The Bavarian Maximilian Railway (

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Bayerische Maximiliansbahn'') was as an east–west line built between the

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n border with

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

Neu-Ulm Neu-Ulm (, ; Swabian: ''Nej-Ulm'') is the seat of the Neu-Ulm district and a town in Swabia, Bavaria. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 58,978 (31 Decembe ...

in the west via

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

and

Rosenheim Rosenheim () is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is an independent city located in the centre of the Rosenheim (district), district of Rosenheim (Upper Bavaria), and is also the seat of its administration. It is located on the west bank of the Inn ...

to the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n border at

Kufstein Kufstein (; ) is a town in the Austrian state of Tyrol, the administrative seat of Kufstein District. With a population of about 20,000 it is the second largest Tyrolean town after the state capital Innsbruck. The greatest landmark is Kufstein For ...

and

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

in the east as part of the

Royal Bavarian State Railways The Royal Bavarian State Railways (''Königliche Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen'' or ''K.Bay.Sts.B.'') was the state railway company for the Kingdom of Bavaria. It was founded in 1844. The organisation grew into the second largest of the German ...

. The Munich–Augsburg section of the line had already been built by the Munich-Augsburg Railway Company and opened in 1840. The line was named after the reigning

King of Bavaria The King of Bavaria () was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished. It was the second time Bavaria was a kingdom, almost a t ...

from 1848 to 1864 Maximilian II.

History

Relatively late for a

German state The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

, Bavaria decided in around 1851 to complete its major rail links by building an east–west rail link between the German states and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

via the

Brenner railway The Brenner Railway (; ) is a major line connecting the Austrian and Italian railways from Innsbruck to Verona, climbing up the Wipptal ( German for "Wipp Valley"), passing over the Brenner Pass, descending down the Eisacktal ( German for " ...

and via

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and the Semmering railway. These lines were expected to be well used, particularly for the connection to the Austrian

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

port of

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

. Treaties agreed with the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

and with the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

on 25 April 1850 and ratified in 1851. The route included, the existing line between Augsburg and Munich, completed by the former private ''Munich-Augsburg Railway Company'' in 1840. The line began at the Württemberg and Bavaria border in the middle of the newly built bridge over the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

between

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

and Neu-Ulm, and ran for about 85 km to Augsburg. In Ulm, it connected with the

Württemberg Eastern railway The Fils Valley Railway (, historically ''Filsbahn'' or ''Württembergische Ostbahn''—Württemberg Eastern Railway) designates the Württemberg line from Stuttgart via Göppingen to Ulm. It runs from Plochingen to Geislingen an der Steige thr ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

and the Southern railway to

Friedrichshafen Friedrichshafen ( or ; Low Alemannic: ''Hafe'' or ''Fridrichshafe'') is a city on the northern shoreline of Lake Constance (the ''Bodensee'') in Southern Germany, near the borders of both Switzerland and Austria. It is the district capital (''K ...

. From Munich, the line ran for over 106 km over the route now known as the Mangfall Valley line via Großhesselohe and

, where it connected with the Austrian Lower Inn Valley line. The Salzburg line branched off in Rosenheim and ran for 83 km via

Traunstein Traunstein (; ) is a Town#Germany, town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger Traunstein (district), district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health se ...

to the border near Salzburg.

Construction

Under a Bavarian law of 4 May 1851 work started on the western section. The 83.7 km long line opened in four sections: Construction of the eastern section was regulated by the Bavarian Law of 7 May 1852. The 188 km long line opened in five sections: The three years delay in continuing the line from Großhesselohe to Rosenheim was due to the complicated construction of the great 300-metre bridge over the

Isar The Isar () is a river in Austria and in Bavaria, Germany. Its source is in the Karwendel mountain range of the Alps. The Isar river enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Krün, Wallgau, Bad Tölz, Munich, and Landshut before reaching ...

valley there. The foundation work for the bridge foundations and its three 30-meter piers started in 1852. The heavy traffic on the first section led to building of a second track in 1862. From 1871, this section of the line lost its long-distance services after the opening of the shorter route via

Grafing Grafing bei München (officially: Grafing b.München) is a town in the district of Ebersberg, Upper Bavaria, Germany. Geography Grafing is in the Munich Region, about southeast of the state capital, where the Urtelbach and Wieshamer Bach both e ...

References

* * * * {{Authority control Railway lines in Bavaria