Johann Culemeyer (16 October 1883 - 20 January 1951) was a German

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. Culemeyer was born in Hanover in 1883 and, in 1936, he became a director of the

Deutsche Reichsbahn The ''Deutsche Reichsbahn'', also known as the German National Railway, the German State Railway, German Reich Railway, and the German Imperial Railway, was the German national railway system created after the end of World War I from the regiona ...

and in that capacity was responsible for the construction, procurement and running of road vehicles, railway wagons and heavy transporters. As early as 1931, he had designed a transportation system which was subsequently named after him, the "Culemeyer heavy trailer".http://www.berth.eu/waggon_de.html as at 31 January 2009 This heavy road trailer enabled the transportation of

goods wagons Goods wagons or freight wagons (North America: freight cars), also known as goods carriages, goods trucks, freight carriages or freight trucks, are unpowered railway vehicles that are used for the transportation of cargo. A variety of wagon type ...

on the road. These trailers initially had four axles with 16 solid rubber wheels. From 1935, a six-axle, 24-wheel version was also produced. Under the

slogan A slogan is a memorable motto or phrase used in a clan, political slogan, political, Advertising slogan, commercial, religious, and other context as a repetitive expression of an idea or purpose, with the goal of persuading members of the publi ...

''Die Eisenbahn ins Haus'' ('The Railway to Your Door') goods wagons were brought to factories and other places that did not have their own railway links from the nearest loading station. It was patented on 29 November 1931 under the name ''Fahrbares Anschlussgleis'' ('Rail Link on Wheels') and demonstrated to the public for the first time on 24 April 1931 at the

Anhalter Bahnhof The Anhalter Bahnhof is a former railway terminus in Berlin, Germany, approximately southeast of Potsdamer Platz. Once one of Berlin's most important railway stations, it was severely damaged in World War II, and finally closed for traffic in 19 ...

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 ...

. In the

Deutsche Bundesbahn The Deutsche Bundesbahn or DB (German Federal Railway) was formed as the state railway of the newly established Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) on 7 September 1949 as a successor of the Deutsche Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft (DRG). The DB remained ...

the trailers were hauled by ''Kaelble'' tractors; the

Deutsche Reichsbahn (GDR) The Deutsche Reichsbahn or DR ''(German Reich Railways)'' was the operating name of state owned railways in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), and after German reunification until 1 January 1994. In 1949, occupied Germany's railwa ...

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

used '' Tatra'' tractors. Whilst ''Culemeyer'' heavy trailers have been largely superseded on the roads by lorries, in some factories and firms they are still used occasionally. On 4 November 1976 a private road belonging to the management of the former Reichsbahn authority ('' VdeR'') in

Berlin-Marienfelde Marienfelde () is a locality in southwest Berlin, Germany, part of the Tempelhof-Schöneberg borough. The former village, incorporated according to the Greater Berlin Act of 1920, today is a mixed industrial and residential area. Geography The M ...

(

Tempelhof Tempelhof () is a locality of Berlin within the borough of Tempelhof-Schöneberg. It is the location of the former Tempelhof Airport, one of the earliest commercial airports in the world. The former airport and surroundings are now a park called ...

) was named after Johann Culemeyer. The road is open to public traffic and is a cul-de-sac with several industrial sites along it, including the ''Berliner Werk der Converteam Deutschland'' that in 1984 moved there as the AEG-Stromrichterfabrik. In the vicinity, there is also the ''Schwechtenstrasse'', named after the architect of the Anhalter Bahnhof. Culemeyer died in 1951 in

Nordholz Nordholz is a village and a former municipality in the Cuxhaven (district), district of Cuxhaven, in Lower Saxony, Germany. Since 1 January 2015 it is part of the municipality Wurster Nordseeküste. It is situated approximately 25 km north of ...

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven has ...

, in north Germany.

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:de:Johann Culemeyer {{DEFAULTSORT:Culemeyer, Johann Businesspeople from Hanover 1883 births 1951 deaths German railway mechanical engineers Engineers from Hanover