The Heide–Karolinenkoog railway was a now closed line in the

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, Northern Low Saxon, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of ...

district in the German state of

Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein (; da, Slesvig-Holsten; nds, Sleswig-Holsteen; frr, Slaswik-Holstiinj) is the northernmost of the 16 states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Sch ...

, connecting the district seat of Heide via Weddingstedt with the ferry over the Eider in

Karolinenkoog Karolinenkoog is a municipality in the district of Dithmarschen, in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. In 1800 the municipality was named after the polder (), which was named in honour of Princess Caroline of Denmark Princess Caroline of Denmark (28 ...

. A section of the line north of Heide, a few kilometres long, is now part of the Heide–Büsum railway.

Geography

The line runs branched off from the

Marsh Railway The Marsh Railway (german: Marschbahn) is a main line in the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany that links the stations of Elmshorn in the south and Westerland on the island of Sylt in the north. It is part of long route from Hamburg-Alt ...

Heide station Heide (Holst) station is a junction station in the town of Heide in the district of Dithmarschen in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The Marsh Railway, Hamburg–Elmshorn–Heide–Westerland, the Neumünster–Heide railway, Neumünster� ...

and later passed under it. In Karolinenkoog there was a steam ferry port to Tonning. In satellite images the line can still be clearly seen because in followed a dead straight path. The route of a section of the line is now used by part of federal highway 5 running between the end of Autobahn 23 at Heide-West via Hemme to the Eider bridge at

Tönning Tönning (German; Low German ''Tünn'', ''Tönn'' or ''Tönnen''; Danish: ''Tønning''; North Frisian: ''Taning'') is a town in the district of Nordfriesland in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. History Tönning was destroyed in the Bu ...

Operations and history

The Heide–Karolinenkoog railway was opened, together with the

Neumünster–Heide railway The Neumünster–Heide railway is a single-track, non-electrified railway line the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, connecting the city of Neumünster in central Holstein and Heide, the seat of the district of Dithmarschen. Geography The ...

, on 22 August 1877. It was built and operated by the

West Holstein Railway Company The West Holstein Railway Company was founded in 1875 with the aim of connecting the west Holstein region in the present-day district of Dithmarschen in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein with the railway junction of Neumünster and beyond with ...

(''Westholsteinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft''). The

Wesselburen–Heide Railway Company The West Holstein Railway Company was founded in 1875 with the aim of connecting the west Holstein region in the present-day district of Dithmarschen in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein with the railway junction of Neumünster and beyond with ...

(''Wesselburen–Heider Eisenbahngesellschaft'') opened a branch from Weddinghusen to the town of Wesselburen on 1 November 1878 and to Büsum in 1883 (for freight from 1 November and for passengers from 15 November)—this route, the

Heide–Büsum railway The Heide–Büsum railway is a line in the Dithmarschen district in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein, connecting the district seat of Heide with the North Sea resort of Büsum. Geography The line runs from Heide station as a continuation ...

, still exists today. The Karolinenkoog–Karolinenkoog Eider ferry section was opened on 1 June 1886. From there, a steam ferry operated for passengers and freight over the Eider river to Tonning. The Western Holstein railway company was taken over by the Prussian state railways on 1 July 1890. The line to Karolinenkoog survived only until 20 January 1940. On this day the last train ran to the Karolinenkoog landing ramp, which was destroyed by bombs on this day. Passenger services were cut back to Hemmerwurth on 1 November 1942 and to Weddinghusen at the timetable change on 23 May 1954. Freight traffic to Hemme ended on the last day of 1958. Freight traffic operated to Weddinghusen until 30 April 1968.

Notes

References

* * (reprint of Deutsche Reichsbahn presentation of 1935) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heide-Karolinenkoog railway Railway lines in Schleswig-Holstein Railway lines opened in 1877 Dithmarschen 1877 establishments in Germany