Railway accident in Würzburg
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In the Würzburg railway accident on July 1, 1886, two trains collided head- on due to insufficient communication between the dispatcher and a switchman . 18 people died.
Starting position
Infrastructure
East of Würzburg extend two railway lines , the distance Schweinfurt-Würzburg , a section of the Bavarian Ludwig West web , and the web Nuremberg-Würzburg to about nine kilometers up behind Rottendorf parallel to then divide the north and south. Both lines were single-track at the time . As a rule, each track was used on its own in both directions, but in special operating situations in Würzburg or Rottendorf a transition to the main track of the other parallel railway line was possible.
The section from Würzburg to Rottendorf runs north along the Faulenberg and had a gradient of up to 2% east of the artillery barracks stop .
business
Since 1884 there was a fast connection from Erfurt via Meiningen to Schweinfurt and Würzburg. Since then, this route has been used daily by express trains between Stuttgart and Berlin .
Of the two trains involved in the accident, the express train from Stuttgart used the Nuremberg route as planned for the exit, while the passenger train ran as planned on the Schweinfurt track. On the day of the accident , the passenger train was 20 minutes late and drove from Schweinfurt to Würzburg at the highest permissible speed. At the same time, the express train to Berlin in the direction of Schweinfurt was ready to depart from Würzburg Central Station . It was 16 minutes late.
the accident
For reasons unknown today, the Würzburg dispatcher decided to have the crossing carried out differently from the usual: the express train from Stuttgart should use the Schweinfurt track, the passenger train the Nuremberg track. To this end, he issued a written order to the switchman , who should set the appropriate switch at the exit from the Würzburg main station . This written instruction had to be brought to the switch attendant by an attendant. The messenger, however, was new and did not know the local conditions. When he arrived at the switch attendant, he had already directed the express train to the scheduled Nuremberg track, on which the train from Schweinfurt was already located.
The Schweinfurt train used the gradient to Rottendorf to catch up with something of its delay at the highest possible speed. The locomotive driver was unable to stop his train when he recognized the oncoming express train on the same track. The express train, on the other hand, was able to brake on the uphill stretch before both trains collided not far from the artillery barracks stop at 1:30 p.m.
consequences
Immediate consequences
Both engine drivers and 14 passengers from the Schweinfurt passenger train died on the day of the accident, and more than 70 were injured, 20 of them seriously. By July 13, the number of deaths increased to 18. The passenger cars of the express train were hardly damaged: only the front compartment of the first car was damaged.
Rescue work
A large number of military doctors from the barracks and assistant doctors from the Juliusspital in Würzburg provided medical help on site. While soldiers from the barracks cordoned off the accident site from a large number of onlookers, a medical company transported the injured to the Juliusspital.
Worth knowing
In August 1886, compensation claims of 1.3 million marks were made for the victims.
On July 6th, two trains again reached the same track in Würzburg, but the railway staff were able to prevent a collision in good time.
Ritzau evaluates the accident as evidence of the inadequate operating conditions at the time at the Royal Bavarian State Railways .
literature
- Bernhard Püschel: Historical railway disasters. A chronicle of accidents from 1840 to 1926 . Freiburg 1977. ISBN 3-88255-838-5
- HJ Ritzau: Railway Disasters in Germany - Splinters of German History Vol. 1 . Zeit und Eisenbahn Verlag, Landsberg-Pürgen 1979.
Remarks
- ↑ Station directory 1872 , route information still in "Reichsmeilen"
- ^ Illustration of the accident site near Ritzau, p. 56 (No. 46) and Püschel, p. 55.
Individual evidence
- ↑ History of the Rottendorf train station ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Track structure etc., pp. 3 and 5.
- ↑ T. Memminger, Würzburgs Straßen und Bauten , p. 145 (2nd edition 1921). - "Faulenberg" was the historical name for a vineyard located here. After the urbanization, the districts "Heimgarten" and "Gerbrunn" arose here. The historical name is only used for the "Faulenberg barracks", which was built in 1876–1879 as an artillery barracks.
- ↑ In historical course books e.g. B. to be found as D11 / D12: Stuttgart - Osterburken - Lauda - Würzburg - Schweinfurt - Meiningen - Erfurt - Halle - Berlin .
- ↑ Scheduled arrival time on July 1, 1886 at 1:20 p.m. in Würzburg (Püschel, p. 56).
- ↑ Püschel, p. 56.
- ↑ Püschel, p. 56.
- ↑ Latest Mittheilungen (Official Press of Prussia) of July 2, 1886, p. 4. - Berlin court newspaper of July 3, 1886, p. 2
- ↑ a b Ritzau: Eisenbahn-Katastrophen , p. 17ff.
- ↑ a b Detailed description in Weekly Advertisements for the Principality of Ratzeburg from July 6, 1886, p. 2. - Note: “ June 30, 1886 ” as well as “ Bamberger Postzug ” is apparently incorrect because the dead and seriously injured came from this train .
- ↑ a b Teltower Kreisblatt dated July 13, 1886, p. 3 (right column).
- ↑ Püschel, p. 56.
- ↑ Weekly advertisements for the Principality of Ratzeburg from August 17, 1886, p. 3.
Coordinates: 49 ° 47 ′ 42.8 " N , 9 ° 58 ′ 24.8" E