Hall Railway Company
The Saal-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft in the Grand Duchy of Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach , the Duchies of Saxony-Altenburg and Saxony-Meiningen and the Principality of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt was founded in 1871 and built and operated the Saalbahn , the Orlabahn and the Schwarza – Blankenburg railway line . In 1895, the Prussian state bought the company, which was in financial difficulties.
history
The biggest problem with building a railway line through the valley of the Saxon Saale was the fragmentation of the neighboring small states . Only after lengthy negotiations did the affected states of Saxony-Altenburg, Saxony-Meiningen, Saxony-Weimar-Eisenach and Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt conclude a state treaty on October 8, 1870. It was stated in it that a joint-stock company to be founded should receive a concession for railway construction, provided that it could raise a deposit of 100,000 thalers .
The Saal-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft was entered in the commercial register on February 14, 1871 and on April 3, 1871 received the concession for the construction and operation of a railway line Großheringen-Camburg-Jena-Rudolstadt-Saalfeld. The single-track line should be built in standard gauge and be ready no later than 30 months after the license was granted. The connecting line between Orlamünde and Pößneck , which is also required, should be opened after a maximum of five years.
The groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 23, 1871 near Rothenstein . In addition to larger rock erosion near Cronburg and Rothenstein, the Saale itself was the greatest obstacle to construction. Although the route was supposed to run west of the river in order to only have to build a bridge over the Saale near Saalfeld, it was still necessary to move the river over a total of around four kilometers. Since the company got financial problems due to the founder crash of 1873/74, it was financially supported by the four states. On April 30, 1874, the entire Saalbahn was officially opened.
The construction costs were much higher than expected. Although passenger traffic in particular developed well, the company has always had financial difficulties throughout its existence. The contractually required construction of the Orlabahn from Orlamünde to Pößneck was postponed. First, a route from Schwarza to Schwarzburg or Ohrdruf was planned in order to increase income. However, only the section from Schwarza to Blankenburg, which was opened on August 1, 1884, was implemented. Construction of the Orlabahn did not begin until 1887, the Orlamünde – Jüdewein section was opened to traffic on October 1, 1889, and the continuation to Oppurg on October 15, 1892.
However, the financial situation had not improved, and the society had suffered considerable damage due to the flooding of the Saale and Schwarza in 1890. The pricing policy of the Prussian State Railways also caused further problems. Whenever possible, the state railroad withdrew traffic from the private railways with extremely low tariffs in order to buy them up as cheaply as possible. The connection Weißenfels-Gera-Saalfeld made it possible to bypass the Saalbahn. The situation of the Saal-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft worsened more and more, the shareholders therefore approved the sale of the company on June 9, 1891. The negotiations with Prussia dragged on, however, as they could slowly drive the corporation into ruin with further line openings (including the Arnstadt – Saalfeld railway line ), which would have lowered the purchase price further. Since Saxony was now also interested in buying the company, Prussia made an offer to buy on February 21, 1895. The offer was accepted on April 26, 1895, contracts with the four Thuringian states that were still necessary were concluded in July 1895, Prussia acquired the company for only 16.5 million marks, the construction costs for the line alone were significantly higher. The company was taken over on October 1, 1895, and from then on the routes belonged to the Royal Railway Directorate in Erfurt .
literature
- Werner Drescher: The Saal railway and its connecting railways , publishing house for traffic, Berlin 1987, ISBN 3-344-00109-4