History of horse buses in Freiburg im Breisgau
The history of horse-drawn buses in Freiburg im Breisgau began in 1891 and ended in 1901 with the introduction of the electric tram . Initially, this only inner-city means of transport was operated by the driver Josef Amann , before the riding arena owner Adolf Jenne took over the operation in 1896 .
timeline
The beginnings under Joseph Amman
In April 1891, the haulier Joseph Amman opened the first line that was operated with so-called Stellwagen . In the beginning there was only one ride in the morning rush hour, which began at 6:00 a.m. at the victory monument and led to the Kyburg inn in Günterstal . From May of the same year, operations were reduced to six to seven journeys per day in each direction. On this route, the horse busses served the intermediate stations Fischbrunnen , Holzmarktplatz , Dreisambrücke , Lorettostraße , Sternwaldeck , Wonnhaldestraße and Güntherstäler Tor .
Further lines and cycle densities
In 1893 three lines were offered:
| line | route |
|---|---|
| I. | Günterstalstraße - Lorettostraße - Kaiserstraße (today: Bertoldsbrunnen) - Victory Monument - Zähringer Löwen (today: Tennenbacher Straße) - City of Vienna (today: Hauptstraße) - Zähringerstraße |
| II | Waldsee - Näglesee (today: Alter Messplatz) - Schwabentor - Kaiserstraße (today: Bertoldsbrunnen) - Central Station |
| III | Bohrer - Kyburg Inn - Güntherstäler Tor - Kaiserstraße (today: Bertoldsbrunnen) - Victory Monument |
At this point, line I was already running every 15 minutes all day. Back then, a single ticket cost between ten and 75 pfennigs .
Lack of profitability and termination
In the following years, Amann had to accept increasingly higher operating costs and low income. Therefore, the city of Freiburg agreed in a contract with the entrepreneur to subsidize the company with 4000 Reichsmarks annually . In return, Amann undertook to continue to guarantee reliable horse domnibus traffic on the routes. Nevertheless, there were more and more complaints about the condition of the dirty and technically outdated cars.
Amann's request in October 1896 to subsidize him for further operation of lines I and II with 10,000 Reichsmarks annually was not accepted by the city and accepted the termination. The entrepreneur then gave up the operation on this route, as announced, his other lines (Hauptbahnhof – Littenweiler, Holzmarktplatz – St. Georgen, Siegesdenkmal – Betzenhausen – Umkirch, Siegesdenkmal – Friedhof and Siegesdenkmal – Parade Grounds (today: Airfield) ) he retained .
Takeover by Adolf Jenne
At the end of October 1896 the city decided to transfer the traffic on the two main routes Rennweg – Lorettostraße and Siegesdenkmal – Günterstal to another entrepreneur. The city should buy the wagons, while the horses should be provided by the concessionaire.
The riding arena owner Adolf Jenne was finally awarded the contract for the two lines and the railway station – Schwarzwaldstraße route. He took over six used wagons from the Basler-Droschken-Anstalt , which kept their numbers 6-12. In June 1897 the fleet was reinforced by three more Basel cars.
Replacement by the electric tram
The steadily increasing number of passengers and growing capacity problems led to the decision in 1899 to replace the horse-drawn bus service with an electric tram . The opening of tram lines A and D on October 14, 1901 was the last scheduled day of operation with horse-drawn carriages. Between 1901 and 1904, all of the parking wagons that were no longer needed were sold.