DKB time travel

Plywood model of a tram of the Düren district railway, built by Karl-Heinz Funk from Nörvenich (exhibit for the 100th anniversary in Distelrath, from 2009 in Heimbach)

DKB-Zeitreise was a transport museum in Heimbach (Eifel) in the Düren district , the name of which was created by a 9-year-old student in the region during a name search campaign.

The museum was located in Heimbach train station on the Düren – Heimbach line (Rurtalbahn). At the beginning of October 2009, the Dürener Kreisbahn (DKB) set up an exhibition on the history of the Dürener Kreisbahn and the Rur Valley Railway on around 20 m² right next to the National Park . The Düren district railway took over the operation of the railway line (Jülich -) Düren - Heimbach in 1993 and in 2003 outsourced its rail transport activities to the newly created Rurtalbahn GmbH . From 1908 to 1963 the Düren district railway operated tram lines in the city and district of Düren, until 1971 also rail freight and until 2019 bus transport. Then the Rurtalbus took over the bus operation.

In addition to the DKB founding document from 1908, numerous historical documents and exhibits were shown in the museum, such as B. ticket printers, telephone systems, timetables, tickets, uniforms and much more. The collection, which also includes digitized film recordings of DKB rail traffic in the 1950s, was put together over many years by DKB employee Klaus Wollermann. Before it was exhibited in Heimbach, it was housed in the DKB headquarters in Düren- Distelrath . There it could occasionally be viewed, e.g. B. at an open house on the occasion of the 100th anniversary on October 19, 2008 (company tour including a presentation of the historical film material).

After initially regular opening times on one Sunday per month, since July 2011 only special visits have been possible after prior registration. Entry was free. On special occasions, however, the museum also opened to unannounced visitors, for example on International Museum Day on May 12, 2013.

After the decision was made to use the premises in the Heimbach station building for other purposes, the collection was handed over to the Düren City Museum at the beginning of June 2018 , which ensures that it will be preserved in its entirety. After the documentation and inventory of all exhibits, the museum aims to make at least part of the collection accessible to the public again in the future.