Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company
The Magdeburg-Leipziger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft , also Magdeburg-Köthen-Halle-Leipziger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft, was a railway company in Prussia . In 1840 it opened the fifth German and first cross-border long-distance railway line from Magdeburg to Leipzig .
history
The initiative for a railway connection between Halle and Leipzig came from the city of Halle. The Halle merchant and city councilor Matthäus Ludwig Wucherer spoke out in a memorandum in 1829 in favor of a railway connection between Leipzig and Magdeburg via Halle. The idea was welcomed by the Leipzig businessman and city governor J. L. Hartz and further concretized at a first meeting in Leipzig in October 1829. The Leipzig entrepreneur and banker Gustav Harkort led the preparations for the project.
However, a letter from the Magdeburg merchants dated December 16, 1829, which sharply rejected a train to Leipzig, temporarily halted the efforts. The reason for this was that Magdeburg had an advantage over Leipzig in the trade in coffee, cane sugar and spirits due to the Elbe port and thus the good connection to the overseas port of Hamburg; this advantage would not have been applied to a rail link to Leipzig.
Only after it became clear that the development of the railroad could not be stopped did the Magdeburg merchants apply on May 22, 1835 for the establishment of a railway stock corporation, which, however, only received its license from the Prussian government in November 1837. The Mayor of Magdeburg Francke , impressed by the share subscription for the Leipzig-Dresden Railway , originally intended to run the route not via Halle, but via Brehna . This should make the connection faster, but this proposal was rejected after representatives of the city of Halle intervened.
Construction began on January 24, 1838. For the first time in German railway history, it had to be taken into account that the line touched several countries: in addition to the kingdoms of Prussia (Magdeburg, Halle) and Saxony (Leipzig), it also crossed the Duchy of Anhalt-Köthen . The line was licensed by Prussia on November 13, 1837, and by Anhalt on September 18, 1840.
The commissioning took place in several stages:
- June 29, 1839: Magdeburg– Schönebeck (Elbe) (14.9 km)
- 9 September 1839: Schönebeck - Saale bridge near Calbe (12.4 km)
- June 19, 1840: Saale bridge - Köthen (22.6 km)
- July 22, 1840: Köthen – Halle (35.7 km)
- August 18, 1840: Halle – Leipzig (33.2 km)
On August 18, 1840, the entire line from Magdeburg to Leipzig was finally opened. Since the Magdeburg train station in Leipzig was right next to the Dresden train station , it was possible to transfer from Magdeburg to Dresden (the Leipzig-Dresden railway was opened in 1837). Later, a short connecting line made it possible to transfer through coaches.
Since the state border between the kingdoms of Prussia and Saxony ran between the districts of Modelwitz (today part of Schkeuditz ) and Hänichen (today the city border between Schkeuditz and Leipzig), a connection contract was signed with the Leipzig-Dresden railway company for the section of the line located on Saxon territory . It was not until April 29, 1874 that the Magdeburg-Leipzig railway company bought the route in Saxony with effect from January 1, 1875.
On June 1, 1876, the Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company was connected to the Magdeburg-Halberstädter Railway Company , which was nationalized by the Kingdom of Prussia by law of December 20, 1879. The Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway was subordinated to the Royal Prussian Railway Directorate Magdeburg.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans-Joachim Kirsche / Hans Müller: Eisenbahnatlas DDR, VEB Tourist Verlag Berlin / Leipzig, 1st edition 1987, ISBN 3-350-00293-5 , p. 18.
- ^ Deutsche Reichsbahn: opening dates 1835-1935, route lengths, concessions, ownership structure Berlin 1935, reprint Dumjahn, Mainz 1984, ISBN 3-921426-29-4 No. 1839/2
Lore
A large part of the tradition of the Magdeburg-Leipzig Railway Company is in the Dessau department of the Saxony-Anhalt State Archives .