The Munich–Augsburg Railway Company (''München-Augsburger Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft''), the second private railway company in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, built the Munich–Augsburg line between 1838 and 1840. It was nationalised in 1846 and became 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 ...

, subsequently forming part of the Bavarian Maximilian’s Railway built between 1851 and 1854.

Foundation and Construction of the Railway

After the opening of the first private railway in Bavaria, the

Bavarian Ludwig Railway The Bavarian Ludwig Railway (''Bayerische Ludwigseisenbahn'' or ''Ludwigsbahn'') was the first steam-hauled railway opened in Germany. The ''Königlich privilegierte Ludwigs-Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft'' ("Royal Privileged Ludwig Railway Company ...

from

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the t ...

on 7 December 1835, local committees for the construction of railway lines grew up all over Bavaria. The two committees in Augsburg and Munich soon united and had a civil servant draw up a route proposal. The task of carrying out the detailed planning and construction was given to the engineer, Paul Camille Denis, who had just completed the Nuremberg-Fürth line. After the state had issued the "Basic Regulations for All Railway Statutes in Bavaria" (''Fundamentalbestimmungen für sämtliche Eisenbahnstatuten in Bayern'') on 28 September 1836, the Munich–Augsburg Railway Company was founded on 23 July 1837. On 3 July 1837, they had already been given the royal assent. However, there were difficulties with the shareholder applications in the early days as a result of delays in obtaining the state licence. Nevertheless, the construction of the railway got under way at the beginning of 1838. The line, which was almost long, was opened to traffic in four stages: * 1 September 1839;

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

–

Lochhausen Aubing-Lochhausen-Langwied (Central Bavarian: ''Aubing-Lochhausn-Langwied'') is the 22nd borough of the German city of Munich. The districts Aubing, Lochhausen and Langwied were incorporated together in 1942, thus forming the largest borough of th ...

; * 27 October 1839; Lochhausen –

Olching Olching (Central Bavarian: ''Oiching'') is a town in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Munich. Geography Olching lies approximately halfway between Dachau ...

; * 7 December 1839; Olching –

Maisach Maisach is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. Maisach is the largest municipality in the Fürstenfeldbruck district. It is situated north of Fürstenfeldbruck, and northwest of Munich. It is served by an ...

; * 4 October 1840; Maisach –

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

; For over 20 years, the river

Lech Lech may refer to: People * Lech (name), a name of Polish origin * Lech, the legendary founder of Poland * Lech (Bohemian prince) Products and organizations * Lech (beer), Polish beer produced by Kompania Piwowarska, in Poznań * Lech Poznań, ...

was crossed by a long wooden bridge. It is reported that King

Ludwig I en, Louis Charles Augustus , image = Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg , caption = Portrait by Joseph Stieler, 1825 , succession=King of Bavaria , reign = , coronation ...

directed that the final opening ceremony would coincide with the beginning of the

Oktoberfest The Oktoberfest (; bar, Wiesn, Oktobafest) is the world's largest Volksfest, featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival. It is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It is a 16- to 18-day folk festival running from mid- or ...

Locomotives

The company procured a total of eight

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the u ...

from various manufacturers that were all fired with wood. All had interior

cylinders A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an infini ...

and a 1A1

axle arrangement In rail transport, a wheel arrangement or wheel configuration is a system of classifying the way in which wheels are distributed under a locomotive. Several notations exist to describe the wheel assemblies of a locomotive by type, position, and c ...

. * 1837 JUPITER, JUNO, factory numbers 157 and 158 from Stephenson * 1838 VESTA, VENUS from Sharp * 1840 VULKAN, MARS from

Fenton, Murray and Jackson Fenton, Murray and Jackson was an engineering company at the Round Foundry off Water Lane in Holbeck, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Fenton, Murray and Wood Fenton Murray and Wood was founded in the 1790s by ironfounder Matthew Murray and ...

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

* 1841 DER MÜNCHNER, factory number 1 from J.A. Maffei, Munich, only for trial runs * 1842 MERKUR, DIANA from Stephenson

Nationalisation

By a law dated 23 May 1846, the Munich–Augsburg Railway Company was nationalised on 1 June 1846 and taken over by the

(''Königlich Bayerische Staats-Eisenbahnen''). The state paid the shareholders 4.4 million

florins The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

Literature

* Ludwig von Welser: ''Bayern-Report, Bände 4–9''. Fürstenfeldbruck 1994–2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Munich-Augsburg Railway Company History of rail transport in Bavaria Defunct railway companies of Germany Railway companies established in 1838 Railway companies disestablished in 1846 1838 establishments in Bavaria 1846 disestablishments in Bavaria German companies established in 1838