The America Line (German: ''Amerikalinie'') is the unofficial name of a railway line in northern Germany which is mainly of regional importance today. It runs in an east-west direction and links
Stendal
The Hanseatic City of Stendal () is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is the capital of the Stendal District and the unofficial capital of the Altmark region.
Geography
Situated west of the Elbe valley, the Stendal town centre is located s ...
in
Saxony-Anhalt
Saxony-Anhalt (german: Sachsen-Anhalt ; nds, Sassen-Anholt) is a state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony, Thuringia and Lower Saxony. It covers an area of
and has a population of 2.18 million inhabitants, making it the ...
with the
Hanseatic city
The Hanseatic League (; gml, Hanse, , ; german: label=Modern German, Deutsche Hanse) was a medieval commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and market towns in Central and Northern Europe. Growing from a few North German tow ...
of
Bremen
Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state consis ...
.
History
The America Line was originally the central element of direct links from
Magdeburg
Magdeburg (; nds, label=Low Saxon, Meideborg ) is the capital and second-largest city of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.
Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archdiocese of Magdebur ...
and, most importantly,
Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
to the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
ports. It was given its colloquial name because many emigrants from
East
East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...
and
West Prussia
The Province of West Prussia (german: Provinz Westpreußen; csb, Zôpadné Prësë; pl, Prusy Zachodnie) was a province of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and 1878 to 1920. West Prussia was established as a province of the Kingdom of Prussia in 177 ...
,
Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
and the provinces of
Posen and
Pomerania
Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...
travelled on the line to
Bremerhaven
Bremerhaven (, , Low German: ''Bremerhoben'') is a city at the seaport of the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany.
It forms a semi-enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the Riv ...
, where there was a connexion to emigration ships sailing to
America
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
on the Columbus Quay (''Columbuskaje''). In the opposite direction, many goods trains laden with fresh fish ran from Bremerhaven to the capital of the
German Reich
German ''Reich'' (lit. German Realm, German Empire, from german: Deutsches Reich, ) was the constitutional name for the German nation state that existed from 1871 to 1945. The ''Reich'' became understood as deriving its authority and sovereignty ...
. Because Kaiser
Wilhelm II occasionally travelled on this route from Berlin to the
naval base
A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...
s on the North Sea, it is sometimes also called the Emperor Line (''Kaiserlinie''). Several express trains ran on this line on the route from Berlin–
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsha ...
to Berlin–
Norddeich. During the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
, the line was cut next to Nienbergen station as a result of the creation of the
Inner German border
The inner German border (german: Innerdeutsche Grenze or ; initially also ) was the border between the German Democratic Republic (GDR, East Germany) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG, West Germany) from 1949 to 1990. Not including the ...
.
Operation
The
Lower Saxon town of
Uelzen
Uelzen (; officially the ''Hanseatic Town of Uelzen'', German: ''Hansestadt Uelzen'', , Low German ''Ülz’n'') is a town in northeast Lower Saxony, Germany, and capital of the county of Uelzen. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, a ...
is the historical and geographical centre point of the route, and the point at which it is divided from an operational and timetable point of view. The eastern section of the route is now electrified and upgraded, whereas the western section is mostly non-electrified and also known as the
Uelzen Railway (''Uelzener Bahn'').
Route
![Karte der Amerikalinie (Bahnstrecke)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/24/Karte_der_Amerikalinie_%28Bahnstrecke%29.png)
For information on the two halves of the route see:
Stendal–Uelzen railway and
Uelzen–Langwedel railway
The Uelzen–Langwedel railway runs through the Lüneburg Heath in north Germany in an east-west direction. The line became known as part of the so-called America Line.
History
Imperial era
The '' Bremen State Railway'', as it was first cal ...
.
See also
*
List of scheduled railway routes in Germany
NB: The scheduled routes given here are based primarily on the timetable of the Deutsche Bahn dated 9 December 2007.In addition the list of routes (see external links) reflects those of the German Regional Railway (''Deutsche Regionaleisenbahn'') ...
*
Prussian state railways
The term Prussian state railways (German: ''Preußische Staatseisenbahnen'') encompasses those railway organisations that were owned or managed by the State of Prussia. The words "state railways" are not capitalized because Prussia did not have a ...
Literature
* Ralf Roman Rossberg: ''Grenze über deutschen Schienen 1945-1990''. 2. Auflage, EK-Verlag, Freiburg 1991,
External links
More information on the Uelzen–Salzwedel lineForum information on the Uelzen–Ebstorf section1944 timetable with express train services
{{coord missing, Germany
Railway lines in Saxony-Anhalt
Railway lines in Lower Saxony
Verden (district)
Rotenburg (district)
Buildings and structures in Heidekreis
Uelzen (district)
Lüchow-Dannenberg
Altmarkkreis Salzwedel
Stendal (district)