Zentralbahn (Württemberg)
| Zentralbahn Ludwigsburg – Stuttgart – Esslingen (status 1854) |
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.jpg) Rosenstein Castle with the old Rosenstein tunnel
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| Gauge : | 1435 mm ( standard gauge ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maximum slope : | 10 ‰ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minimum radius : | 373 m | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Zentralbahn (also: Centralbahn ) was the first construction phase of the Württemberg railways . It was built in 1844-46 by the Royal Württemberg State Railways and consisted of two branches that connected Stuttgart with Ludwigsburg in the north and Esslingen in the east.
The term "central railway" did not last long, as the two branches quickly on to Heilbronn and Ulm were expanded and then north runway or east or Filsbahn were called. However, the Ludwigsburg – Stuttgart – Esslingen section continued to be of great importance as a whole, as it not only remained the central and most heavily loaded section of the Württemberg railways, but also ran through the largest metropolitan area in the state. For these reasons, it has undergone an above-average number of changes and extensions over the years.
Route
Central Station
The two branches began at Stuttgart Central Station , a terminus , which at that time was still south of today's location on Schlossstrasse, now Bolzstrasse.
Route to Ludwigsburg
Both lines initially ran in a north-easterly direction.
The northern branch immediately gains height, describing a left curve around the former Reiter-Kaserne (in today's track apron), in order to reach the Prague in another curve .
This railway left the Stuttgart basin through the then 828-meter-long Prague tunnel , then touched Feuerbach and Zuffenhausen , where the Feuerbach valley was left. The route then led to Kornwestheim and finally Ludwigsburg .
Route to Esslingen
The eastern line fell, running along the northwest side of the castle garden , down to the Neckar valley. The Rosenstein was pierced with the Rosenstein tunnel , which ran directly under the castle there . Then the train crossed the Neckar with the Rosenstein Bridge and reached Cannstatt . Running on the right bank of the Neckar, it touched Untertürkheim , Obertürkheim , and Mettingen as far as Esslingen .
Changes
This route no longer corresponds in every detail to today's one. The most significant changes over time, apart from the considerable expansion of the facilities, concerned the location of the main station, the route of the northern railway between the main and northern stations, and the location of the Rosenstein tunnel and the Neckar viaduct (see also the section Relics ).
Building history
The Zentralbahn was never intended as an isolated railway line, but rather as the first construction phase of the Württemberg mainline , which should cross the whole country and connect Heilbronn / Bruchsal on the one hand with Ulm and Lake Constance on the other. However, the section in the heart of Württemberg, in particular the traffic to and from Stuttgart, was of considerable importance, which suggested that the construction of the railway should begin there. The route, which was difficult due to the geographical conditions, had to take into account the needs of the entire network as well as those of Stuttgart, which was achieved after lengthy and varied planning.
Geographical requirements
The center of Stuttgart lies in the valley floor of the Nesenbach at an altitude of about 250 meters. The Nesenbach Bay is surrounded on three sides by mountains that rise up to 200 meters above Stuttgart and only drop slightly to the northwest, where the Pragsattel ( 306 m above sea level ) is a low passage. In the northeast, the valley opens to the Neckar , from which Stuttgart's old town is about 3.5 km away. In relation to the geographical location of Stuttgart, the term “basin” is often used (even if strictly speaking incorrectly).
Stuttgart had doubled its population to 40,000 between 1800 and 1840 and was the largest city and the economic center of Württemberg. However, the city had expanded mainly to the southwest (i.e. into the basin), where the valley floor was relatively wide; in the north, loose buildings had only formed up to Schillerstrasse (i.e. up to today's main station) and along Neckarstrasse (in what is now called Konrad-Adenauer-Strasse). The growth of the city to the north was also hampered by the palace garden ; this still stretches from the old town in an approximately 200 meter wide strip to the Neckar, where the exit of the valley through the Rosenstein (with the royal castle) and the hill of Berg is narrowed again. Further upstream and downstream, the Neckar is carved into a narrow, deep valley. Opposite the exit of the Nesenbach valley on the other side of the Neckar is Cannstatt (since 1933: Bad Cannstatt). With 5,500 inhabitants in 1840, Cannstatt was considerably smaller than Stuttgart, but it has always been an important traffic junction because it was on an ancient trade route from the Rhine plain to the Danube (near Ulm) and the Neckar was navigable from here.
Before the invention of modern means of transport, hardly any description of the city failed to refer to Stuttgart's traffic-free location, which contradicted the usual principles of urban development. In terms of the railway construction, this meant that Stuttgart was not on the direct transit line between the eastern and western state borders, and that even access to the basin was a problem, except from the north-east, so that at times it was considered to connect Stuttgart only by a side railway, but this was not done because of its outstanding economic and transport importance. Because the city had hardly expanded towards the Neckar so far, at least a direct connection to the city center was possible.
The first railway construction in Württemberg was thus already faced with difficulties that other countries had been spared by undertaking similar undertakings; the necessary leveling work, tunnels and bridges also made the construction comparatively expensive. Railway technology, which was still in its infancy around 1835, continued to develop during the planning phase, so that there were considerable planning uncertainties regarding the construction parameters to be used (permissible curve radii and gradients ). Against this background, the fact that Württemberg, which was economically weak at the time, was consistently pushing its rail network forward is to be understood as a courageous step that ultimately brought the state forward.
First steps in railway construction (1830–36)
The first concrete suggestion for a railway line in the Stuttgart area came from a commission in 1830 on the orders of King William I had been formed. This was commissioned to investigate the project of a connection between the Rhine and the Danube by means of canals or railways . In her interim report in 1833 she came to the conclusion that railways were the more suitable means and that, as a reference route, a connection between Stuttgart and Cannstatt was suitable.
The following activities initially continued to concern the creation of a nationwide network. In 1835/36 private railway companies were formed in Stuttgart and Ulm to establish a connection between the two cities. In this context, Valentin Schübler published a proposal for the routes from Stuttgart to Heilbronn and Ulm in the Cotta'schen Wochenblatt . According to this, the northern line should run from a train station on the Seewiesen (today's location of the University of Stuttgart ) to Prague, cross it with a tunnel and continue via Korntal into the Glemstal . The eastern line was to run from a train station on Neckarstrasse to the right of the palace garden to Berg and be connected to the northern line by a one-kilometer tunnel under the city. This suggestion was not pursued any further, but it did contain the idea of a Prague tunnel, which was taken up again years later.
The private railway companies quickly disbanded when the original cost estimates proved too optimistic, but they gave the impetus to further state planning. In 1836, the Ministry of the Interior commissioned Freiherr Carl von Seeger (Technical Councilor in the Ministry of the Interior) and the Ulm district building officer Georg von Bühler with the development of the main railways. Among other things, it had to be clarified whether the Ostbahn, i.e. H. the connection to Ulm, along the Rems , Kocher and Brenz or directly along the Fils with subsequent crossing of the Geislinger Steige should be built, which was also relevant for the route in the Stuttgart area.
Planning by Bühler and Seeger (1836–43)
Bühler and Seeger submitted their plans by 1839. These envisaged building the Stuttgart train station on Neckarstrasse and leading the rails to the right of the palace garden to Berg. If the Fils variant had been chosen, the eastern line would have branched off from the northern line here, with the route planned by Bühler initially continuing on the left bank of the Neckar in the direction of Plochingen . The northern line planned by Seeger was to cross the Neckar between Berg and Cannstatt, then switch back to the left bank of the Neckar after Cannstatt, to turn left before Hoheneck and reach Ludwigsburg am Unteren Tor (i.e. north of the city center). The Rems variant would have branched off the Ostbahn at Neckargröningen . These plans were based on maximum gradients of 1: 200 and curve radii of 570 meters. Stuttgart, Cannstatt or Berg came into question as the location for the central train station on this route.
After the plans were submitted, the matter was initially suspended. a. because Seeger retired from service for reasons of age. Only in 1842 did the matter move again. The Austrian expert commissioned by the government, Negrelli, assessed the previous plans positively, but noted at the same time that, due to the advances in railway technology, steeper inclines are now possible and less complex buildings are necessary. In the course of 1842/43, both the government and a commission of the state parliament decided on the following cornerstones for railway construction:
- Construction of the central train station in Stuttgart, because most trips would start or end there;
- Preferring the Filsbahn to the Remsbahn because it was more direct and the transit axis in the case of the Remsbahn would have been too far north of Stuttgart;
- Construction of a first section between Ludwigsburg, Stuttgart and Esslingen, as considerable local traffic was to be expected here.
The last point laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Zentralbahn. The deliberations led to the passing of the Railway Act of April 18, 1843, which ordered the construction of the main lines. In addition, a railway commission was set up to ensure the implementation of the law, i.e. H. had to plan and implement the construction of the railways. As an engineer who had already been tried and tested in railway construction, Carl Etzel was brought in , who had gained his experience with railway construction in France . Furthermore, the English professor Charles Vignoles was appointed as an expert in order to re-examine the previous plans, since Negrelli's comments about possible improvements had raised doubts about their correctness.
Work of the Railway Commission from 1843
The plans also met with great public interest. Among the many writings that were written by private individuals about the project, that of Johannes Mährlen , professor at the polytechnic in Stuttgart, stood out. In 1843 he had site surveys carried out at his own expense in order to compare different construction variants. The most suitable was a suggestion that took up elements from Schübler's suggestion of 1836: a train station on the Seewiesen, north of the development at the time, and a connection to Ludwigsburg through a tunnel under the Prague. What was new about this proposal was that the train to Cannstatt should also start from this station, to the left of the palace gardens. In addition, this railway should bypass the Rosenstein, cross the Neckar and run on the right bank to Esslingen. This proposal also met with official interest, especially since King Wilhelm was reluctant to have a train station in Neckarstrasse, near the royal grounds. This proposal also granted more direct access to Ludwigsburg and did not hinder the further development of Neckarstrasse.
When Etzel and Vignoles began their work, they found Bühler's designs unsuitable. Based on Mährlen's suggestions, Etzel began to work out completely new plans, and Vignoles recommended in his report that these be accepted for implementation. Until the final approval of the plans on July 12, 1844, Etzel made two changes: On the one hand, the Rosenstein was not to be bypassed, but to be crossed with a tunnel directly under the castle; this made it possible to move the Cannstatter station closer to the city. On the other hand, the station should not be built on the Seewiesen, but within the existing development in the so-called “Schloßstraßequadrat” (today's boundary: Bolz-, Friedrich-, Kronen- and Königstraße ) and thus enable shorter distances to the station. Both proposals were not without controversy, namely because existing houses had to be torn down and there was fear of endangering the castle. The cramped location of the station, which left little room for expansion, was also criticized. However, Etzel was able to enforce his ideas thanks to a positive report by the Austrian engineer Ludwig Klein and with the support of King Wilhelm.
Construction of the Zentralbahn
On June 26, 1844, construction work began on the most complex part of the route, the Prague Tunnel. The first construction phase was Cannstatt – Untertürkheim, where after a first test drive on October 3, 1845, regular driving began three weeks later. The extensions to Obertürkheim and Esslingen were shortly thereafter, i. H. put into operation on November 7th and 20th. The opening of the remaining sections of the route dragged on because of the necessary tunnel construction. 20 workers were killed in a collapse of the tube at the Prague tunnel. There was also an unforeseen delay at the Rosenstein tunnel, where a water and mud ingress due to leaky water basins in the castle area had to be repaired. The Rosenstein tunnel was then completed on July 4, 1846, on September 26, a locomotive could enter the Stuttgart train station for the first time, and on October 15, operations began on the entire Ludwigsburg – Esslingen line.
The standard gauge railway was initially only double-tracked between Stuttgart and Cannstatt, but a later double-track extension of the other sections was already planned and taken into account when the property was acquired. The revised plans showed a maximum gradient of 1: 105 and minimum curve radii of 456 meters. The state parliament approved 3.8 million guilders for the construction . (For comparison: the total annual budget for the financial years 1836–39 was 9.3 million guilders.)
The first timetable after the opening of the Zentralbahn showed four pairs of trains from Stuttgart to Ludwigsburg and Esslingen each day, plus another four pairs of trains between Stuttgart and Cannstatt. Initially, only passenger traffic took place (with an average of over 200 passengers per train), freight traffic was only introduced in 1847, although the Stuttgart freight station intended for this purpose had already been built in 1845. This was located a little north of today's main station between the tracks of the north and east railways, but was only connected to the rails from the direction of the passenger station.
Later developments
Further expansion of the route network
In the following years, the Württemberg railway network was expanded rapidly. In 1850 the rails reached to Heilbronn and Friedrichshafen , in 1854 there were rail connections to the two large neighboring states of Baden and Bavaria . From 1859, further domestic lines were built that branched off from the main lines, the most important for Stuttgart were the Upper Neckar line from 1859, the Rems line from 1861, the Württemberg Black Forest line from 1868 and the Gäubahn Stuttgart– Freudenstadt 1879. Each of these line openings expanded the catchment area of Stuttgart; This and the general increase in passenger and freight traffic ensured that traffic to the Stuttgart train station increased more and more. For this reason, the remaining sections of the Zentralbahn were double-tracked in 1858-61.
Expansion measures in the 1860s / 70s
In the 1860s, the state railways saw themselves prompted to undertake a first major renovation of the Stuttgart railway systems: The Stuttgart train station was replaced by a new building in 1867/68 and expanded from four to eight tracks, while its planum was raised slightly, which increased the slope of the Cannstatter Range increased to 1: 100. In addition, the freight yard was expanded and a connecting track was built between the north and east rail lines north of the freight yard so that trains coming from Cannstatt could more easily reach the freight yard; the 48 meter long gallows tunnel was built for this track . In the 1870s, the facilities of the freight yard expanded further and filled the corner between Bahnhofstrasse (today Heilbronner Strasse) and Wolframstrasse.
Relief from transit traffic in the 1890s
Around 1890, the station facilities in Stuttgart were again overloaded. To remedy this, the transit freight traffic was shifted out of the city. For this purpose, the freight bypass line between Untertürkheim and Kornwestheim was built and shunting yards were built at both ends; here the railway tracks at Untertürkheim were moved closer to the Neckar. At the junction of the Black Forest Railway, another marshalling yard was built with the North Station, with which the traffic could be diverted to and from the Black Forest Railway.
There was also a locomotive depot and a new passenger transport stop. In order to create living space for the workers employed there, the railway also built the Prague settlement, the street names of which still refer to personalities in railway history.
Reconstruction phase 1908–1929
The relief from the measures taken in the 1890s was short-lived. Stuttgart had almost 180,000 inhabitants in 1900, ten years earlier it had been 140,000. For this reason, new plans began as early as 1901, this time for a complete redesign of the railway systems between Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg and Esslingen. The aim of the planning was to upgrade the Stuttgart railway system to such an extent that it could cope with a complete development of the Stuttgart basin; it was assumed that in this case the city would have 300,000 inhabitants.
For this purpose, u. a. the lines to Esslingen and Cannstatt will be upgraded to four tracks in order to separate suburban and long-distance traffic. Furthermore, a decentralized structure was sought, i. H. Freight transport tasks should be taken over from stations outside the city center. After demands to convert the main station into a through station and its relocation to Cannstatt were rejected, two concepts were available for the new station building: the expansion of the facilities in the previous station or a new building 500 meters further north on Schillerstrasse. For financial reasons - the Schillerstrasse concept allowed the previous station area to be sold in the best inner city location - the latter prevailed and was passed by the state parliament in 1907.
The relocation of the station to the north necessitated a relocation of the inclined sections to Ludwigsburg and Böblingen. These were relocated from the west side of the Prague settlement to its east side, which lengthened the inlet route and reduced the required gradient. A depot at Rosensteinpark was built between the new tracks and the route to Cannstatt. 1908-10 the Prague tunnel received a second double-track tube, while the Rosenstein tunnel and the subsequent bridge were completely rebuilt by 1914. In addition, extensive expansion work took place at the other stations along the route. In the Untertürkheim area, the Neckar had to be straightened due to the four-track expansion. Between 1912 and 1919 a new, huge marshalling yard was built west of Kornwestheim , relieving the marshalling yards at the Nordbahnhof and in Untertürkheim from their duties. With the commissioning of the Rankbachbahn in 1915, the line between Kornwestheim and the Nordbahnhof was additionally relieved of freight traffic.
As a result of the First World War , fewer workers, materials and funds were available from 1914, so that the completion of the new facilities was delayed by years. Stuttgart Central Station was particularly hard hit. The construction started in 1914 was originally supposed to go into operation in 1916–19; in fact, this could only be done in stages between 1922 and 1928. In 1929, the renovation work with the new customs office building at the freight yard was completely completed.
Development after 1929
The next drastic change in operation took place with the electrification of the Stuttgart suburban traffic between Esslingen, Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg on May 15, 1933. On June 1 of the same year, long-distance traffic in the direction of Ulm was electrified, while this step in the direction of Bruchsal continued until 1950 kept waiting.
The operation on the route was subjected to heavy loads due to numerous air raids during World War II . Stuttgart Central Station was badly hit on November 22, 1942. As a result, operations had to be stopped from time to time. On April 21, 1945, German troops blew up the Neckar Bridge to the Rosenstein Tunnel, which completely brought traffic between Stuttgart and Cannstatt to a standstill. It was not until June 13, 1946 that he could be temporarily resumed; the reconstruction of the main station dragged on until 1960.
The relocation of the main station to the north, but also the growth of the city to the south-west, had given rise to ideas from 1930 onwards to open up the basin with an underground supplementary railway. With the construction of the connecting line and the commissioning of the Stuttgart S-Bahn , these plans became reality on October 1, 1978. The S-Bahn replaced the previous suburban traffic and from the beginning included the area between Esslingen, Ludwigsburg and Stuttgart.
Since the late 1960s, the Deutsche Bundesbahn (or now Deutsche Bahn ) has been planning the construction of new lines with which the high-speed passenger traffic is to be separated from the rest of the traffic. In this context, the Mannheim – Stuttgart high-speed line was opened in 1991 , which only branches off the main line between Zuffenhausen and Kornwestheim and thus does not consistently relieve the line to Ludwigsburg. Further new buildings are planned as part of the Stuttgart 21 project.
Relics
The location of the old main station south of today's station can be read off two long, straight streets in the city center. Stephanstraße runs where the track field of the first Stuttgart train station or the right half of the second train station was in the same place; Lautenschlagerstraße corresponds to the left half of the second station. Both streets were inaugurated and named in 1925 after the construction of today's train station. Parts of the central portal of the second station are now used as the entrance to a cinema.
The former extension of the track apron, which had already been partially removed, extended to the corner of Heilbronner Straße (until 1936: Bahnhofstraße) and Wolframstraße, whereby Bahnhofstraße was diverted to the north by the curve that the northern line had to make around the Reiterkaserne earlier.
Until the renovations at the beginning of the 20th century, the tracks ran to the left of today's Nordbahnhofstrasse. The circular boundary of the Pragfriedhof in the north marks the former route of the tracks to the north station and the former branch of the Gäubahn . The Inner North Station to the north of it was once on this route. The tracks were only moved to the eastern side of the "Eisenbahnerdörfles" on the Prague after the renovation.
On the Neckar side of the Rosenstein, the (walled-up) portal of the first Rosenstein tunnel can still be seen today; it is located below the footpath that leads from the footbridge over the Neckar to the castle.
See also
literature
- Andreas M. Räntzsch: Stuttgart and its railways. The development of the railway system in the Stuttgart area . Uwe Siedentop, Heidenheim 1987, ISBN 3-925887-03-2 .
- Andreas M. Räntzsch: The inclusion of Stuttgart in the modern transport system through the construction of the railway (volume 1 and 2) . Publishing house Dr. Kovač, Hamburg 2005 (also dissertation, University of Stuttgart, 2005), ISBN 3-8300-1958-0 .
- Georg von Morlok : The Royal Württemberg State Railways: Review of their construction during the years 1835–1889, taking into account their historical, technical and financial moments and results . 1890 (reprint: Siedentop, Heidenheim 1986, ISBN 3-924305-01-3 ).