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

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 ...

, 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 (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is the Franconia#Towns and cities, s ...

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 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 ...

– Lochhausen; * 27 October 1839; Lochhausen –

Olching Olching (; Central Bavarian: ''Oiching'') is a Town#Germany, town in the Fürstenfeldbruck (district), district of Fürstenfeldbruck, and suburb to Munich in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Muni ...

; * 7 December 1839; Olching –

Maisach Maisach () is a municipality in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Maisach is the largest municipality in the Fürstenfeldbruck district. It is situated north of Fürstenfeldbruck, and northwest of Munich. It is ...

; * 4 October 1840; Maisach –

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 ...

; For over 20 years, the river Lech was crossed by a long wooden bridge. It is reported that King

Ludwig I Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As king, he encouraged Bavaria's ind ...

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

Oktoberfest Oktoberfest (; ) is the world's largest , featuring a beer festival and a travelling carnival, and is held annually in Munich, Bavaria, from mid- or late-September to the first Sunday in October. The annual event attracts more than seven milli ...

Locomotives

The company procured a total of eight

locomotives A locomotive is a rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for longer and heavier freight train ...

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

cylinders A cylinder () 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 infinite ...

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 t ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

* 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 (in Italian ''Fiorino d'oro'') struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains () of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a pu ...

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 the German Confederation 19th-century disestablishments in Bavaria German companies established in 1838