The Lauffen bus crash of 20 June 1959 resulted in the deaths of 45 people. At the time it was the worst accident involving a bus since the end of the Second World War. A bus chartered by

German Railways The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the ...

on a regular service collided with an express train on the Tübingen to

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the ''Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzburg is ...

(via

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) route at level crossing number 47 at

Lauffen am Neckar Lauffen am Neckar () or simply Lauffen is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is on the river Neckar, southwest of Heilbronn. The town is famous as the birthplace of the poet Friedrich Hölderlin and for its qu ...

. In all, 45 persons were killed and 27 others were seriously injured. The bus was operating a rail replacement service for the

Zabergäu Railway The Zabergäu Railway (''Zabergäubahn'') was a spur line from the Franconia Railway. It ran for 20.3 km from Lauffen am Neckar to Leonbronn through an area known as the Zabergäu. Originally built with narrow gauge, it was converted to sta ...

along the stretch from

Leonbronn Leonbronn is a village in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. From 1971 to 1974, Leonbronn together with Ochsenburg formed the local authority of Burgbronn. The various districts of the latter were incorporated into Zaberf ...

to Lauffen. A timetable reduction had been introduced along this narrow gauge line in 1954. According to the accounts of former railway workers, the bus was running late, but the passengers were anxious to catch the connection from Lauffen to Würzburg. The level crossing keeper re-opened the barrier to allow the bus to cross but failed to first check with the train controller. The accident increased public pressure on the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

and German railways to make the service along the Zabergäu Railway more attractive to passengers, and was one of the decisive factors in bringing about a re-gauging of this route from narrow to conventional gauge between 1964 and 1965. Horst Siebecke's ''Schallplatte des Jahres 1959'' (LP of 1959) recalls the accident as being one of the most important events of the year. A memorial was later erected at the place where the accident occurred and a commemorative ceremony was held there on the 50th anniversary.

References

''The above is a translation based on the article in the German Wikipedia at'' :de :de:Busunglück von Lauffen {{coord, 49, 04, 08, N, 9, 07, 58, E, region:DE-BW_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title 1959 in Germany 1959 road incidents Railway accidents in 1959 Level crossing incidents in Germany Accidents and incidents involving Deutsche Bundesbahn June 1959 events in Europe