Wittenberg tram

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The Wittenberg tram was a horse-drawn tram in Wittenberg . It operated from 1888 to 1921 and connected the station with the city center.

Background and opening

The distance from the train station to the city center with the town hall is almost two kilometers. That is why the citizens wanted public transport for themselves and their visitors . This was created by the reindeer Ernst Rettig in the form of a meter-gauge horse - drawn tram, which he opened on July 26, 1888. He received a forty-year promotion license from the mayor of the city. The Prussian authorities in Merseburg had given permission for the "Wittenberger horse-drawn railway", although there was also resistance among the population to the installation of the rails and the feared traffic noise.

The ordinance issued by the Wittenberg magistrate for the regulation of horse-drawn tram operation required the coach driver to know how to handle horses. He had to be known to the city fathers in the town hall and, in addition to a uniform, had to wear a hat with a number. The travel times had to be based on the time of the town church tower clock . The horse handler was not allowed to encourage the population to ride and had to turn away drunks and people with loaded rifles. It was forbidden to take tips.

course

The 1.6-kilometer route was laid within three weeks. The route was traveled by a bus drawn by a horse. It led from the station building between the Berlin – Halle and Roßlau – Falkenberg / Elster railway lines to the southwest and then turned into Collegienstraße. At the Luther House passed it went straight to the marketplace . Initially, the train ended at the corner of Juristenstrasse and Coswiger Strasse. Since the horse-drawn tram often jumped off the track due to the tight curve on Elbstrasse / Schlossstrasse, the terminus was moved to the “Schwarzer Bär” inn (Schlossstrasse 2). The train was parked in the courtyard there every evening.

Shutdown

In the economically difficult period after the First World War , the entrepreneur ceased operations in 1921. There was no longer any introduction of electric traction. Already in the Baedeker of 1914 it says: "Horse tram on arrival of the trains to the market (ten Pfennig), also power bus."

literature

  • Author collective: Tram Archive 4. Room Erfurt / Gera / Halle (Saale) / Dessau . transpress, Berlin 1984.
  • Nathanael R. Lipinski: The Wittenberger horse tram. In: Home Calendar 2009 . Three chestnuts, Lutherstadt Wittenberg 2009, p. 38-47 .