Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Railway Company
The Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft ( DEE for short ) was a railway company that was founded in 1835 to build and operate a railway line between Düsseldorf and Elberfeld . The line, which was put into operation in sections from 1838 and in 1841, was taken over by the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft in 1857 .
history
The plan for a railway connection between the Rhine and the already industrialized Bergisches Land can be traced back to 1832. The Elberfeld banker and later Prussian minister August von der Heydt was co-initiator and promoter of this idea . The railway company was founded in October 1835 to implement these plans. Its founding statute was confirmed by the Prussian government on September 23, 1837, whereby the company also obtained the concession for the construction and operation of the 27-kilometer route from Düsseldorf via Erkrath , Hochdahl and Vohwinkel to Elberfeld .
Trunk line
The first 8.12 kilometers long section between Düsseldorf and Erkrath was built and put into operation in 1838 and is therefore the oldest railway line in West Germany. Full operation (passenger and freight traffic) on the entire route to Elberfeld began on December 1, 1841.
Steam locomotives
| Surname | design type | Manufacturer | Construction year | Serial number | Operating history | photo |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 WUPPER | 1A1 | John Cockerill , Seraing | 1838 | 1843 remodeling, including downsizing the two drive wheels and four running wheels, in use in 1851, whereabouts unknown | ||
| 2 RHINE | 1A1 | John Cockerill , Seraing | 1838 | since June 1, 1843 reserve at Hochdahl station, + December 1847, whereabouts unknown | ||
| DÜSSEL | 1A1n2 | Dobbs & Poensgen , Aachen | 1839/40 | 2 | one of only two built locomotives by this manufacturer; In addition to the sister locomotive CAROLUS MAGNUS and the SAXONIA, the DÜSSEL is one of the first steam locomotives built in Germany, delivered February 16, 1840 and 1847, whereabouts unknown | |
| 3 NEANDER | B1 | Robert Stephenson , Newcastle upon Tyne | 1841 | In service in 1851, whereabouts unknown | ||
| 4 JOHANN WILHELM | B1 | Robert Stephenson , Newcastle upon Tyne | 1841 | Out of service since July 1848 due to irreparable boiler damage, in service in 1851 (with a new boiler), whereabouts unknown | ||
| 5 VULCAN | 1B (?) | Robert Stephenson , Newcastle upon Tyne | 1842 | Commissioning on July 11, 1842, in use in 1851, whereabouts unknown | ||
| 6 ACHILL | 1B | Robert Stephenson , Newcastle upon Tyne | 1842 | Commissioning on August 22, 1842, in use in 1851, whereabouts unknown | ||
| 7 MARS | 2An2 / 1Bn2 / 1Bn2t | Jacobi, Haniel & Huyssen , Sterkrade | 1842 | 2 | Delivered in October 1842, commissioning on October 19, 1842, 1849–1852 out of service, 1856 conversion to 1Bn2 near Wever, Barmen, 1857 to Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn BME "MARS 52", 1862 conversion to 1Bn2t, + 1871, whereabouts unknown | |
| 8 CONCORDIA | 1B n2 / 1B n2t | Emil Keßler , Mechanical Engineering Society Karlsruhe | 1847 | 67 | In service in 1851, in 1857 to Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft "45" , converted into 1B tank locomotive in 1862, further whereabouts unknown | |
| 9 ELBERFELD | 1B n2 | Emil Keßler , Mechanical Engineering Society Karlsruhe | 1848 | 106 | In use in 1851, in 1857 to Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft "46" , further whereabouts unknown | |
| 10 DÜSSELDORF | 1B n2 | Emil Keßler , Mechanical Engineering Society Karlsruhe | 1848 | 114 | In service in 1851, in 1857 at Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft "47" , further whereabouts unknown | |
| [2 "] THE RHINE | 1B n2 | Emil Keßler , Mechanical Engineering Society Karlsruhe | 1852 | 205 | The locomotive was ordered from Emil Kessler as a replacement for road number 2 RHEIN , but on February 14, 1852 it slipped off board the freighter Stadt Koblenz on the way to its destination Deutz and then sank near Germersheim in the Rhine . In March 2016, an object was located near the Germersheimer Rheinhafen, which, in terms of size and material, could be the missing locomotive; For details see locomotive article | |
| 2 " RHINE" | 1B n2 / 1B n2t | Emil Keßler , Mechanical Engineering Society Karlsruhe | 1852 | 173 | 1857 to Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft "48" , converted into 1B tank locomotive in 1862, further whereabouts unknown | |
| DÜSSEL " | 1B n2 | Emil Keßler , Mechanical Engineering Society Karlsruhe | 1852 | 174 | 1857 to Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft "49" , further whereabouts unknown |
Takeover by the BME
As long as the DEE existed, it operated exclusively the aforementioned trunk line. DEE has worked closely with BME since the Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (BME) was founded on October 18, 1843. In 1849 the two companies merged . On the basis of a contract concluded between them on September 22, 1856, the ownership of DEE and the operating rights for its railway line were transferred to BME on January 1, 1857.
Plaque
To mark the 100th anniversary of the line's opening, the Reichsbahndirektion Wuppertal and the Heimatverein Düsseldorfer Jonges erected a plaque "in memory of determined pioneers in the German economy". The relief by the Düsseldorf sculptor Emil Jungblut (born June 11, 1888, † April 24, 1955) is today in the north tunnel of Düsseldorf Central Station, depicts two men in the foreground - one of them a worker - and in the background the Erkrath steep ramp, which is driven by a steam engine - Hochdahl . Above it are the words "On December 20, 1838, the first railway in West Germany ran from Düsseldorf to Erkrath".
See also
- History of the railways in Germany
- List of railway lines in Germany
- List of railways in North Rhine-Westphalia until 1930
- List of local rail transport lines in North Rhine-Westphalia
- List of steam locomotives in Germany
Web links
- Memorandum on the construction of a railway between Düsseldorf and Elberfeld Administrative board of the Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (publisher), Düsseldorf 1837 (accessed on December 13, 2009)
- History of the Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft (accessed at 1:50 p.m., 11 Aug 2013 (CEST))
literature
- Business report of the management of the Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft for the year ... - Düsseldorf, 1853–1856. Digitized edition of the University and State Library Düsseldorf
- Memorandum on the construction of a railway between Düsseldorf and Elberfeld. With the addition of the amended draft of the status and other pieces of files, as well as the opinion of the civil engineer Rob. Stephenson in London and with a situation map. Schreiner, Düsseldorf 1837. Digitized
- Via the railway in Vesdrethal: together with e. Subsequent to the reprinted in the previous issue. Essay on the Elberfeld-Düsseldorf railway . Petsch, Berlin 1843 ( digitized edition )
- Annual report of the management of the Düsseldorf-Elberfelder Eisenbahn for ... - Elberfeld, 1842/43 - 1848. Digitized edition
- Minutes of the ... General Assembly of the Actionaire of the Düsseldorf-Elberfeld Railway Company. - Düsseldorf, 2.1837 - 14.1844. Digitized edition
- Minutes of the ordinary ... general assembly held on ... in Düsseldorf in the inn "Prinzen von Preussen". - Düsseldorf, 30.1856 - 35.1857. Digitized edition
- Statute of the Düsseldorf-Elberfeld Railway Company. - Düsseldorf: Hermann Voss, 1848. Digitized edition
- Bernd Franco Hoffmann: The Bergisch-Märkische Eisenbahn. Through the valleys of Wupper, Ruhr and Volme ; Sutton-Verlag, Erfurt, 2015.
Individual evidence
- ^ P. Schmitz: Commerce and Industry of the City of Düsseldorf . In: Contributions to the history of the Lower Rhine . Volume 3, Düsseldorf 1888, p. 492 ( digitized version )
- ↑ P. Schmitz, p. 498