated power directly on to the dynamo machines, which then generated the required traction current. The boilers were fed from a well in the courtyard.
The depot was used from 1895 to 1901 and sold in 1903.
Depot Damerowstrasse
The Damerowstrasse depot was built in 1901, as there was no more space on Brehmestrasse after further vehicles had been procured. The yard had space for a total of 93 cars. In 1920 it was taken over by the Berlin tram as Hof XVIII and closed shortly afterwards. In 1936 a block of flats was built on the street front.
French Buchholz car shed
After the takeover by BESTAG, a small depot was created for Buchholzer Linie in Gravensteinstrasse, which offered space for three cars on an area of 620 square meters. It was closed after the transition to the Berlin tram and is now used by the Buchholz volunteer fire department.
Depot Köpenicker Landstrasse
The Köpenicker Landstrasse depot in Treptow was opened on April 15, 1896, when the Treptower line went into operation. He had two halls with space for 75 cars, of which the front served as a car hall and the rear as a workshop; A transfer platform was installed between the two halls, allowing the cars to change tracks. To the side of the halls there were two tracks on the south side and one track on the north side. The halls themselves had eight tracks each with space for five to six cars. The area was bordered by allotment gardens. After 1920 it was initially continued as Hof XXI and served as a parking space for cars that were no longer needed.
From 1925 the site was used to overhaul and revise various types of trams. In addition to modifications by the National Automobile Society , the HAWA cars and the railcars of the flat railway were overhauled here.
In 1931 the workshop hall fell victim to a major fire. Two years later, the rail connections to the wagon hall were removed when the Köpenicker Landstrasse was expanded; only the southern outer tracks remained for emptying suction trucks . The hall itself was then probably used to recondition buses.
During the Second World War, the hall was destroyed by bombs and then demolished. Since then, the area has also been used for gardening purposes.
Kottbusser Ufer car shed
On Kottbusser Ufer 20–22, BESTAG used a wagon hall with a railway maintenance office from May 1903 to park sidecars and lorries. The hall was located not far from Grünauer Strasse and was built in wood. It measured about 28 × 18.5 meters and had space for twelve cars on four tracks. During the low-traffic period, the sidecars were unhooked at the intersection of Kottbusser Ufer and Grünauer Straße and towed into the hall. A Pankower series 1–8 railcar served as the tug. BESTAG used the site until around 1920, after which property 19–20 was used by the Berlin drainage works for a pumping station and property 21–22 by BEWAG for the construction of a new substation.
literature
- Reinhard Demps et al .: 100 years of electrical engineering in the Pankow district of Berlin . Ed .: Circle of Friends of Chronik Pankow e. V. Verlag GVE, Berlin 1995.
- Reinhard Demps et al .: Tram history (s). Trams to Buchholz . Ed .: Buchholzer Bürgererverein e. V. Verlag GVE, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-89218-064-4 .
- Berliner Verkehrsblätter , different years
- Traffic history sheets , different years
Web links
- BESTAG 1916 route network
- Jens Dudczak, Uwe Dudczak: Railways in the Berlin area: Siemensbahn Pankow , Siemensbahn Treptow , Berlin electric trams
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d Sigurd Hilkenbach, Wolfgang Kramer: The trams in Berlin . 3. Edition. alba, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-87094-351-3 , p. 22-23 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Heinz Jung: The Berliner Elektro Straßenbahnen AG . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Volume 10, 1965, pp. 130-133 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Michael Kochems: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany. Volume 14: Berlin - Part 2. Tram, trolleybus . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-395-6 , p. 79-81 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g Reinhard Demps et al .: 100 years of electrical engineering in the Pankow district of Berlin . Ed .: Circle of Friends of Chronik Pankow e. V. Verlag GVE, Berlin 1995, p. 17-24 .
- ^ Heinz Jung, Wolfgang Kramer: 100 years of the electric tram. Electric tram Gr.-Lichterfelde 1881–1906 . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 4–5, 1981, pp. 66-82 .
- ↑ a b c Reinhard Schulz: Von der Rolle ... On the history of the overhead contact line and power collection systems in Berlin trams . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Issue 1, 2003, pp. 2-13 .
- ↑ a b c Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany. Volume 14: Berlin - Part 2. Tram, trolleybus . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-395-6 , p. 83-85 .
- ^ Author collective: Tram Archive 5. Berlin and the surrounding area . transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00172-8 , p. 30-44 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g Heinz Jung: The Berlin electric trams AG . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 11, 1965, pp. 146-150 .
- ↑ a b c d e Reinhard Demps et al .: 100 years of electrical engineering in the Pankow district of Berlin . Ed .: Circle of Friends of Chronik Pankow e. V. Verlag GVE, Berlin 1995, p. 24-28 .
- ↑ Purchase of electric trams by the city council of Berlin . In: Deutsche Bauzeitung . No. 11 , February 6, 1901, p. 67 .
- ↑ Reinhard Demps et al .: Tram history (s). Trams to Buchholz . Ed .: Buchholzer Bürgererverein e. V. Verlag GVE, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-89218-064-4 , p. 105-108 .
- ↑ Reinhard Demps et al .: Tram history (s). Trams to Buchholz . Ed .: Buchholzer Bürgererverein e. V. Verlag GVE, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-89218-064-4 , p. 29-31 .
- ↑ a b Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany. Volume 14: Berlin - Part 2. Tram, trolleybus . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-395-6 , p. 81-82 .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Heinz Jung: The Berliner Elektro Straßenbahnen AG . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 12, 1965, pp. 160-167 .
- ^ A b Hans-Joachim Pohl: The linden tunnel . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Issue 7, 1980, pp. 134-150 .
- ^ A b c d collective of authors: Tram Archive 5. Berlin and the surrounding area . transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00172-8 , p. 116-123 .
- ^ A b c d Reinhard Schulz: Tram in turbulent times. Berlin and its trams between 1920 and 1945 . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Volume 4, 2005, pp. 94-110 .
- ↑ a b Bodo Nienerza: The route network development of the tram in East Berlin after 1945 . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Volume 5, 1990, pp. 109-117 .
- ↑ Reinhard Demps et al .: 100 years of electrical power in the Pankow district of Berlin . Ed .: Freundeskreis der Chronik Pankow eV Verlag GVE, Berlin 1995, p. 45-62 .
- ↑ Sigurd Hilkenbach, Wolfgang Kramer: The trams in Berlin . 3. Edition. alba, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-87094-351-3 , p. 76-81 .
- ↑ Heinz Jung: Additions and corrections: The Berliner Elektro Straßenbahnen AG . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 12, 1966, pp. 177-178 .
- ↑ Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany. Volume 14: Berlin - Part 2. Tram, trolleybus . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-395-6 , p. 85-87 .
- ↑ a b Reinhard Demps et al .: Tram history (s). Trams to Buchholz . Ed .: Buchholzer Bürgererverein e. V. Verlag GVE, Berlin 1999, ISBN 3-89218-064-4 , p. 32-35 .
- ↑ Heinz Jung: 50 years ago: creation of the “Berlin tram” . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 12, 1970, pp. 241-246 .
- ↑ Sigurd Hilkenbach, Wolfgang Kramer: The trams in Berlin . 3. Edition. alba, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-87094-351-3 , p. 11 .
- ↑ a b The work cars of the Berlin tram from 1920 . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Volume 6, 1967, pp. 78-113 .
- ↑ a b c Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany. Volume 14: Berlin - Part 2. Tram, trolleybus . EK-Verlag, Freiburg im Breisgau 2013, ISBN 978-3-88255-395-6 , p. 88-89 .
- ↑ Additions and corrections: The work cars of the Berlin tram . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 12, 1967, p. 194-196 .
- ^ Author collective: Tram archive 5. Berlin and surroundings . transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00172-8 , p. 260-273 .
- ↑ a b c Joachim Kubig: The development of the maximum car . In: Verkehrsgeschichtliche Blätter . Volume 5, 1981, pp. 120-126 .
- ↑ a b Karl-Heinz Gewandt: Tram profile. Episode 41 . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 1, 1982, pp. 25-26 .
- ^ Siegfried Münzinger: Tram profile. Episode 22 . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Volume 3, 1977, pp. 51 .
- ^ A b c d Sigurd Hilkenbach, Wolfgang Kramer: The tram of the Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG-Ost / BVB) 1949–1991 . 2nd Edition. transpress, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-613-71063-3 , pp. 74-77 .
- ^ Author collective: Tram archive 5. Berlin and surroundings . transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00172-8 , p. 124 .
- ^ Author collective: Tram archive 5. Berlin and surroundings . transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00172-8 , p. 251-260 .
- ^ Author collective: Tram archive 5. Berlin and surroundings . transpress VEB Verlag for Transport, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00172-8 , p. 299-304 .
- ↑ Sigurd Hilkenbach, Wolfgang Kramer: The trams in Berlin . 3. Edition. alba, Düsseldorf 1994, ISBN 3-87094-351-3 , p. 133-134 .
- ↑ Flame eats nostalgia . In: BZ September 1, 2008 ( online article [accessed December 29, 2013]).
- ↑ Used after 1945 (22II .. 38III). (No longer available online.) In: Dessauer-Nahverkehr.de. Formerly in the original ; accessed on February 16, 2014 . ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Siegfried Münzinger: The depots of the Berlin trams . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Issue 7, 1969, p. 114-121 .
- ^ Pankow traffic. In: www.ansichtskarten-pankow.de. Retrieved January 30, 2012 .
- ^ A b c Heinz Kozminski: The Siemensbahn depot on Köpenicker Landstrasse . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Volume 2, 1979, pp. 26-27 .
- ↑ Heinz Kozminski: Only the house number remains . In: Berliner Verkehrsblätter . Volume 6, 1980, pp. 110-111 .
