Hotzenwaldbahn
| Upper Rhine - St. Blasien | |
|---|---|
| Route length: | 36 - 51 km |
| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) |
| Maximum slope : | 25 ‰ |
| Minimum radius : | 180 m |
The Hotzenwaldbahn was a railway line from St. Blasien through the Hotzenwald to the Upper Rhine , with a connection to the Upper Rhine Railway, aimed at by interest groups from the end of the 19th century, but never fully realized . It competed with two or three other rail projects that were also not implemented.
First considerations
With the development of the Black Forest by the railway, there were considerations to realize a north-south connection in addition to the two east-west connections Höllental and Schwarzwaldbahn . A full line was envisaged starting from the Upper Rhine route in the Albbruck - Säckingen area via St. Blasien, Titisee-Neustadt and Eisenbach to Villingen . In the Neustadt area, the Höllentalbahn and then the Bregtalbahn would have crossed and finally in Villingen the connection to the Black Forest Railway would have been established. There was also a connection to the Gäubahn with the Württemberg railway line Villingen-Schwenningen - Rottweil . This would have created a continuous north-south connection from Stuttgart to the Upper Rhine.
Partial realizations
When the Höllentalbahn from Freiburg to Neustadt was opened in 1887 , efforts were made to branch off from it to implement the above-described rail route towards the Upper Rhine. Despite unanswered questions about the specific route, the project was approved by the law of July 22, 1912 insofar as it was decided to build a railway at the expense of the Baden state, starting from the Höllentalbahn to St. Blasien. The construction of this line, later referred to as the Dreiseenbahn , was interrupted by the outbreak of the First World War. After the war, the state railways were transferred to the Reichsbahn , which was also responsible for completing rail projects that had already started. As little work had been done on the route to St. Blasien, the route remained partially open. Variants about Menzenschwand and Schluchsee were up for discussion. Both would have been about the same length, but the one via Menzenschwand would have been a bit more expensive. The line via Schluchsee offered the advantage of a possible continuation as the Schlucht Valley line via Grafenhausen and Birkendorf to the Upper Rhine. In addition, this route made possible the location of the terminal station, which St. Blasien desperately wanted, south-east below instead of above the health resort, which at the same time facilitated a possible continuation of the railway through the Alb valley to the Upper Rhine. The decision was made in favor of the line via Schluchsee, but initially only as far as Seebrugg was built. On December 2, 1926, the Titisee - Seebrugg line was opened. However, there was no further construction to St. Blasien.
St. Blasien - Upper Rhine
When it became clear that St. Blasiens would be connected to the railway network by the Höllental railway rather than the Hochrheinbahn, a wide variety of interest groups came forward for a total of three different railway lines that were to connect St. Blasien with the Upper Rhine. The shortest and most obvious would have been the Albtallinie, which would have been connected to the Hochrheinbahn at Albbruck. The fact that the Alb valley is only populated in the upper area and the lower part forms a ravine was opposed to this alignment. Either the railway line should have been relocated almost completely into the mountain here, or it should have left the Alb valley halfway up. The second variant would have been a line over the ridge between the Alb and Schwarzatal, branching off at houses. This line would have been about 36 km long and would be almost 1000 m above sea level. N. N. increased to meet the Hochrheinbahn at Waldshut . The third and longest route at 51 km would have been the Hotzenwaldbahn. It would first have risen from St. Blasien to the heights of Ibach to get to Todtmoos . Via the Hotzenwald, with the villages of Herrischried , Hogschür and Hottingen , it would have reached the southern steep drop of the Black Forest. The descent into the Rhine Valley would have been realized in serpentines and the Hochrheinbahn would have been reached in the Murg and Säckingen area . The Hotzenwald line would also be up to 1000 m above sea level. N. N. increased and would also have run over long stretches at this altitude. The petitioning communities have had a project study for the Hotzenwaldbahn carried out by the engineer Reitmeyer in Freiburg. According to this, the 7 km route would have been in tunnels, the largest of which would have been over 2 km long. The maximum gradient would have been 2.5%, the smallest curve radius 180 m. The three lines were discussed on July 17, 1908 at the 106th public session of the Second Chamber, but no prospect of a foreseeable realization was given. Success was not expected from either line in terms of traffic or business management. In addition, the technical and climatic conditions were rated as very critical.
St. Blasien train station
The so-called train station in St. Blasien is a curiosity in this matter. After there was never a rail connection in St. Blasien, an extensive Kraftpost line network developed, which among other things serves the three former competing line projects. In the area of the former bus station, the Reichsbahn built a small operating building - Fürstabt-Gerbert-Straße 6 - in which luggage and goods could be checked in and tickets could be purchased. The building had a loading ramp for the railway's own truck, which was used to drive the goods to Seebrugg station.
literature
- Hans-Wolfgang Scharf / Burkhard Wollny: The Höllentalbahn , Eisenbahn-Kurier-Verlag, ISBN 3-88255-780-X