Court train

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Court train of the Palatinate Ludwig Railway for King Maximilian II of Bavaria
Reception for Emperor Franz Joseph I at the Imperial Court Salon procession
Observation car of Hofzugs of Queen Elizabeth II. (Here along with Philip, Duke of Edinburgh ) during their state visit in 1954 in Australia in the Sydney Central Station
Railcar of the JR East E655 series on the road as a court train for the Emperor of Japan

The court train is a special form of the special train and is used by members of a ruling house to travel by rail . Today it is a predominantly historical phenomenon.

history

In the highly corporatist stratified society of the 19th century, where in Europe the railway network was built for the most part, the transport was traveler with the train the then subjected to all dominant social boundaries: the railway carriage were three or four classes of cars divided. In addition, the rich and privileged in particular had their own passenger cars , saloon cars . The heads of the ruling houses also used their own trains , court trains that were only available for them.

Since the railways have lost much of their social prestige compared to air traffic , courtyard trains, as well as the corresponding stationary facilities, “royal stations” , are rarely used in continental Europe. When celebrities still travel by rail today, they definitely use a flat train, which is often a multiple unit today, so that a saloon car can no longer be technically coupled.

Vehicles used

Technically, the vehicles used always corresponded to the standard for the upper class of public transport vehicles and were occasionally in details, such as the heating , the electrical lighting or the transition between the cars of a train and that of the public transport cars technology one step ahead. In addition to the actual saloon carriages , the court trains also had entourage cars , often similar to sleeping cars , dining cars , kitchen cars and baggage cars in their interior layout . Court trains were kept and used in almost all larger states. In individual cases, such a train could also be supplemented with regular passenger coaches . The carriages of the German Emperor and Empress were also looked after by their own production engineer during the journeys.

commitment

Regulations

For journeys on a court train, special regulations applied which, in addition to operational safety, were also intended to address the particular danger posed by the traveling head of state or a member of a ruling family and to maintain the ceremonial distance from the public. This included, for example, that it was strictly necessary to ensure that the wagon used was not the last and, if at all possible, not the penultimate or immediately behind the protection wagon. It should be separated from the locomotive by at least four axles. The special regulations should also ensure that these special trains fit into scheduled railway operations as smoothly as possible . Every railway administration had a corresponding regulation. Those of the Royal Bavarian State Railways and the Austrian Railways have been preserved, those of the Prussian State Railways in the extract. The documents that were created in the course of the preparation and implementation of individual trips were secret and had to be finally destroyed. In general, it was common practice to mock rules that were no longer in force . After the republic abolished the monarchy and court train in Germany in 1918, the Deutsche Reichsbahn also disposed of the corresponding service regulation 105 in 1921. It was "to be taken to waste paper".

organization

Journeys of a court train were organized in cooperation between the relevant department of the court administration and the railway . The railway administration or its subdivisions, from whose area of ​​responsibility the train started, prepared the journey. She also prepared the special timetable , procured the necessary vehicles and informed the departments that were affected by the journey. In addition, a "salon timetable" had to be produced, which contained the times and information on the stations passed through , so that the very highest and highest authorities knew when and on which side of the train they had to graciously wave to the train officials and schoolchildren.

Both distinguished railway personnel and officials of the court accompanied the journeys. The latter included a travel commissioner who represented the communication interface with the railway workers. Two travel commissioners of King Ludwig II of Bavaria are known by name, Friedrich Petri and Adolph Schamberger . If the King of Bavaria himself traveled on a court train, a telegraph operator always had to travel with him. If necessary, he operated a portable telegraph device and later - when the technology was available at the beginning of the 20th century - a telephone that could be connected to the telephone line accompanying the route . In addition, the train had to be accompanied by a mechanical engineer, i.e. a railway worker who could fix any faults on the locomotive . In larger train stations, portable stairs were kept ready to make it easier to climb on and off the railroad cars.

One court train had priority over all other trains. Absolute punctuality was guaranteed. The meeting of the court train with a moving freight train , which was carrying cargo that could be moved, was to be avoided.

Compilation of vehicles

Salon car for King Ludwig II of Bavaria from his court train in the Nuremberg Transport Museum
Kaiser Wilhelm II's court train during the First World War : in front of the gun car, the baggage car that was properly parked at the rear of the train.

The train was hauled by one or two suitable locomotives . If the King of Bavaria himself traveled in the court train, replacement locomotives were kept ready at suitable intermediate stations - under full steam and in the direction of travel of the court train - in case the locomotive of the court train should break down. Behind the locomotive and at the end of the train, a baggage car was to be set as a crumple zone in the event of a collision . There were regulations as to which vehicles were to be placed in the train. They had to be checked for operational safety before each trip.

A less complex way of making such trips was to attach one or more saloon cars to a scheduled train. or just reserve a compartment on a regular service train.

safety

Court train of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia for journeys on the 1435 mm network in Central and Western Europe
The British Court Train at Highley on the Severn Valley Railway

In Prussia, a court train had to be announced, the locally responsible operational inspection had to undertake a route tour first. For a specified period of time before the train passed the section of a route , certain train movements were forbidden, such as shunting , and further safety measures also applied to prevent unauthorized interference in rail traffic from outside. The busy railway line was directly in front of the drive from the competent railway master to commit and to examine reliability out about it by telegram to report to the traveling in the Court train railway officials responsible beforehand message. Passengers on regular trains that were overtaken by the train or that crossed it were not allowed to step onto the platform before the train had passed through the station.

When the court train traveled in Great Britain and Spain , all switches on the track to be used were locked and locked. A quarter of an hour before the court train passed, a single locomotive ("pilot engine") drove the route, which was then no longer allowed to be traveled by any vehicle before the court train had traveled on it. In addition, the entire route was provided with a chain of policemen who stood within sight of each other. In other states it was customary to conduct these security trips with a privilege manned by the military or police.

protocol

The rank of the accompanying railroad workers was determined by whether a ruling prince or one of his family members was traveling. Certain clothing was required for these accompanying staff, as well as for the staff at the subway stations , depending on whether it was an "official" trip or it was made "incognito". "Incognito", however, only meant a reduced ceremonial effort, not that the ruler was actually traveling incognito . There were also gradations with regard to the mandatory festive decoration of the stations. But even the train driver and wagon master of the train or the porters at the stations on the way might have to wear dress uniforms. “ The servants who do not wear a service cap have to greet the Most High and Supreme Lords by removing their headgear when they approach. ". The accompanying railway staff was required to do their job as quietly as possible, the engine driver was even required to " limit the use of the steam whistle to the lowest possible level ".

In principle, a court train had to arrive on track 1 at the departure and end stations, even if it was very complex from a technical point of view. If he does not the technical reasons reception building or Fürstenbahnhof could use closest track which lies between the reception building or Fürstenbahnhof tracks with auxiliary construction had overbuilt and this with a red carpet be occupied. At the intermediate stations and for marshals , too, strict protocol rules applied in Bavaria , which concerned the clothing of the railway workers and the display of respect for the highest and highest gentlemen passing through. In Prussia this was seen more loosely for the auxiliary officers and gatekeepers .

It was also important that the exit door from the train used by the very highest and highest gentlemen was exactly in front of the red carpet lying on the platform . To do this, the distance between the driver's cab of the locomotive and the exit door was first measured and reported to the destination station. There , a railway employee with a flag signaled the engine driver the exact position at which he had to bring the train to a stop.

costs

The carriage of court trains or saloon cars in regular trains was chargeable. The Royal Bavarian State Railways accounted for the number of axles transported on the train or the saloon car. There were exceptions and discounts : with the Royal Bavarian State Railways, the King of Bavaria did not have to pay anything for journeys on the court train, the German Kaiser received a price reduction. The distribution of tips from the highest and highest rulers to the railway workers involved was regulated separately .

See also

literature

  • Peter Bock, Alfred Gottwaldt: Government trains. Salon cars, imperial train stations and state trips in Germany . Munich 2006, ISBN 3-7654-7070-8 .
  • Paul Dost: The red carpet. History of State Trains and Salon Cars. Stuttgart 1965.
  • C. Hamilton Ellis: Royal Journey . Ed .: British Transport Commission. London | 1953.
  • Royal Bavarian State Railways (Hrsg.): Service instructions for the implementation of special trains of the highest and highest gentlemen. (Special service instruction = SdzDA). Valid from April 1, 1907 . Munich 1907. [Quoted: KBayStB: Dienstanweisung .]
  • Amba Kumar: Stately Progress: Royal Train Travel since 1840. Ed. National Railway Museum. York 1997, ISBN 1-872826-09-1 .
  • Prussian State Railway Administration: Service instructions for conductors. Valid from December 1, 1912 - Appendix 1: Excerpt from the regulations for travel of the Most High and Highest Lords (RAuHH) . Hanover 1912.
  • Victor von Röll : Encyclopedia of the Railway System . Second, completely revised edition 1912–1923 in 10 volumes. Urban & Schwarzenberg Verlag, Berlin / Vienna. 1912-1923. [Quoted from an excerpt from Volume 6. In: Alfred Gottwaldt : Der Hofzug sr. Majesty of the German Emperor, King of Prussia . Modellisenbahner Verlag. [O. J., c. 1992] and pagination there.]
  • Regulation for the journeys of the Most High and Highest Lords on the Austrian railways. Confidential . Publishing house of the kk Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Vienna 1898.

Remarks

  1. § 11 KBayStB: Service instructions precisely stipulate that the "salon timetable" is to be "made on white double cardboard in size 30 / 22.5 cm ".
  2. See: Avenwedde railway accident .
  3. ^ See: Daimiel railway accident .

Individual evidence

  1. Röll, p. 39.
  2. Röll, p. 39.
  3. See, for example, the report on the journey by Prince William and his wife from Berlin to Hamburg at the end of July 2017 (NN: Royaler Glanz am Bahnsteig. In: DB Welt Kompakt 3 (October 2017), p. 4).
  4. Röll, p. 39.
  5. Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 9, Item 31.
  6. ^ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Ed.): Collection of the published official gazettes from February 15, 1902. Volume 6, No. 7, Announcement No. 69, p. 50; Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Ed.): Collection of the published official gazettes of September 27, 1902. Volume 6, No. 49, Announcement No. 425, p. 364.
  7. Röll, p. 39.
  8. See section: Literature.
  9. Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1 . Available in the library of the German Museum of Technology in Berlin , call number: 2/89/1437.
  10. Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 9 Zif. 24.
  11. "The outdated regulations for the travels of the highest and highest rulers are to be collected and treated as waste paper." (Railway Directorate Mainz (ed.): Official Gazette of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz of March 12, 1904, No. 12. Announcement No. 118, p. 146 (147)).
  12. Railway Directorate in Mainz (Ed.): Official Gazette of the Railway Directorate in Mainz of December 10, 1921, No. 69. Announcement No. 1346, p. 768.
  13. §§ 2,3 KBayStB: service instructions ; Röll, p. 40.
  14. In Prussia, the special timetables were sent to the railway stations concerned, railway supervisors, depot supervisors and telegraph supervisors (Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Ed.): Collection of the official gazettes published on June 17, 1899. Volume 3, No. 26. Announcement No. 274, p. 197 ).
  15. § 11 KBayStB: service instructions .
  16. § 7 KBayStB: service instructions .
  17. Dost, p. 138.
  18. Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Ed.): Official Journal of the Royal Prussian and Grand Ducal Hessian Railway Directorate in Mainz of October 6, 1906, No. 53. Announcement No. 565, p. 474.
  19. § 13 KBayStB: service instructions .
  20. ^ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Hrsg.): Collection of the published official gazettes from September 27, 1902. 6th year. No. 49. Announcement No. 428, p. 365.
  21. Röll, p. 39, with reference to § 70 of the operating regulations of the German railways; Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 10, Item 64.
  22. Röll, p. 40.
  23. § 14 KBayStB: service instructions ; see. Röll, p. 40.
  24. § 4 KBayStB: service instructions .
  25. § 12 KBayStB: service instructions .
  26. Section 12 (3) KBayStB: service instructions ; Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 9, Item 31.
  27. See: Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 9, Item 34.
  28. ^ Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Ed.): Collection of the published official gazettes of June 17, 1899. Volume 3, No. 26. Announcement No. 274, p. 197 and November 2, 1907, No. 56. Announcement No. 598, p. 652.
  29. § 7 Abs. 5 KBayStB: service instructions .
  30. § 18 KBayStB: service instructions .
  31. § 9 KBayStB: service instructions ; Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 10, Numbers 60, 62.
  32. Röll, p. 41.
  33. Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 10, Item 61.
  34. ^ Josef Otto Slezak: The distant signal is amazed. Strange things from the railways around the world . Vienna 1952, p. 199.
  35. § 19 KBayStB: service instructions .
  36. § 6, 7 KBayStB: service instructions ; Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 10, Item 80.
  37. Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 10, Item 80.
  38. ^ Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 10, Item 39.
  39. § 7 Paragraph 6 KBayStB: service instructions .
  40. Sections 15 - 18 KBayStB: Service instructions , regarding the King of Bavaria.
  41. Prussian State Railway Administration: Service Instructions - Appendix 1. P. 10, Item 80.
  42. § 8 KBayStB: service instructions ; Röll, p. 40f; Eisenbahndirektion Mainz (Ed.): Collection of the published official gazettes from October 28, 1899. Volume 3, No. 46. Announcement No. 444, p. 335.
  43. § 10 KBayStB: service instructions .
  44. § 20 KBayStB: service instructions .
  45. § 22 KBayStB: service instructions .
  46. § 25 KBayStB: service instructions .
  47. Hellmuth R. Figlhuber: Mödling - Laxenburg. Flugelbahn with Kaiserbahnhof . Josef Otto Slezak, Vienna 1989, ISBN 3-85416-147-6 , p. 69.