Hamburg-Altonaer Centralbahn-Gesellschaft

Hamburg (Borgfelde) - Altona (Ottensen)
Centralbahn car in Königstrasse (around 1906)
Route length:	approx. 7.5 (total length 15) km
Gauge :	1435 mm ( standard gauge )
Legend Klaus-Groth-Straße (Borgfelde) final stop Besenbinderhof Trade museum Altmann Bridge Steinstrasse Big burstah Old wall Rödingsmarkt Michaelisstrasse Old stone path Millerntor Reeperbahn State border Hamburg / Holstein Nobistor Rathausmarkt (Altona) Koenigstrasse, red line Big mountain road , green line Market street Schützenhof depot Altonaer Bahnhofstrasse Altona Hbf Peace oak, red line Bahrenfelder Strasse Fischers Allee, green line

The Hamburg-Altonaer Centralbahn-Gesellschaft ( HAC for short ) was a tram company whose line ran from Hamburg to Altona and back. The line's cars were popularly known as the “Chinese Railway” or simply the “Central Railway” because of their shape and color. The beginnings of the company go back to the year 1878, when the predecessor company was founded as Hamburg-Altonaer Pferdebahn-Gesellschaft (HAPf). With the electrification in 1896 it was renamed the Hamburg-Altonaer Centralbahn-Gesellschaft (later Hamburg-Altonaer Zentralbahn-Gesellschaft ). It existed until 1922 and was integrated into Hamburger Hochbahn AG .

Background: The Hamburg-Altona horse-drawn railway company

Perambulator car of the Hamburg-Altona Horse Railway Company (around 1890)

Since the cities of Hamburg and Altona grew rapidly in the middle of the 19th century, due to the economic upswing that the port operations brought with it, the need arose to adapt local passenger transport between the nearby cities. After Hamburg and Altona had granted the concession for a horse-drawn tram between the two cities to the engineer Adolph Keifler from Copenhagen on October 4, 1876 , who had previously built a horse-drawn tram in his hometown, the Hamburg-based company was founded on November 2, 1876. Altonaer Pferdebahn Gesellschaft by Keifler with 600,000 Marks share capital in which Commerz- und Disconto-Bank, founded in 1871, also took a direct share with 16.6 percent.

Centralbahn ticket

Works council card of the Hamburg-Altonaer Centralbahn-Gesellschaft 1920

The same also issued a six percent priority bond in the amount of 300,000 marks for financing. The concession agreement stipulated a term of 25 years, a wagon width of a maximum of 1.90 m and a wagon capacity of a maximum of 30 people. The wagons were deflectable, that is, they ran with a fifth wheel on rails that could be pulled up if necessary (e.g. in narrow spaces ) ( perambulator operation ).

The horse-drawn tram initially ran over a loop in Großer Burstah - between the stock exchange and the building site of Hamburg's town hall - Alter Wall to the Altona terminus between Königstrasse and Marktstrasse (now Ehrenbergstrasse). The first wagons were made by the Eisenbahn-Wagenbauanstalt in Hamburg- Rothenburgsort . The depot was built near the Altonaer Schützenhof and the line officially opened on April 15, 1878. In the first nine months of operation, almost two million passengers could be counted. As the company operated an extremely lucrative route, the company's financial position was very good.

Change of name to Hamburg-Altonaer Centralbahn-Gesellschaft

The Centralbahn on the Reeperbahn (around 1908)

After most of the lines of the road railroad company (StEG or SEG), which competed with the Hamburg-Altonaer Pferdebahn-Gesellschaft, were already running electrically from 1894, the first twelve railcars with electric drives were introduced on January 26, 1896 . Before that, new tracks (Phoenix 17b brand) had been laid. The route network, which had meanwhile been extended to Hamburg-Borgfelde and was electrified by Elektrizitäts-AG formerly Schuckert & Co. , had a route length of around 7.5 kilometers and a total length of 15.1 kilometers. The electrical energy with a voltage of 600 volts direct current was supplied by the Lower Elbe Electricity Works (EWU) in Neumühlen and the Hamburg Electricity Works . The mixed operation with horse-drawn wagons ran until March 1896 and from October 31, 1896 the company operated under the new name Hamburg-Altonaer Centralbahn AG .

The maximum speed in the urban area was 12 km / h and on the outdoor routes 18 km / h. During rush hour on weekdays, the tram lines ran every 2.5 minutes and the journey time on each line was 42 minutes. The fare was 10 pfennigs and the HAC paid the highest dividend in Germany on its shares with 30 percent at times. Until 1912, the HAC carried around 16.4 million people and covered around 2.3 million kilometers.

With the beginning of the First World War , the economic situation deteriorated as a result of a lack of coal (temporarily no electricity from the Lower Elbe power station), high costs and strikes. The end of the Centralbahn followed on December 31, 1922, as its license had expired. The operating company sold vehicles, track material and land to Hamburger Hochbahn AG (HHA), which continues to operate the routes. Some of the cars were repainted by the latter and were used until the end of the 1920s.

The tricky Altona route was adjusted and some lines of the "Zentralbahn" through side streets in Ottensen were shut down. Since the Hamburger Hochbahn AG (HHA) now has its lines through the Gr. Bergstrasse and Königsstrasse could run, it was able to shut down routes in side streets north of the Reeperbahn.

vehicles

Railcar No. 78 and sidecar No. 23

The first 40 HAC railcars were built in 1896 by the Wagenbauanstalt and Waggonfabrik for electric railways formerly WCF Busch and the vehicle workshops Falkenried , both based in Hamburg. Falkenried built a further eight railcars and 45 sidecars in 1896/97 and the last twelve railcars were added by Busch by 1899.

The railcars with two windows on both sides offered passengers 20 seats and 14 standing places and weighed 6.5 t. The 3 t heavy sidecar with three windows on both sides had 18 transverse seats and 16 standing places. Initially, the railcars each had a 20 hp engine, which turned out to be too small in everyday life, so that it was soon increased to two 23 hp engines per railcar. The current was drawn using roller pantographs . The length of all cars over the coupling was 8.4 m, the car body width 2.0 m and the wheelbase 1.7 m (2.2 m for some conversions). Four railcars were converted into sidecars around 1899. In 1923 the HHA took over 46 railcars and 51 sidecars. By 1929 some cars were converted into work cars, the rest were scrapped.

Centralbahn on Rödingsmarkt in the background in front of the tax authority (around 1910). The SEG wagons can be seen in the foreground, on the left the newly built Hamburger Hochbahn.

As the yellow-painted railcars resembled large arched windows and the roof structure was reminiscent of a pagoda , the Centralbahn was also called the "Chinese Railway".

Lines

The HAC operated two lines to and from Altona. From the start of operations on April 15, 1878 to October 30, 1896, both lines carried out a loop ride in Altona past the old Altona town hall to the Altona train station - at that time located on the Palmaille . The cars coming from Hamburg drove either via Königstrasse (red line) or Bergstrasse (green line) to the Altona train station. They drove back to Hamburg via Bergstrasse (red line) or Königstrasse (green line).

In Hamburg, both branches of the railway began at the stock exchange with a loop Gr. Burstah - behind the stock exchange - Alter Wall. From August 18, 1881, the route was extended over Rathausstrasse and Steinstrasse to Brockesstrasse at the Gewerbemuseum (now the Museum of Art and Commerce). From "the beginning of August" 1886 the train ran in both directions through the Gr. Burstah, the route through the Alten Wall was abandoned (because of the building of the town hall).

Centralbahn in front of the old Altona town hall (around 1905)

With the electrification in 1896, terminals and routes changed. On January 26, 1896, electrical operation on the “red” loop to Altona was started and the route to the Berliner Tor was extended. The "green" loop was initially operated with horses and continued to end at the trade museum. It was not until March 7, 1896 that the “green” loop was also put into operation. From 1905 a loop was set up at the Berliner Tor to make operations easier.

By relocating the Altona train station to its location, the way was now clear for a better connection to Ottensen. The "Zentralbahn" did not miss this opportunity and opened new routes to Ottensen, which were operated in complicated loops and partly in left-hand traffic. With their track position, they followed the development plan of the city of Altona for "the old station area" from 1895. On October 31, 1896, these lines came into operation.

Bergstraßenlinie (green signs) Altona area: Loop Große Bergstraße - Jessenstraße - Marktstraße (now Ehrenbergstraße) - Lobuschstraße - Arnoldstraße - Fischers Allee - Ottenser Hauptstraße - Altona station - Große Bergstraße

The Centralbahn in front of the Hotel Reichshof (around 1906). In the background the Altona train station, in the foreground the Stuhlmannbrunnen .

Königstrasse line (red signs) Altona area: Loop Königstrasse - Altonaer Bahnhofstrasse (now Max-Brauer-Allee, in left-hand traffic) - Lobuschstrasse - Erzbergerstrasse - Kleine Rainstrasse - Hohenesch - Friedenseiche (now Alma-Wartenberg-Platz) - Bahrenfelder Strasse - Königstrasse

The disadvantage of these loop journeys was that the Altona train station was only touched directly on the return journey to Hamburg and not at all by the "red" line. From "June" 1897 there was a variant of the "red" line, the so-called "red-white" line. Every second train of the "red line (red and white signs) went Friedenseiche (now Alma-Wartenberg-Platz) - Altona station - Altonaer Bahnhofstrasse (now Max-Brauer-Allee, left-hand traffic) - Königstrasse.

This route remained practically unchanged until the license expired and operations ended on December 31, 1922.

Existing catenary masts and today's use of the depot

Catenary mast of the Centralbahn in Altonaer Königstrasse (2013). In the background a Bismarck monument.

In Königstrasse , on the section between Elmenhorststrasse and Behnstrasse, there are still five catenary masts of the Centralbahn, which were manufactured by Tangerhütte using the gray cast iron process in 1896. A mast was restored in 2004 by the Altona district office for 4100 euros. The Hamburg Monument Association repaired another mast. Since the tram in Hamburg was discontinued in 1978 and the infrastructure was dismantled, these tram masts are likely to be the last remaining in public Hamburg. These objects are registered with the number 14960 in the list of cultural monuments in Hamburg-Altona-Altstadt . In the Bahrenfelder Straße, Ottenser Hauptstraße, the Kleine and Große Rainstraße, various catenary rosettes of the Centralbahn are still visible on the house walls.

The depot in the Max-Brauer-Allee 59 at the Altona train station was used as a bus depot until 1988 ; today there is a supermarket there .

literature

• VDI-Zeitung Journal for the development, construction, production. Volume 41. VDI-Verlag 1897, p. 285.
• Gustav Schimpff: Hamburg and its local traffic: the urban means of transport, their previous development and future design. J. Springer, 1903.
• Negotiations between the Senate and the citizenship in 1923. Hamburg, Senate. 1923, p. 30.
• Karl-Heinz Gewandt: The Hamburg-Altona Central Railway. In: Tram Magazine No. 8, pp. 85–97.
• Marcus Grän: The development of city traffic in Hamburg: From horse-drawn buses to elevated trains. Grin, Munich 2008, ISBN 978-3-640-20210-2 .
• Buchholz, Horst: "Line history of the Hamburg tram 1866-1978" VVM-Verlag, Hamburg 2008, ISBN 978-3 923 999 17 0
• Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: Trams and light rail vehicles in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i. Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5
• Stadtteilarchiv Ottensen (Ed.): On the way in Ottensen - history and stories of traffic and movement in Ottensen, 2010 edition, ISBN 978-3980892544 .

Former HAC depot at today's Max-Brauer-Allee 61, currently used as a supermarket; 2014

Web links

Commons : Hamburg-Altonaer Centralbahn  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Illustration of a vehicle model of the Centralbahn
• Contribution of the NDR with mention of the Centralbahn

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: Street and light rail vehicles in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i. Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5 , p. 27.
2. ↑ Detlef Krause: The Commerz- und Disconto-Bank 1870-1920 / 23: banking history as system history. Franz Steiner Verlag Stuttgart. 2004, ISBN 978-3-515-08486-4 , p. 103.
3. ↑ Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i. Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5 , p. 29.
4. ↑ Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i.Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5 , p. 98.
5. ↑ Elfi Bendikat: Public transport policy in Berlin and Paris 1890-1914; Structural conditions, political conceptions and implementation problems. Walter de Gruyter Verlag, Berlin 1999, ISBN 978-3-110-15383-5 , p. 386.
6. ↑ Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i. Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5 , p. 106.
7. ^ ^{A b} Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: Street and light rail vehicles in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i. Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5 , p. 99.
8. ↑ Horst Buchholz: "Line history of the Hamburg tram 1866-1978." Hamburg 2008 (VVM)
9. ↑ Wagenbauanstalt and wagon factory for electric railways, formerly WCF Busch
10. ↑ Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i. Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5 , p. 105.
11. ↑ Dieter Höltge, Michael Kochems: trams and light rail in Germany; Volume 11: Hamburg. EK-Verlag GmbH, Freiburg i. Br. 2008, ISBN 978-3-88255-392-5 , p. 103.
12. ↑ Horst Buchholz: "Line history of the Hamburg tram 1866-1978." Hamburg 2008 (VVM)
13. ^ Hamburger Hochbahn AG (Ed.): A journey through six decades with the electric tram. Hamburg undated (1954) and Horst Buchholz: "Line history of the Hamburg tram 1866-1978." Hamburg 2008 (VVM)
14. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 25, 2013 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.