Altona freight yard
The Altona freight yard was an important hub for freight traffic and an important economic factor for the then independent Prussian city of Altona / Elbe and later also for Hamburg, which was united with Altona . Of the freight stations in the surrounding cities that were incorporated into Hamburg after 1937, the Altona freight station was the second largest after Hamburg's main freight station . The latter was located on the site of the former "Hannöverschen" or "Venloer" station in the area south of the main station in the port of Hamburg and was replaced as a passenger station when the main station was inaugurated in 1906.
The Altona freight yard ultimately covered an area of around 100,000 square meters and was in operation until 1996. As of 2016, there are still numerous hall structures, former operating buildings and remains of track systems on the site. Some of them are already being used for other purposes, others are still being discussed about their further use for other purposes.
Beginnings
As early as 1845, the Altona-Kieler Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft carried out freight traffic with railroad cars at its first Altona train station, one year after its opening . For this purpose, a cable lift over a horse- operated Göpel . From the quays of the Altona harbor, which are located close to the train station, but 30 meters below, the freight wagons loaded up or down a steep ramp to the Altona train station. It can be assumed that these freight wagons have already been put together to form trains on the tracks of the first Altona train station and transported on towards Kiel . It is not known whether a “freight yard” could be identified by today's standards.
The increasing freight traffic at the beginning of the 1870s with up to 80 wagons per day via the cable system required more efficient solutions and so in 1875 a longer, new tunnel section through the so-called Schellfisch Tunnel created a direct, continuous rail connection on which trains from the Altona port railway now carry several Cars could be carried by locomotives .
Location and connections
Probably from 1882 built freight station facilities were built at the former Rainweg, today Harkortstraße, in today's district Hamburg-Altona-Nord between the passenger station Hamburg-Altona , the depot Altona and the Holsten-Brauerei .
The track bundles going directly from the Altona freight yard lead to the Altona – Kiel railway line with the march line branching off from Elmshorn . For the transition to the routes of the Hamburg-Altona connecting railway branching off near the freight station with the branches following the main station to Berlin , Hanover , Bremen and the Ruhr area , however, shunting trips to the Altona-Kiel railway line and a return movement from there are necessary.
There were several side entrances from Harkortstrasse and a loading route from the southern end to the two oldest loading sheds from 1890 and 1895, respectively, for goods deliveries and departures from or on the road by truck . This system still exists as of 2012.
First structures
Since the freight transport facilities at the shoulder blade station were to be omitted in the course of the plans to convert the connecting line, it was decided to build a new freight station in the northern section of the Altona station. On the site at the southern end of the former Rainweg, today's Harkortstrasse, a 170 meter long shipping shed was built, which was later extended to 270 meters. On a French map, the date of which is given as 1882, this shed appears to the left and in the middle, north of the first Altona train station, which was still in existence at the time. A separate track access away from the through tracks is also entered. According to another source, this shipping shed is said to have been built around 1890. For various purposes it received further smaller individual extensions. The facility is entered on a city map from 1888 as "Ottensener Güterbahnhof" .
Around 1895 (based on historical map material), another shed for receiving goods followed diagonally opposite on the loading street. The ensemble with the loading street that was created during this time still exists today and to the south is the two-storey building for goods handling built in the 1930s .
On the eastern side of the goods reception hall, two loading platforms were added next to each other and later roofed over.
Extensions
At the northern end of the first two loading sheds there was initially a turntable and a roundhouse with 16 parking spaces for the maintenance and provision of the steam locomotives , later an additional double turntable and locomotive shed system was built to the northwest of it, more than three times the size (57 parking spaces) built; which formed its own service as the Altona depot from 1895. These facilities also underline the importance of the Altona freight yard.
After the Second World War, five loading platforms with tracks running on both sides were built on the site of the first, smaller roundhouse facility in the same orientation as the goods receiving and dispatch hall. These freight platforms are accessible lengthways for trains from the north and connected at the southern end by a cross platform in the manner of a terminal station . A multi-aisle hall runs north from the cross platform and covers the five loading platforms. In 1959 the cross platform was covered with a separate building. The area covered by all the halls is 25,000 square meters, the largest continuous length of one of the adjacent hall aisles is 450 meters.
From a north-westerly direction with a track harp adjoining the Rainweg or the later Harkortstraße and accessible from there, there were the exposed loading streets 1 to 6 already before 1914, with the express goods processing having its own shed between loading streets 5 and 6. A customs clearance building was later built here. Six pure shunting tracks ran parallel to the south of it . In 1920 the oldest engine shed including the turntable from the early days was demolished to make way for another loading hall.
The freight yard of the Altona port railway
The Altona freight yard was particularly important for sea fish and fresh fish transports, as large parts of the fresh fish for consumption in Germany were landed via the Altona harbor. The tracks of the Altona port railway ultimately led exclusively to the freight tracks of the Altona train station. The railway's own freight station on the quays of the Altona harbor was thus, so to speak, a branch of the “actual” Altona freight station.
Departments and designations
On July 1, 1930, the goods tariff station Altona was renamed Altona Hgbf , the GA ( goods handling ) Altona in GA Altona Hgbf , the GA Altona Kai in GA Altona Hgbf Kai , the EilGA ( express goods handling ) Altona in EilGA Altona Hgbf .
In 1938 there was another renaming from Altona Hgbf to Hamburg-Altona and from Altona Hgbf Kai to Hamburg-Altona Kai .
Termination of operations
At the beginning of the 1970s, the need for rail transport from the Altona port increasingly declined, or these were taken over by refrigerated trucks. During this time, the tracks of the port railway were dismantled on some quay sheds. While before an average of 90 freight wagons a day were handled at the Altona freight yard, the freight volume from the Altona harbor at the end of the 1980s was only 100 wagon loads per year. This led to the closure of the port freight station in 1992 and the reloading business at the Altona freight station was subsequently discontinued. On December 31, 1996, the express freight transport and a year later also the general cargo transport was given up. With this the end of the freight yard operation was reached.
Monument protection
The Hamburg Monument Preservation Department has included the warehouse facility of the freight yard, in particular the goods dispatch and reception hall opposite, built before 1900, and the two buildings for goods handling and the technical service center, each south of them, as well as the transverse building erected in 1959, in the list of recognized monuments. The monument protection office regards this as “the typical arrangement for large terminal systems”. The two-story brick building at Harkortstrasse 125 and the striking water tower of the neighboring railway depot are also recognized as a monument .
Reuse
In the course of the redesign of the site for the construction of the new district of Neue Mitte Altona , parts of the old freight yard are also being used again. Thus, in one part of the building now a Edeka - organic market opened, and at the back a former loading hall a day care center was opened with great playground. The steel frame of the hall was preserved.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b c d e Anne Frühauf: The buildings of the rail traffic in Hamburg. Christians, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-7672-1205-6 .
- ^ Elisabeth von Dücker, Anne Frühauf: Altonaer Hafen - Fish & Factories. Museum of Work, Hamburg 1988, p. 27.
- ^ Erich Staisch: Hamburg Central Station. 1st edition. Hamburg 1981, ISBN 3-455-08768-X , pp. 65-66.
- ↑ HAMBOURG. Port exploitation. In: Imprimerie Nationale (ed.): Plocq, Laroche: Étude sur les principaux ports de commerce de l'Europe septentrionale, Pl. V. Hambourg (Plan général). Paris 1882, OCLC 457562459 .
- ^ Plan of the city of Altona 1888
- ↑ Hamburg and the surrounding area. 1895.
- ^ Large plan of Hamburg, Altona-Ottensen and Wandsbek. 1900.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Benno Wiesmüller, Dierk Lawrenz: The Hamburg marshalling yards and freight yards. Ek-Verlag, 2009, ISBN 978-3-88255-303-1 .
- ^ Wolfgang Klee: Railway Journal special. 5/97: Railways in Hamburg. ISBN 3-89610-020-3 , p. 40.
- ↑ Timeline “Royal Prussian Railway Directorate zu Altona” , accessed on January 21, 2012
- ↑ Hamburg-Altona Monument List , ID 38881.
- ^ Authority for Urban Development and Environment Hamburg: The project area Mitte Altona.
- ↑ Hanna-Lotte Mikuteit: Edeka's first organic market opens in Hamburg. April 16, 2019, accessed on July 29, 2020 (German).
- ↑ Pia Rabener: Neue Mitte Altona is happy about a huge playground. August 16, 2019, accessed on July 29, 2020 (German).
literature
- Benno Wiesmüller, Dierk Lawrenz: The Hamburg marshalling yards and freight yards. EK-Verlag, Freiburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-88255-303-1 .
- Anne Frühauf: The structures of rail traffic in Hamburg. Christians, Hamburg 1994, ISBN 3-7672-1205-6 .
- Elisabeth von Dücker, Anne Frühauf: Altona harbor - fish & factories. Museum of Labor, Hamburg 1988, DNB 210773308 .
Web links
- Former Altona freight yard, video
- Track plan of the freight yard and depot before 1910 (north = right, at the bottom the freight shipping shed from 1890, above the receiving shed from 1895)
- Track plan of the passenger and freight depot and depot, around 1950? (North = left)
- Track plan of the Altona station from 1967 (north = above, on the left the passenger station and the railway depot tracks, on the upper right the freight station tracks and loading facilities, the curve to the right leads to the connecting railway or Hamburg main station)
- Mirror online; Aerial view of Altona train station, sight south-north; To the right of the center of the picture, the former sheds and storage buildings of the freight yard can be seen ( Memento from March 28, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
Coordinates: 53 ° 33 ′ 36 ″ N , 9 ° 56 ′ 12 ″ E